Safety should always be your ultimate goal in horse training, and the only way to ensure the greatest safety is to properly train your horse.
Now nobody can guarantee perfect safety with a horse, after all they are still animals. And being animals, horses are still ruled by their instincts. So your goal is to train or reprogram your horse to the point that they look to you for guidance instead of relying on their instincts.
One of the most important things to remember when working with your horse is: NO TWO HORSES ARE THE SAME! That is why it is so important to continually build your “Toolbox” of horse training techniques. Remember, what works with one horse does not necessarily work with another.
While horses are very similar in their nature they are NOT identical. Therefore, if you've been trying something on a horse that's not working, but it did on a different horse, this may be the very reason.
You see, some horses learn to trust you quickly and never buck. Conversely, others will test you to the very end. The trick is to know your horse and what he'll do. You need to outsmart him and prevent the bad behavior before he starts it. This doesn’t mean you need to have ESP or anything of that nature, it just means that you need to use foresight. You will not be able to train your horse for every situation you may encounter, but you can train him to as many situations as you can think of.
All the horse training principles I will post here will not apply to every horse in the exact same way. Just as people are different, so are horses. Therefore, rather than attempting to use the same technique or method on every horse, you can almost always discover the best way to deal with each particular horse.
The biggest key to safety is beginning by understanding how horses think and react. Learn all you can, and remember - Knowledge is Power!
