Working with this approach requires a complete paradigm shift of thinking about, understanding, perceiving and way of working with, horses.

I do not say that light-heartedly! When working in this way we have to take into account the individual horse and how they live in their 'family' or herd group on a daily basis, recognise and appreciate equine behaviour, the individual behaviour, their social culture and instinctual behaviour and accomodate that into our daily training. 

I have been trying to find ways to communicate through understanding and mutual learning (them and me), develop a peer, 'friends' or 'herd of two' type relationship, with the freedom to choose to engage in exercises or not, with the use of positive reward and affirmations as the mainstay of training techniques. In short I have been working to achieve a two-way, mutually consenting, egalitarian relationship.

At this juncture it is important to say that I am absolutely NOT using the common natural horsemanship methods as I find them to be too pressure oriented and dependant on negative reinforcement for what I am looking to achieve. I have become highly motivated to find a way of schooling and training that increases the horse's own sense of self and encourages him to become an exquisite problem solver and thrive on his own joy of movement and expression.

I am looking to develop the individual horse to become a confident, entrepeneurial learner and to encourage and marvel at the physical expression of movement and dance. I am looking to encourage the horse to explore the environment, at a speed that serves his own capacities to learn and process, and to gymnasticise the horse to become strong, agile and full of self-presence with total sanity, safety and, that all important, respect for my human fragility.