The Horse's Brain 🧠 · The Balanced Rider

🔥

Feb 12 (edited) • Mental Notes/#Mindful Monday

The Horse's Brain 🧠

I hear riders blame their horse and say things like, "He knows what I want but won’t do it" or “He’s just testing me.”

Horses cannot reason like people do. They can't plan ahead or try to be difficult on purpose because the frontal lobe of their brain doesn't work like ours does. They respond in the moment. By instinct, by memory because of their nervous system.

When the horse is doing something we don't want and we think it was done on purpose, something happens within us:

Our nervous system shifts and frustrations rise. Our body get tense. And the horse senses this change in us and responds (negatively).

Not because they are naughty.

Because they are wired to detect tension and react to it.

This is where riding has to evolve.

If a rider is dysregulated (in fight/flight or freeze), no amount of instruction will sink in and be learned. If a coach doesn’t understand the nervous system of the rider and horse, they can unintentionally escalate a situation instead of resolving it.

Modern coaching is not just about position, balance, or transitions.

It is about understanding how the rider’s brain and body tenseness shapes everything that we do.

QUESTION:

Have you had a time when you experienced this happening with you and how your horse responded?

Picture credit - Horse Brain, Human Brain by Janet L Jones PHD

11 comments