Ask The Experts
Why human motivators don't work for horses
Q I just don't seem to be getting anywhere with my horse's training. He doesn't seem to have any motivation when we are in the arena. What could be going wrong?
Sarah Shuttleworth, Powys
Sean says: When discussing a horse's motivation, the first thing we have to establish is that horses are different from us. You can motivate a person through praise, recognition, gifts and act of service, all of which are low on a horse's priority list. Horses care more about feeling safe, comfortable and synchronised with something. This is because they are prey animals.
The second thing we have to establish is what we are trying tomotivate them to change. After years of training, I have decided that the
