1. Teaching Article Series
7 (More) Important Principles of Equine Liberty Sports Training
Previously, a list of 10 training principles of Equine Principle 3: Liberty is a social (herd) activity
Liberty Sports was presented. Following is a continua-
Your lessons with your horse are a social activity. You
tion of that list. These ideas are progressive, innova-
may not think of it that way, but your horse does.
tive, sometimes controversial, but proven over and
The question that you need to ask yourself is this:
over again in a teaching program that demands that
Does your horse view your training style as social and
new principles be explored and tested.
engaging, or a human form of bullying. Interestingly,
Principle 1: Your horse is already free… it’s
you that must be liberated!
You have conditioned your horse through
training and by your habits… but YOU have
been conditioned as well! You’ve been con-
ditioned to always reach for the lines when-
ever you do anything with your horse. Your
horse already knows how to do Liberty- it’s
you that needs to learn!
Principle 2: No halter + no lines = Working
and playing with you!
Speaking of conditioning, you have probably
conditioned your horse in the following way: Halter when you take the lines off, your horse will let you
+ line = work and playing with you. No halter+ no know right away which group you fall into.
line= all the other things that she does when she’s not Horses push each other around play dominance
with you! games… but if you really observe the horses that are
One of the early challenges in Equine Liberty Sports bonded to each other, they seldom engage in aggres-
is changing this conditioning. When your horse is sive bullying type behaviors… with each other. There
loose, ideas about working with you and focusing on may be a little nudging, crankiness and “Go away I’m
you should feel exactly the same to him as if he has eating.”… but again, if there’s too much intensity in
the halter and line on. A parallel series of exercises these behaviors, the “offender” will, in time, seek the
called Be with Me is taught in the program specifically company of a horse who is a little less threatening.
to change this conditioning. Some horses take to the If you want a positive social relationship with your
new ideas readily; others take longer to shift their horse emulate bonding behaviors between herd
thinking and conditioning.
No Lines. No Limits. Page 1
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2. Teaching Article Series
7 (More) Important Principles of Equine Liberty Sports Training
mates, not bullying behaviors. Hang out with your Further, most groundwork uses some form of pressure
horse, “eat” with our horse, groom with your horse, and release to communicate ideas. From the very be-
play with your horse, investigate with ginning of the Equine Lib-
your horse... you get the idea. erty Sports teaching
program, the handler is
Principle 4: Inspire, teach, condition. asked to mentally “throw
The first step in teaching your horse away the lines” as they
to work and play with you without are teaching ideas with
lines, is to inspire him to choose to the lines.
stay with you. Positive reinforcement Early exercises are
and imitating herd mate attitudes and taught with no contact
behaviors is the first step. with your horses head or
Horses that are relaxed and enjoying body, which means that
their lessons are open to learning and an entirely new commu-
learn much more quickly. Further, pos- nication is taught to
itive reinforcement says to the horse your horse which relies
“Yes, that’s it!” and “Keep up the good upon body language,
work,” which tell the horse quickly that they are hand signals, audio signals, mimicking, energy, sug-
“guessing” correctly. This leads to confidence, which gestion, visualization, and more. All early lessons are
causes your horse to enjoy his lessons even more. (A taught on-line, in a style specific to the program, so
wonderful teaching and reinforcement cycle). that when the lines come off, the transition to Liberty
is easy and natural.
Repetition leads to conditioning, which are auto-
matic responses. In the larger sense, your horse will Principle 6: Movement and engagement are encour-
become conditioned to look forward to his lessons, aged
listen to you carefully and follow your suggestions… In many groundwork programs and some riding pro-
it will become his new way of being. grams the emphasis is on controlling movement and
Principle 5: On-line to teach, off-line to play sometimes even “shutting the horse down.” The Equine
Liberty Sports program does not seek to solve relation-
While it is tempting to think Liberty can be experi- ship and behavioral challenges, and in fact, if your
enced by simply learning a few new techniques- the horse is considered to be unsafe, it is not recom-
reality is this seldom goes easily or smoothly for ei- mended, at this time, that you begin the program.
ther you or your horse.
No Lines. No Limits. Page 2
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3. Teaching Article Series
7 (More) Important Principles of Equine Liberty Sports Training
The Equine Liberty Sports program encourages move-
ment and engagement. The handler is encouraged
to free their mind from the need to restrain and re-
strict movement. For the owner of energetic horses,
the program teaches many exercises to channel that
energy productively, and relax the nervous system,
naturally.
Principle 7: Obedience is a Human Idea, Not a
Horse Idea.
Can you imagine the trainers of SeaWorld’s Shaum
trying to force the killer whale jump in the air?
(And calling him disrespectful when he just swims
around in the pool?) Can you imagine hitting on
an elephant to make him perform tricks? And how
exactly would you force a parrot to speak?
It is interesting that we would never expect obedience
from massive, ferocious or wild animals. And yet, we
demand obedience from the horse, an animal that is
just small enough and just docile enough to allow us to
control him. Obedience in horse training is considered
correct, smart and… it’s supported by tradition.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a little… off?
When you take the lines off in Liberty training, force,
aggression, intimidation… just won’t work. And yet
horses can be inspired to offer the desired responses
and be conditioned (training) to offer the responses
and movement over and over again, without stress
and without resistance.
Equine Liberty Sports shines a powerful new light in the
area of horse training and asks horse owners all over
the world to “Get Liberated!”
No Lines. No Limits. Page 3
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