29/05/2026
Brilliant post about “liberty”
LIBERTY TRAINING – FREEDOM OR ILLUSION?
LIBERTY in “liberty-based training” is often an illusion. How can we recognise that the horse is truly free?
A few years ago, I believed that I was doing something amazing. I was convinced that when I engaged in “liberty” work, both on the ground and ridden, I was giving the horse a choice, and the horse was choosing to follow my “guidance”.
I believed that I didn’t force horses, that they did what they did because they wanted to. But I forgot about some “little details”. First, I worked with horses who were attached to a line or trapped in a small round pen/school to stop them from walking away… or that I used the whip to send them away and bring them back. I forgot that if they tried to “disengage”, I would turn their hindquarters until they faced me. If they tried to run away, I made them run faster. If they wouldn’t stand still, I would persevere and put them back in the same spot until they did. If they wouldn’t back up with just my finger wiggle, I would increase the pressure on the rope or use the whip until they did.
If anyone had told me then that I was forcing horses to comply, I would have laughed at them and said they knew nothing about horses and their communication. I would have said that you can’t force a horse that is “at liberty”.
What I didn’t know was that, at all times during my training, I was CONDITIONING the horses to do what I wanted them to do. I didn’t know that this conditioning involved the threat of pain or psychological discomfort (well, I was aware of pressure and release, but I didn’t understand the consequences, and I didn’t believe I was using punishment). I didn’t know that by constantly punishing, correcting, and increasing the pressure, I was teaching the horses that no matter what they did, there was no escape — there was no other route than compliance. I didn’t know that this treatment could create emotional shutdown and learned helplessness.
Today, with my new knowledge supported by behavioural science and learning theory, I understand that much of what I was doing relied on aversive conditioning. The horses responded to my cues because they had learned to avoid pressure, discomfort, or uncertainty. This approach is what is commonly used in many “liberty shows” — the horses are highly trained, but if you look carefully, you can often notice combinations of behaviours that may communicate both physical and psychological discomfort (for example: high head position, flat ears, tense mouth, worried eyes, hypervigilance, licking and chewing, and yawning).
Today, I also know that we can force a horse using the opposite approach — we can use food to micromanage and control horses (especially if the food is only used occasionally and mixed with aversives). This creates different emotional states, but still, if applied poorly, even positive reinforcement can become forceful. Simply using food in your training and interactions does not equal force-free practice. That’s why we need to ensure we meet horses’ specific needs first, ensure there are no underlying physical conditions, eliminate food anxiety by feeding prior to training, and provide an alternative source of food if possible. Most importantly, we need to stay in touch with and respond appropriately to their emotional states.
Despite the possibility of forcing when using positive reinforcement unskilfully, there is still a much higher chance of interacting with a horse without force if we apply a reward-based approach. If we rely on aversives but try to allow for choice, there is always some level of threat involved, no matter how carefully we apply negative reinforcement.
Even if we attempt to stop escalating pressure, a history of aversive conditioning can mean that fear-based responses remain strongly embedded in the horse’s memory. Experiences involving threatening or uncomfortable stimuli can create long-lasting associations, which may be triggered again when a horse encounters situations that resemble previous experiences.
For this reason (alongside many others), I avoid using aversives as much as I can.
I work with my ponies mostly without any tack simply because we don’t need it. In fact, they learned many behaviours before I even touched a head collar or lead rope, and I didn’t utilise round pens either.
I use a positive reinforcement approach alongside counterconditioning and systematic desensitisation. I try to provide alternative food during training so that my horses don’t feel pressured to comply just to receive food. I use forage-based food such as chaff, grass pellets, or hay to avoid frustration, which can often arise when higher-value food is used (such as commercial sweet treats). Their responses to cues are, of course, still conditioned (appetitively), but they can communicate without fear of consequences, and they can disengage if they wish to (although I strive not to give them reasons to want to “leave”).
