Over the past few decades researchers have shed important light on how horses learn and feel. Recently, equitation scientists adapted this knowledge to create a peer-reviewed list of 10 First Principles of Horse Training, adopted by the International Society for Equitation Science (ISES). 

Properly applied, the principles offer a healthy future for horse sports grounded in scientific evidence for good horse welfare, said Andrew McLean, PhD, BSc, Dipl. Ed., founder of the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre, in Victoria, during his presentation at the 2025 Horse XP Experience for Wellness Conference, held March 15-16 in San Marcello Piteglio, Italy. 

“The 10 principles give us a good overview about what we’ve learned scientifically about the horse, and how to apply that to interact with the horse in the best way—for everyone.”  

1. Regard for Human and Horse Safety 

Because horses are large, powerful prey animals with a strong flight instinct, they can pose risks to humans, McLean said. Thus, humans need proper guidance on how to reduce those risks by better understanding how horses think.  

He added that humans, too, can be dangerous to horses. For example, inappropriate training techniques or misuse of equipment can cause confusion, pain, and even alter a horse’s breathing.  

“We need to teach people how to train lightness and to recognize the importance of a safe environment—for horses as well as humans,” McLean said.  

2. Regard for the Nature of Horses 

We should respect horses’ need for fiber-based diets, which involve lots of chewing time, as well as their need to interact with other horses and move around a lot, said McLean. “This isn’t just something the horse wants,” he explained. “It’s something the horse has wiring in the brain to actually need.” 

In addition, horses should have agency—the opportunity to make choices. That includes choosing to roll in a dirt patch at pasture, or find his own path during a hack in the forest. 

People should also improve their communication skills with horses and understand their appreciation for smooth body movements and unthreatening body postures, McLean said. Horses should be free of unnecessary practices that deprive them of their nature—such as trimming off whiskers, which have a sensory purpose.  

3. Regard for Horses’ Mental and Sensory Abilities 

Understanding your horse’s cognitive abilities can help you ensure you never expect too much from him or blame him, McLean said.  

“We should also avoid applying mental state narratives to horses, like saying they’re ‘confident,’ or ‘a chicken,’ because it can lead us to treat them like that instead of turning the mirror onto ourselves to see what we’ve done wrong,” he said.  

It’s also important to recognize how their vision, hearing, and smell differ from ours, McLean added.  

4. Regard for Horses’ Current Emotional States 

Horses’ moods can change depending on how they’re trained and managed, said McLean.  

Consistent training with clear cues can prevent confusion, he added. Using body posture that supports those cues (more on this in a moment) ensures our signals are clear and don’t conflict with each other.  

Our own attitudes can affect horses’ moods as well, so we should “downregulate ourselves so we’re not stressed” when working with horses.  

5. Correct Use of Habituation/Desensitization/Calming Methods With Horses 

McLean added that ethical training methods can help prevent flight responses by reducing fear of typically scary things, such as umbrellas or needle pricks. Scientifically proven methods that take horses’ cognition and sensitivity into consideration include techniques such as systematic desensitization, overshadowing, and counter-conditioning. 

In contrast, people shouldn’t force horses to endure scary things/situations by blocking them from moving—a method known as “flooding.” The technique is not only bad for welfare but also can lead to dangerous short- or long-term consequences.  

6. Correct Use of Operant Conditioning in Horses 

Scientists use the term operant conditioning to refer to that based on cues and rewards—for example, applying leg pressure and then immediately removing it as soon as the horse moves forward, McLean explained.  

They base reinforcements on either adding something—giving a food treat or wither scratch—or removing something—releasing pressure. While both kinds of reinforcements can be effective, timing is critical for their success, he said. And in general, combining the two can work very well for ethical and efficient training.  

People should avoid punishing horses—such as hitting them in response to unwanted behavior or depriving them of food or freedom. 

“The main reason we want to punish horses is because of mistakes we ourselves make,” he said. “That negatively affects the way he sees you.” 

7. Correct Use of Classical Conditioning in Horses 

Classical conditioning relies on the movements, images, and sounds—such as gathering up the reins or clicking with the tongue—that precede a pressure cue. Horses pick up on these stimuli and respond to them in anticipation of pressure, meaning they eventually respond to rein-gathering or tongue-clicks alone.  

Classical conditioning creates lightness and good communication between horse and rider, said McLean. 

“We need to have consistent riding posture … so that our rein and leg aids are consistently paired with subtle alterations in body posture,” he said. “This coupling of leg/rein aids with body posture is known as compound conditioning. We know from the studies that one without the other is ineffective, and that is why good riding lessons from skilled coaches are essential.”  

8. Correct Use of Shaping in Horses

Shaping involves breaking down training into microgoals by asking for and rewarding progress little by little. “Our goal is to understand the smallest steps to get to our larger training goals,” McLean said. “We’ve got to make training as easy and obvious as it can be for the horse.”  

Shaping also involves recognizing context. “Horses are very clever and very good at contextual learning,” he said. “So if I train a horse to do something, that doesn’t mean he’ll do it somewhere else. And it doesn’t mean he’ll do it for you. And if I trained him on a sunny day, it doesn’t mean he’ll do it in the rain. We should only train one context at a time until the response is consolidated and then move to another context, one at a time.” 

9. Correct Use of Signals/Cues When Working With Horses 

 
“In my experience, even high-level horse trainers commonly assume they are using signals and cues correctly—but this is rarely so,” said McLean. “There is still a lot to be learned in this regard because there are certain strict principles surrounding the use and applications of aids.”  

Specifically, each aid should have a single meaning. For example, rein tension in a specific direction plus an associated posture should mean slowing the tempo. A slightly stronger version should mean a downward transition to the next gait—and nothing else. Closing leg pressure should mean moving forward or an upward transition—and nothing else. 

Likewise, people should not use conflicting cues—such as rein tension (slow down) at the same time as double leg pressure (go forward). “In a well-trained horse, the aids can come very close together, but they must be applied in the distinct footfalls that occur within each of the gaits, he said.   

Horses can also recognize pressure cues in slightly different areas of the body, allowing for more options for clearer aids. “This is why we use our leg in a different position for yielding the hindquarters, or canter, or highly collected movements such as piaffe,” said McLean. 

“Always ask yourself, ‘Can the horse discriminate all these things I ask him to do?’” he added.  

10. Regard for Horses’ Self-Carriage 

Self-carriage refers to training horses to continue with the requested gait, tempo, stride-length, posture, and direction until further notice. That’s a stark contrast to constraining horses to hold those movements—which compromises health and welfare. 

“Take your legs away,” said McLean. “Take the reins away. Take one rein or one leg away. If he quickens, raises his head or falls out, he was held, not trained.” 

He said he believes, proper self-carriage is the critical way forward in horse sports—it eliminates the rider’s perceived need to force the horse into a position or nag him with the reins or spurs.  

Take-Home Message

McLean said these 10 principles help people use training and management practices that support the well-being of both horses and humans.  

“What I love about equitation science—including these 10 principles—is that it’s a very fair and sensible way of looking at horse training,” he added. “These principles hold the key for the best performances we will ever see that are good for horse welfare, good for the rider’s soul, and pleasant optics for the public. The future is coming. We just need to be brave enough to look for it.”