02/24/2026
This… how whips should be used..IMHO
Demonizing Tools and Education
It is not hard to understand fear of tools such as bits and whips when they can be so easily used as weapons against the horse. I don't blame anyone for a decision to avoid them, and there are certainly many paths to take in training a horse depending on the desired result you want to produce.
My education with whips was lengthy and sometimes frustrating. My teacher demonstrated and made me practice without the horse repeatedly : on the back of my own leg and on a balloon - both giving clear as day feedback to whether my arm was tense or not. She stressed the importance of supple joints in my arm and using the whip from my core - this created a "bounce," and not a smack.
I watched her many times over take a whip and brush the horse with it, producing a rhythmic swing, a relaxed and open topline, and a happy horse in movement. It was amazing to see horses afraid of the whip become calm and receptive, and horses who were unresponsive open up and flow.
Why use the whip at all, people ask me? There are so many reasons they are essential to in hand work if we are creating elasticity and not just mechanical positions. The whip, when used in this way, supples muscles, helps flex joints, and allows us to communicate in real time to the different phases of the stride: upward, forward, downward, and weight bearing. It can support the seat in this under saddle as well, and is very valuable in teaching people with a scrunchy or shoving seat to gain a deep and relaxed but engaged and supple seat. It can really help them develop a long and effective leg.
The whip should never tense muscles, my teacher warned me. It is not a threat, and the communication of the drive aid is one to one: not me chasing you AWAY from me, but me, through the whip, bringing you WITH me, in a dance, stride for stride.
The whip really shows the horse who you are: your education, your self discipline, your dedication to their health and movement, your ability to control yourself and your emotions and your body, and your oppeness of mind to see things in a different way.
It can be used as a weapon, just as a pencil can create art and poetry and drawing, or it can be used for nefarious purposes (ask any prison guard what they think of pencils). I don't blame anyone for being afraid or disgusted by them - you rarely see them used artfully and respectfully. But there is an entire world of possibilities, and so often in this world, what is painted as good does not serve the horse, and what is vilified can provide so much value: balance, relaxation, joint flexion, suppleness, and connection.
Things are not always as they seem - open your mind and get curious, and even if you come back to the same conclusion you already started with, at least you now have a deeper conclusion that is yours, and not one someone without a true education handed to you to make you afraid.
