What is "good" for the horse? This question is highly debatable since communication and its interpretation is left to us. What is decoded or interpreted from horses is usually only made credible by authentic horsemen or research. Horse owners often believe in different traditions to give their horse what it likes. They know that bits of information heard along the way maybe the natural likes and dislikes of any horse. The horse owner assumes things which are an opinion that in turn become a belief. These traditional beliefs that people have can turn into misconceptions that are then put into practice by riders Their behaviour toward horses surely respects the nature of the horse, and the person feels confident that he or she is doing what is best for the horse. Day after day people are confident and happy that the horse is happy because they believe this is the case. However, some misconceptions can be proven to be incorrect. Fact can motivate the horse owner to question traditional truisms.

Let us consider a few common assumptions made about horses and ponder facts that suggest otherwise.

Assumption: Horses Like to Run - For a horse to engage in full flight response is a triggered response to escape danger that is real or perceived. By nature horses do not love to run. In a natural environment this would be indeed rare. When horses are free to play in the field, the playing involves spurts of intermittent movements and stopping. Thus, for a rider to run a horse flat out sets the horse into a flight response which instinct says, "flee to escape from impending danger." Race horses, or any horse even a Shetland pony can be conditioned to race. When the horse is at the race track, it is its job to stand in a stall and wait to run. The horse learns to run with the group in a meaningless pursuit of one another. Running becomes plain old work. The seasoned polo horse would rather Walk at any available opportunity as an alternative to constantly running.

Assumption: Horses Like to Jump - Horses rarely jump in their natural environment. After watching wild horses and working with horses of all types, it is clear that the last thing a horse really wants to do is jump something. If given the time to curiously judge distance and to see what the obstacle is, any horse will walk into and out of that situation (or avoid it altogether). He will walk around or over it. It is only under pressure that a horse has no choice but to avoid it and jump over it. This pressure may be due to natural flight from danger or from the command of the rider. The horse can be conditioned to jump no doubt. I heard of a study that was done to a proven jumping horse. Food was put on the other side of a jump that was below its baseline level of jumping standard. It was left alone, and the horse would not jump to receive the food on the other side. I found this interesting. Whether they enjoy it of not, or have nothing better to do remains questionable!

Assumption: Horses Should be Active - Horses like to do nothing. In fact, it is a human idea that being active produces our belief in what is productive. However, just being and existing in contentment guarantees a horse's survival. Beyond necessity (food and shelter), the horse has little requirements Just living the moment in social harmony is important enough. Horses are Herd animals. This sense of belonging that all creatures require comes from the herd instinct in horses. A horse's whole sense of being comes from the social framework. A horse's place within any social system brings contentment and meaning. The isolated horse often becomes listless, dull or hyper-sensitive. Horses adore innocence which demonstrates their passivity and vulnerability. Anything non-threatening reminds the horses of a natural phenomenon akin to themselves. Children are the best example of this. The child would not expect anything from the horse nor would the horse expect anything in return. This natural bond works in a unity. Again everything stays pure and a horse respects this. The quickest way to make the relationship tainted is for people to think that they have to give the horse something to motivate it.

Assumption: Horses can Reason - This is not to say that a horse is not a thinking creature that relates to its environment. In fact, the horse's superior sensory development allows it the unique gift of relating to the world in the most effective way. Because a horse reacts completely by instinct it can trust itself and its decisions. A human's ability to reason often interferes with his intuition and feeling. A horse does what it feels instantly and learns from experiences and sensory input. Its "sixth sense" may be better than reason because everything is experienced as it is. There is no subjective view of things in a horse. A horse simply responds to what happens and not how or why it happens. Details are unimportant. It is often a rider's mistake of reprimanding a horse for something after the fact. The horse can only respond to the moment. Often a rider will give a horse something in expectation that the horse will in-turn do something for him. The horse remembers the action or event and cannot go Back to the cause and effect. In fact, horses are passive. A horse's nature is like the Greek form of true love: agape. It is a selfless love or compassion for all living things. A natural horse would not 'hurt a flee.' If a horse or probably any creature was threatened and had to save itself, it may become unintentionally dangerous. However, a horse does need leadership; they are not just inanimate beings. The leader gains leadership by natural experience and controlling movement - such as showing members of the herd where to be. Understanding the environment and possessing values like trust and respect develops a leader, not aggression or domination. The horse then follows change and deals with change. These changes would never be caused by a horse to itself. If a horse caused pressure by mistake to itself it would quickly find a way to alleviate this and find contentment. This is the essence of training a horse; we want the horse to think it caused the pressure and thus found the release, then the change is lasting and real.

Assumption: Horses are Color Blind - It was common thought that a horse sees in black and white. However, horses do see hues of colour. They may not see distinct colours as we do, but research shows that a horse can discriminate between types of colours. And this keen sense of sight is likely more detailed than ours. This is because their iris is highly developed to intensify light and texture of objects. White seems to be a mystery because a horse may perceive it to be simply nothing. Therefore, a horse cannot judge it, inspect it nor trust it at first. If horse discovers that white can be something, such as a white object, then it will remember and trust that particular object. However, a horse's sight is binocular, farsighted and twodimensional, so depth judgment and near sight is always a limitation for the horse.

So, take a lesson from a horse. Don't run or jump unless you have to. Make sure you do nothing once in a while. Live the colorful moments and respond only to what's happening. Respect all things and achieve innocence by being passive at times.