-Horses are a cooperative species. When horses are resistant, they are not expressing their preferred state.

-Horses think in terms of "agreement" or "cooperation" not obedience.

-Horses will work to avoid something undesirable, but it is avoidance not cooperation. Brilliance only comes from cooperation and partnership.

-All of your horse's behavior is an expression of what the horse is feeling and thinking in that particular moment (especially about you and what you are doing). Observe it with the fascination that a scientist has for his subject.

-Horses make associations about what is happening around them and how it ties into their survival- every moment of their lives. They learn from these associations and remember the most important ones.

-Every moment we are with our horses is creating an association in our horse's minds between what is happening and how they feel about it. These associations, frightening or pleasant, make an indelible impression in their minds.

-Horses are "one-time learners," this ability allows them to learn a new idea in a very short session and remember it for the rest of their lives.

-When horses learn new ideas, this is a cognitive(thinking) process. It takes hundreds and thousands of repetitions for a learned idea to become a conditioned (neurological) response. A conditioned response must then be maintained for it to be 100% reliable.

-Teaching new ideas to the horse is a cognitive process. "Training" is the creation of a conditioned response. These are 2 separate activities.

-Horses need to both relax and expend energy/express their spirit. Learn to create each mode by understanding the physiology as well as drivers (which are tied into survival) of each mode and you will be able to call up relaxation as well as their spirit at will... and you will be able to shut either down at will.

-Show horses that you can help them, make them feel better, safer, and more relaxed, and they will give you their heart.