How to Build a Connection with a Horse

To build a connection with a horse, build up a friendship and trust by using positive reinforcement and infrequent reprimanding. Become friends with a horse to get its best performance with helpful tips from an experienced Grand Prix rider in this video on horse training.

How you build a chemistry with a top level horse. These are all special horses, so they all have different characters. The first thing I do is I build a friendship. I make them understand that I am their friend. A lot of riders in the old days or some of the different mentality riders, they feel like if you baby them too much or if you make them a pet that it becomes more difficult for them to perform. I think quite the opposite. I make them absolutely love me. And when they look at me it's, if you watch me walk down my barn aisle these horses are all about me and they enjoy the friendship we have. So first you build a friendship and then when you're angry in a moment and you show your displeasure then they understand. But if all day long for every little thing they're being reprimanded then they no longer understand right and wrong. And that's when they get plain. So that's my mentality is first I make them, I always use positive reinforcement, that's the biggest thing.