17/07/2025
Thank you Bob Wood Horses For Life for another great article.
This Ray Hunt quote is the best description of the horse training process I have ever seen. (1) "First you go with the horse". For me that means perceiving the horse as it is, not what you want it to be or think or imagine what it might be, but actually what the horse is in the moment. It also means acting in a familiar way so as to not confuse or disturb the horse at the beginning and for that you need to know at least some of the horse's history.
For example, in basic horsemanship we approach a horse from the side, not the front or hind. If a horse has had some correct training, they will expect you to approach them from the side because it is familiar. If the horse is untrained, it is still a good idea to approach the horse from the side because approaching from the front can be interpreted as a threat. Approaching from the rear can be interpreted as an unknown that needs to be defended against.
I am working with a 5 year old mare recently off the track, pictured below. She has been trained how to run fast, turn left and stop in a quarter mile. Racehorses don't have to stand still for mounting. They usually are led with lead rope with a chain shank over their nose or in their mouth. Most need to learn how to be led with a simple lead rope and a halter.
With typical racing careers today being so short, 17 months, and because racetrack barns being busy places, the time to teach basic behaviors is limited. To follow Hunt's (1) "You go with the horse" with an off the track TB, you must act in a way that is familiar to them, meaning acting a little impatient but at the same time spending the time to teach them basics like leading, standing still and moving away from pressure.
Ray Hunt's (2) "Then the horse goes with you" for me means showing a horse how to do old tasks like leading in a new way and some new tasks while preferably using curiosity and boredom to elicit new positive behaviors. We don't want to use force but rather to coax. We want to remember step (1) going with the horse, as we move to step (2). The first thing I teach a horse just off the track is to listen to my feet when I am walking leading them. Without a chain lead shank, I walk them with a simple lead and a halter. Without the shank, a racehorse will often pull you along when you stop walking them.
I will walk them in a straight line and when I stop walking, I stop and stomp my feet loudly, one - two. The harder the surface the better to make more sound to attract the horse's curiosity. As I prepare to stop, I let the lead rope go a little slack so I can snap it if required. After I stomp my feet as I stop, and if the horse walks on past me, I snap the rope. This puts sudden pressure on the horse's nose. Once they connect my foot movement stopping with the nose pressure if they don't stop, they follow your feet.
When you do this consistently and in different circumstances, the horse, wanting to avoid the nose pressure from the lead snap, will stop when you stop moving your feet. Over time you reduce the foot stomping because the horse will learn to "go with you" by paying attention to your feet.
After moving through steps (1) and (2) we arrive at (3) "Then you go together". For me this means you pay attention to the horse as it truly is, and the horse pays attention to you as you are. You arrive at a mutual understanding of one another. You are both predictable to one another in mutual understanding. From there almost anything is possible.
