“Understanding the nature of the horse is one of the foundations of the art of riding.” – François Robichon de la Guérinière.

To be good riders, we need to understand the psychology of the horse. That is exactly why we wrote this article – to help you learn more about how horses think and feel.

1. Horses learn through association

Just like people, horses learn what is right and what is not through association. If a child touches a hot stove and gets burned, they will know not to touch it again. Hearing a certain song can remind us of a person, and so can the scent of a perfume. A horse’s mind works the same way. If you want a horse to walk past an object that frightens it and you strike it, it will remember that it can expect pain when it sees that object again. So think twice before using force when training a horse.

On the other hand, if the horse associates the object with something pleasant, it will want to go past it because it will feel good. For example, if a horse is nervous about crossing a river and you give it enough reassurance or even a treat, next time the horse will link the river with a pleasant experience and will not be afraid.

But remember that you cannot bribe a horse with food all the time. In the end it will ignore both the food and the cue you are asking for.

2. Horses have strongly developed emotions

Horses feel emotions such as fear, anger, joy, sadness, depression, trust, mistrust, tension, excitement, humour, frustration, curiosity, jealousy and even love. These emotions show in the horse’s body language. The more time you spend with a horse, the better you will learn to recognise what it feels from the signals it gives.

Fear, tension or anger are the easiest to recognise – the horse starts neighing, rearing up on its hind legs, pawing the ground with a front hoof and resisting the rider’s cues.

A horse learns best when it is calm. When it is stressed, it cannot focus on the task. A happy horse also shows its sense of humour. Many horses love to tease people, pull funny faces and even “laugh”.

When you see a horse walking slowly with its head low and its ears drooping, it may simply not be in the mood for riding and may be sad. Watch its signals to understand it better. Horses grieve when they lose a friend, and recovery can take months. Horses also often feel lonely when they lack a bond with another horse. In that case, if you show it that you love it, it will love you back.

3. Horses can learn overnight

Many people are surprised by their horses suddenly learning something they had not managed before. There are recorded cases where riders spent a whole day trying to get over certain obstacles without success. They then put the horses away, and the next day the miracle happened: the horses did what had been asked the day before without any hesitation. There is an explanation for this too.

It all comes down to treating the horse well. This gives the horse time to take in the whole situation calmly and learn faster. Force such as kicking and hitting may also bring the desired results, but the horse will stay unhappy and tense and may not respond to your cues next time. So do not force horses to obey a cue – let them learn it.

4. Horses imitate each other

Many trainers know that horses imitate each other. This way they can pick up both good and bad habits from other horses. That is why it helps to keep horses with good manners as role models for the others.

On the positive side, you can teach a young horse to race by letting it watch an older racehorse, or teach it to jump by letting it watch an experienced jumper during training.

5. Horses have a good memory

People with phobias or certain psychological difficulties often find that the root of the problem goes back to their childhood. Similarly, horses with behavioural problems have often developed them in their early years. Horses can remember unpleasant incidents from the past that may affect them for life, and working through them takes time.

The good news is that horses do not remember only the bad things. Often happy memories win. For example, if a horse was ridden by a caring and skilful rider it liked, years later it will still enjoy being ridden by that same person. It will associate them with pleasant memories and calm, and will want to please them.

Horses are intelligent beings that are very good at storing past events. They use their memory to avoid situations that upset them. So the most important thing to know is that a horse can be trained best when you care for it from an early age, let it learn from other experienced horses and are patient with it.

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