How to properly train a young horse to be a riding mount is a topic now being discussed in equestrian science circles, as researchers recently compared the emotional effects of "natural" versus "conventional" methods of early training. Their results indicate that natural training methods produced fewer signs of stress in young horses at three important stages of training.

In the current study led by Polish equestrian scientist Witold Kedzierski, PhD, from the department of animal biochemistry and physiology at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, natural training consisted of working with horses individually in a round pen, starting them with ground work, schooling them to avoid pressure, and helping them get used to unfamiliar objects. Natural trainers waited for each horse to show acceptance to the saddle and to having the weight of a human over its back before mounting the horse in a seated position, Kedzierski said.

"Essentially, the natural trainers used body language to communicate with the horses," he added during a presentation at the 2011 International Society for Equitation Science Conference, held Oct. 26-29 in Hooge Mierde, The Netherlands.

Conventional training in this study involved first training the horses to walk on an automated walker and then longeing the horses in a training arena. Once the horse could be controlled at a trot on the longe line, it was saddled and longed under saddle until it accepted the saddle, and then it was mounted by the trainer