o come down from our human pedestal and put ourselves in the horse's shoes may be difficult, but it will prove to be rewarding. One of the major problems throughout the entire training process is that riders are unaware of their own weak and strong points. By so doing they lose sight of their end of the partnership. When a horse is allowed to work with his rider in a partnership of mutual understanding, he will be able to do far better than the animal whose rider has only the perfection of exercises in mind. For this partnership to happen, the desire of a human being to understand the horse's mentality is a prerequisite.

A rider who can only see and think in a human way will continuously misdiagnose situations and frustrate his horse. The next time we find ourselves in a situation where we seem to be getting nowhere, we should try to remember this: Most disobediences are actually misunderstandings. They are directly related to a rider's incapacity to communicate fairly and consistently with her horse. Maybe we should bring the horse back to his stall and take an honest look at how we ourselves have been communicating. Have we been asking for too much, or asking in a way in which he cannot understand? Just how often are we truly functioning at our peak, yet every day we expect such a performance from our horse.

The various ways of making the horse understand what we are asking for should be discussed. Every horse is different. There is no such thing as a perfect horse. Every horse can only respond correctly when a rider asks correctly. Horses are not always going to be thrilled to have to learn new things. He might not even seem to respond initially to even a perfectly timed and applied aid. But a thinking rider will be patient. She will wait for the exact moment when the horse submits mentally and physically and respond in a rewarding manner immediately. That is where the rider has the chance to turn that submission into a desire on the part of the horse to work together. So begins the true partnership between horse and rider. If, on the other hand, the rider doesn't accurately read her horse and lets that moment of submission pass with no reward, she will never be able to form a harmonious partnership with the horse. Through constant repetition and drilling she may eventually be able to persuade or even force the horse to do certain things, from lateral work to Grand Prix exercises. She may think that she has won, when she has in fact lost her partner and her friend.