How do you train your horse? Do you go for the dominance school which suggests that the most effective method of training horses is to be the “alpha” of the herd and “lets them know who’s the boss” or do you approach training differently, from a personality of warmth?
If you are like me, you’ve probably had trainers who ran the spectrum of both methodologies. You’ve also, maybe, been exposed to horses that only respond one way or another (much like people, one might argue). Yet, new research seems to indicate that the dominance school is not the approach to take and that a horse doesn’t view people as part of the “herd” so thinking you have to be the “alpha” horse is actually counterintuitive to getting the best from your horse. You can read the article here: “Dominance in Human-Horse Relationships.”
What do you think? What works best for you?
Round 2 Thoroughbred Horse Show 