be the leader.

I don't know if any of this makes sense, so don't feel like you need to read it. I'm just in a zone and typing away.

Although I've known how to ride for a while, I've never really thought about the dangers involved. You are trusting a 1000 pound animal to not get pissed and kill you. Hmmmm. A little risky if you ask me. After all, they were once wild animals that fought for survival. 6000 or so years of domestication can't take away natural instincts. 

One of the most important things you have to learn to be a successful rider is confidence. Horses can sense your emotions, so if you are nervous they will a. get nervous too, or b. take advantage of you. Neither of which make for a safe experience. Lots of horse whisperers or people who start training horses use a technique which mimics a horse's natural environment. 

They start by letting the horse loose in an enclosed area and chasing the horse away. Every time the horse tries to come close, they get chased back out to continue working on the rail. This is like the treatment a horse would get from the herd leader. The horse would come to the conclusion that it is safer to trust the leader and reside under its control than to be alone on the outside of the ring. 

This is considered trust building, and is one of the most humane ways to "break" a horse. The other option is throwing on a saddle and rider and trying to stay on until the horse gets tired of fighting. Not so fun. 

When you prove to a horse that you are the leader and the superior power in the relationship, it will trust you. This doesn't seem to be true in all animal relationships. For dogs, a human is more like a friend. For a  cat, they are slaves. Horses treat humans as their leaders who offer them protection, which, I think, forges a special bond that isn't reproduced in any other animal-human relationship. 

Although some people think treating a horse as inferior is inhumane, it is just mimicking the natural behaviors of wild horses. By bringing horses back to their natural instincts, we are in fact making training less confusing and more instinctive. It requires much less reprimanding in a harmful way, since being forced away from the "leader" is considered punishment to the horse. 

More on this later...