September 28, 2021

Your Horse's Trust

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Build confidence

Building Trust with a New Partner to Winning the World

Kyla Jeffries unexpectedly entered the AQHA youth world with a horse she had never ridden before. She quickly went to work on building trust and communication with her new partner, with just a month until show day.

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The Thinking Rider

Gaining Your Horse’s Trust

A trusting horse is a willing, responsive horse. Here’s the secret to gaining your horse’s trust.

Credit: LEFT: Photo by Cappy Jackson; RIGHT: Photo by Alana Harrison LEFT: Naturally timid: Whizards Baby Doll (‘Roxy’), the phenomenal mare who took me to freestyle reining fame, needed encouragement to develop trust. Her fearful, reactive personality made her wary. RIGHT: Naturally bold: Jacs Electric Whiz (‘Jac’) is Roxy’s son, yet has a different personality. He’s so confident that it can be a challenge to keep his attention. I work on having him respect me as his leader.
Horse Behavior

Trust & Respect

Trust is key with timid horses; bold ones need to develop more respect.