About fifteen years ago I took myself off to a riding stables to learn to ride. It wasn't my first experience of being on horseback - that was as a student, pony trekking with friends. My pony got impatient at the start of the ride, jumped a stream, causing me to lose my reins and stirrups, and proceeded to head off across the moor into the heavy mist. Recognising the severity of my plight, I gripped the animal's mane with my fists and its body with mine, in order to stay on

This image was recently posted on Dressage Academy's Facebook page and I'm afraid I find it hilarious. There's something very amusing about seeing someone having a fright - in this case that someone being a 800kg horse. A fright involves what's known as the 'startle pattern'. In human beings the startle pattern begins in the neck and passes through the entire body in less than half a second. The neck retracts violently; the back tenses; the arms and legs are drawn up; the bre

As we all know, horses can be rather large. Forcing them to cooperate with us would be difficult but coercing them, fortunately, has brought dividends over many thousands of years. Whether you view a horse as a cognitive animal or an animal of flight, it's unique behaviour lends itself to human endeavour. So why do we still see people yanking at their reins, lashing with the whip or urging with their hips? I've spent a lot of time with 'horsey' friends and have witnessed rais