How a Horse's Mind Works Pressure and Release 1. Horses are pressure animals. You will be able to see this at the earliest point in a mare and her colt. From the very start this colt instinctively knows that his safety depends on staying as close as he can to his momma. Therefore, instinct tells him that he is safe as long as he touches her. In times of stress he will press up against her as tight as he can. - The Pecking Order - Pressure and Release - Instincts, Sensitivity and Memory As the colt gets older, and gets weaned from his mom, the horses in the bunch will teach him another language, tho. His safety will now depend on giving to pressure. As he is weaned and mom’s protection is no longer available, he will have to deal with stronger horses who want to claim all the best spots for water and feed. At this point, the stronger horse will bite and/or kick the weaker one until he is out of the way and well away from the choice bit of feed. If he does not give to the pressure the stronger horse puts on him, he will get injured. This language of giving to pressure is the language humans use with horses. "I pull on the halter rope till you come with me. I pull on the reins till you stop." Developing light hands depends on using this language with skill and finesse. Again and again I watch people over-cue their horses. For example, they will pull on the halter rope even tho the horse has decided to follow them. This makes it to where eventually they have to pull on the halter rope all the time. Or they will kick the horse even tho he has already started to move. In Practice: Lets us the Halter example. When I teach a horse to lead, I will tug on the rope till he starts to move in the direction of the pull. Sometimes I will quit pulling before he even takes one step, as soon as he starts thinking about taking a step.  I will repeat this again and again, until he is following me cautiously around the pen. I will only pull on him, if he quits moving in my direction. And once he responds to the pull, I will immediately let up on it. The same principle applies to every other cue you will want to give to your horse. However, when you teach your horse something completely new, his first reaction will be to push against the pressure. The longer you have consistently communicated in the Pressure and Release language the more he will give to pressure. We were sorting 60 head of mares one day into two bunches, to go out with two different studs. Keeping the colts with the mares was not a problem as we worked them. In response to the pressure we were putting on them, every little baby was pressed up to his mom as tight as he could be. When we were done, we let out the first bunch to trail them to the Steer Pasture, and later we would come back to trail the second bunch to the Heiffer Pasture. As we let the mares out, one of them passed by the gate post way too close for her colt to make it through. The little guy was traveling right next to mom, and knew he was safe, and so he completely ignored the gate post, which he hit at a pretty good clip head on. I have heard more than one story where the same thing happened. To make a long story short, if you want your horse to give lightly to your aids, you will have to learn to use the pressure and release language. You put pressure on him (bit, legs, seat, halter, whatever), and as soon as he gives to that pressure you will have to release it. Example: Teach your horse to give to the bit. This particular horse was tossin his head almost without quitting. This series of pics was took after we had him for about a week, and he was a lot better. But he would still go along and all of a sudden just start tossing his head. 1. Just walking along on a loose rein... 2. He is loading up to start tossing his head. he is leaning against the bit, and his back is starting to tighten up. I immediately put gentle pressure on the bit. He recognizes the pressure, so he doesn't toss his head as much as he used to, but you can still see that he is leaning on the bit, wanting to object to me touching the reins. 3. He is fully resisting in this pic, is back is hollow and tight, and he is leaning on the bit. You can see how I engaged my lower leg, to try to push his belly up, to relax the back again. 4.In response to my rein pressure, he stops, still tossing his head. I would prefer he keep walking, but since he actually knows what I want from him, I am more worried about getting him to give to my rein (and leg pressure), than whether or not he keeps walking 5. He starts backing up, still resisting. Seeins I asked him to tuck his head, I don't much care what he does, until he tucks his head. You can still see that those reins are tight, instead of loose and swinging. 6. After arguing with me for a few back up steps, he finally gives to the bit and relaxes. i immediately move my hands forward giving all the room I can. I also move my legs away from his sides, releasing the pressure that was making his belly come up to me. Responding to me relaxing, he finally relaxes underneath me... And deserves a good pat. Some horses just don't get it... I usually wait for the horse to tuck his head down, and release the pressure on the bit towards me. but some horses just don't get it. So, if they drop their head down, to try to deal with that pressure, even if they don't back off the bit, but are still leaning on it, I still reward them for going in the right direction, and release the rein and leg pressure. Some horses really don't get it... On some older horses, that are very very used to reacting bit pressure wrong, I start turning circles. Little circles, usually about 10-15ft across. I then put pressure on the inside rein, and don't let off it, until he tucks his head just a little bit to me. The horse will usually want to just turn around on his front end, just moving his hindend around his fronts. The trick is to keep all four of his feet moving, so that the back stays relaxed. Some horses really really don't get it... If you still have trouble getting your horse to tuck his head and relax his back, you might try using a drawrein a couple of times, just to demonstrate to him what you want from him. Again, the pressure and release applies, we just want him to understand what we want, then translate it to everyday work. Learn to walk the fine line between advancing your training, developing muscle and coordination and enforcing your upper spot in the pecking order. Check out the Online Clinic...