e’ve already established that fear-based training is dangerous, but the truth is, that’s not it’s only flaw. It’s also a super inefficient way to train.

See, fear-based training requires force and punishment to get obedience. It calls fear “respect,” because honestly, it’s easier to make an animal fear you than it is to earn their genuine respect.

Teaching a horse to fear punishment is easy! It’s a cheap win that can get you short term results. But the minute the horse is more afraid of something ELSE than they are of YOU, watch how quickly they’ll bail on you.

Fear-based training just creates resentment. It makes for a scared horse who is always looking for an escape from an unfair situation.

They won’t stick around if the going gets tough.

Fear-based training means basically a battle of wills between you and your horse. You have to scare him enough, and wear him down enough, that he’ll eventually give in.

That’s why most people think training has to be a HUGE time sink that requires endless hours of schooling to accomplish even the simplest goals.

Fear-based training is constantly undermining its own efforts. It’s demanding respect you’ve never earned.

It’s expecting results before establishing a common basis of trust and respect…

It’s putting the cart before the horse! 

But what happens when we switch our approach?

What happens when we use trust-based training to build a loving bond with our horse BEFORE we ask them to do difficult and scary things just because we ask them to?

Love-based training is not only safe, but it’s incredibly efficient. That’s why it’s the entire foundation (the backbone) of my training philosophy!

Using the Steady-Horse training approach, you’ll find training takes a fraction of the time it took using fear-based methods.

Building trust with your horse creates a relationship where each success builds on itself to create a confident and trusting bond. 

This means a little training goes a long way. Results can feel almost instantaneous!

The key is this: Rather than demanding respect (in the form of blind obedience) from our horses (all the while scaring them and beating them into submission)… Show them respect them first. Show them they can trust you.

When you have a loving and trusting relationship built on mutual respect, you’ll find that your horse is happy to do what you ask, which means training actually takes WAY LESS TIME.

The Steady Horse approach spends a little time upfront establishing trust and respect and focuses on building an unbreakable bond.

You’ll be able to spend less time schooling, and more time having fun with your horse!

And the best part is, you don’t have to spend thousands and thousands on expensive trainers (over and over again!)… Because you can get BETTER and FASTER results at home.

You see, I believe that deep down, most people know that fear-based training just misses the mark.

You don’t need to scare your horse to make them see you as their confident leader.

Remember Susan? She talked about the incredible bond she’d had with Sandy when she was a kid. How she was fearless and Sandy followed her everywhere.

Well, Sandy’s good behavior wasn’t because little 10-year-old Susan scared her straight. Her good behavior was a natural extension of the relationship they had. Susan looked out for Sandy, and Sandy looked after Susan. Their bond was one of trust, love, and respect.

That’s a very different picture than the one a lot of modern trainers would paint for you about how we should interact with our horses.

Children get it more easily than we adults do. They understand innately what we have to re-learn as adults — relationship is the key.

Training should be as much about building an unbreakable bond with your horse as about learning skills and completing tasks — if not more!

That’s why the Steady Horse approach relies on training that is trust-based and focuses on building a relationship between horse and rider.

It’s why I emphasize that ANYONE can have a Safer Horse when they learn how to build trust, connect, and love on their horse in a way that is meaningful.

Susan saw it for herself. I’m proud to say that she and Angel (that “dangerous” horse her husband threatened to sell) now have a totally different relationship than they had when she first messaged me.

“She comes running whenever I walk up to the fence,” Susan told me in her last check in. “She’ll do just about anything I ask her to without hesitation, I couldn’t be happier!”

They’ve been accident-free since she started using the Steady Horse approach. She says she finally feels confident that Angel would do ANYTHING she asked, and because of that she doesn’t feel like she’s rolling the dice every time she climbs up for a ride.

Susan says she feels safer then she ever has.

She’s achieved the type of bond she had with her first horse Sandy all those years ago.

Next up I’ll tell you a little more about my approach and how it can COMPLETELY TRANSFORM your relationship with your horse.