06/22/2026
Four images of lost horsemanship basics - the first picture is about lost safety standards. Because horses today are trained for a discipline, they are safe enough for a cowboy to do a 40 foot slide or a Hunter Jumper to win a ribbon but they are not trained to be safe for a small child or an elderly person to be around.
The second image reflects the old saying, "control the head to control the feet". This is a very basic concept that should be trained into a horse from their earliest days. However, the new "born free" Disney idea of horse training produces a lot of horses that have few boundaries and can be difficult to lead, halter and many other basic aspects of control.
The third picture is about verbal commands and words. The woman is teaching a horse to back up and associating it with the word "back " with the movement. Teaching horses words to elicit specific movements is invaluable. Along with "walk", "trot", "canter" and "whoa" horses should minimally know the words "stand" and "back". A German study years ago determined that horses can learn up to eight words. I have listed six basics.
The last picture represents biomechanics. The woman is stretching the horse's hind leg past 90 degrees at the hock. Horses are very strong pushing with their legs but weak pulling their legs forward. Once you get a horse's hind leg back past 90 degrees it is quite difficult for them to pull it away from you to kick you.
Similarly, horses' necks are very strong up and down but weaker side to side. Therefore, it is easier to get a horse to lower their head for haltering and bridling if you rock the head and neck side to side to get their head down, or to bend their head and neck to put them in a position where they cannot buck.
So much has been lost as horse centered horsemanship has been replaced by human centered horsemanship to accommodate people's wishes and expectations. We are turning out more and more horses that are unsafe and a challenge to control.
