What Horses Really Want: Unlocking the Secrets to Trust, Cooperation and Reliability

by Lynn Acton

A book chock-full of answers to horse-behavior questions that will change your horse's life for the better.Horses want partners they trust. Meeting their need for security makes them more tuned-in, calmer, and more reliable. In her engaging book, highly illustrated with professional color photographs, certified riding instructor Lynn Acton, MS, shows you how, with practical step-by-step instructions. You’ll see that progress can be surprisingly fast with methods that are gentle, time-tested, backed by science, and that make intuitive sense to your horse. Discover how to earn trust and make training more efficient by engaging horses’ innate intelligence, maintaining clear two-way communication, and considering their point of view. This leadership approach has been used successfully for centuries by people of all backgrounds and skill levels on horses at all levels of training. Acton refers to this relationship as Protector Leadership because you are the horse’s protector. In these pages, she combines extensive horse experience and an academic background in social dynamics with in-depth research. She interprets and cites the scientific findings that explain why Protector Leadership works, and offers valuable insights into equine psychology while exposing myths that are sources of problems. Plus, Acton includes “Things to Try” at the end of each chapter—fun and easy-to-implement exercises that help you engage your horse as a thinking partnerThroughout, the narrative includes stories of Acton's progress with her own horses, including mistakes and hindsight, and especially the transformation of the book’s "cover girl" Brandy from a dangerous throwaway to a happy, reliable partner. Clear, detailed photographs show the subtle body language of horses and people, and illustrate critical interactions that make a real difference in our relationships, communication, and training. These are a few of the concrete skills you will · Earn trust starting the moment you meet a horse.· Recognize “misbehavior” that actually means your horse is thinking like a partner.· Turn pressure into clear communication instead of stress.· Use Positive Reinforcement for better learning, behavior, and reliability.· Turn anxiety and spooks into confidence building situations.· Discourage unwanted behavior without punishment.· Allow your horse appropriate choices and freedom.As your bond strengthens, you can enjoy watching your horse’s true personality blossom. A thoughtful, progressive book for riders of all disciplines and students of the horse of all experience levels.

Genres: Nonfiction, Horses

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 2020

Reviews

[Ilona Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a hidden treasure!
“What Horses Really Want” is one of our reference books which we use for our workshops and individual 1:1 sessions alongside the other more well-known resources such as Draaisma, Weston & Bedingfield etc.
A very easy to read format, following a series of 7 elements which form the ethos of Protector Leadership.
Having read the book in its entirety, I also use it to dip in and illustrate certain individual concepts, such as interpreting “problem” behaviour or to provide a light bulb moment for someone who is looking for reliability in their horse.
Each paragraph contains a diamond of knowledge that has been crafted into succinct, reality-based and easily understood text.

“Confidence is the feeling of security a horse has when he believes he can be successful at whatever you ask of him. You cannot measure success by what a horse does, or how many times he does it. You measure success by how confident he feels doing it. Confidence is essential for reliability.”

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem. It’s a very balanced view of the horse-human relationship with sound, practical advice that considers horse social, emotional, and physical aspects. There’s a lot of value in this grounded yet intuitive and attuned approach to solving problems and creating better interactions with your horse. I will be going back to this book while developing my relationship with my own horse 💙 Highly recommended! Also, the References section at the end is a treasure trove of related horsey books for further learning.

[Susan Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book, with great ideas on being a leader in general, but specifically for your horse. The book makes really good suggestions on how to listen and interpret what your horse is trying to express for a more harmonious relationship. One that is based on trust rather than fear and intimidation.

I highly suggest it for anyone that has horses.

[Brenna Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good refresher

A bit lacking in developing a programme, but still had valid points. As a dog sports enthusiast, i found the concepts almost identical.