16/08/2025
Lovely to hear Brie Simpson saying this. It is fundamental to good training of any kind, but so often overlooked. I began down this road over 25 years ago and honestly it was much easier teaching people how to do things well in the early days, whereas now I spend a lot of time unpicking issues that have developed because people have watched a video on YouTube and had a go without really understanding what they are doing. But the same applies to any kind of training done without a good foundation or understanding of the horse and what makes them tick. Please do make use of coaches that are experienced in this kind of work to get you started!!
We’d never let a beginner ride traditionally without guidance. So why expect it with Positive Reinforcement (R+)?
Horse riding is one of the riskiest sports in the world. Around 80% of riders will be injured at some point, and in the U.S. alone, nearly 50,000 people end up in the ER every year from equestrian accidents. Novices are at the highest risk, three times more likely to be injured than intermediates and eight times more than professionals.
Bad and risky training exists across all methods. When traditional or R- techniques are used without education, the risks are real and well-documented. Yet those dangers are rarely held up as a reason not to pursue traditional training.
When it comes to R+, though, the conversation often shifts unfairly. Traditional training isn’t measured by what beginners get wrong, yet R+ so often is. Muggy, pushy, or dangerous behaviour usually comes from humans who want to use food in training but don’t yet have the nuance to apply the same boundaries and foundations that every training method requires.
In my opinion, all R+ training should begin from a calm place. That means establishing a calm default behaviour or relaxation around food before layering in food as a training tool. If a horse is tense, stressed, or reactive around food, learning becomes more complicated, just as a tense, stressed, or reactive horse makes traditional training more difficult and risky.
That doesn’t make R+ inherently riskier, but it does mean beginners can feel isolated, try to learn on their own, and sometimes struggle to find the support they need.
The reality is you can throw a dart at a map and find a traditional / R- barn in that 10km radius. R+ takes more effort to find because it’s newer in the horse world. But that’s where the community makes up the difference. There are countless free resources, groups that answer questions at no cost, foundation courses, and one-on-one lessons available both online and in person. The education is there, and it’s more accessible than ever.
So why are we punishing R+ based on its “poorest” ex*****on, while ignoring the fact that we would never expect the same level of success from an inexperienced traditional handler? The truth is every type of horse handling requires guidance and foundations to keep both horses and humans safe.
