WHY SHOULDER IN IS THE ALPHA & OMEGA OF ALL EQUINE TRAINING

✅ COMMUNICATION IS THE BASIS OF EVERYTHING
What blows my mind here is that on the one hand, there are a lot of people unaware of this and they never work on their communication skills towards the horse, nor are they trying to work out what the horses are saying to them. They think in terms of obedience & objection. When the horse objects, tools & punishment are used to get the horse to stop objecting and become obedient again, without even the slightest contemplation on the reason of the horse behind the objection. On the other hand, there are a number of people making their training all about communication with or perhaps better said, to the horse, yet somehow they end up quite the same as the first category, even though it might not seem that way at first glance.

❌ Whether you use a draw rein to force the head down or chase a horse in a round pen because he does not want to be caught, are in reality exactly the same:
- both are punishments to get the horse to do what you want
- without any thought about the reason the horse has to object
- both are very mentally and physically harmful to the horse.
In my book I explain why forcing the head down and chasing a horse in a round pen is harmful to a horse and what the healthy and friendly alternatives are.

✅ TO UNDERSTAND THE BASIC LANGUAGE OF THE HORSE, YOU DO NOT NEED ROUND PENS, CHASING OR ANY FORM OF TACK
You just need to watch horses interact with each other and understand that none of their movements are random.
When you really study the horse’s interactions and communication, you will also notice the following:

👉The movements horses make are the same movements we have come to view as ‘dressage movements’, of which the baseline of all equine conversation is the placement of the shoulders, or in other words; Shoulder in.

✅ IT IS ALL IN THE SHOULDERS
The way horses move the shoulders and the direction they move them in, as opposed to another horse is the very basis of their communication. When a horse moves the shoulders away from another horse whilst continuing to look at said horse, in fact thus positioning himself in shoulder in towards the other horse, is the basic for saying things such as:
- come with me
- I am making room for you out of respect
- play with me

✅ The rest of the body, the movement of the ears and the facial expressions make up the rest of the intended communication. I call that the open or ‘yes’ position.
Moving the shoulders towards another horse whilst looking away from that horse means exactly the opposite. The horse tells you to bugger off, in fact. I call this the closed or the ‘no’ position. Sadly, I see this position all the time towards humans, while being lead or lunged. The information the horse gives you here is vital to your basic communication and working together, but sadly, to many people are still completely unaware.

✅ EQUINE-HUMAN DICTIONARY
In my book you shall find in depth communication from horse to horse and horse to human. It is explained how to communicate back with the human body in a way horses understand as their own language, and you shall find an Equine-Human dictionary.

‼️ For this information alone, I need one million people to read my book, to create a tipping point worldwide, that gives horses their voice. Find my book here: 

And please spread this message!

✅ THE YES POSITION
Shoulder in is not only healthy for the horse physically from a dressage perspective. It is also necessary from a communication perspective. Knowing how to ask (ask, not force!) a horse shoulder in from the ground with your body, whether working freestyle or with tack, is a basic every human that wants to work with horses, in any form or shape, should possess. If you are sure you asked right and the horse does not want to do it, or even, shows you a shoulder out (no position), the horse then is not open to interaction with you and doing things for you.

‼️ A HORSE REFUSING TO DO SOMETHING IS NOT OBJECTION: IT IS INFORMATION
If a horse does not want to do something, ask yourself why he should do it in the first place. Because you paid for him, or because you pay for his food or livery? The horse does not know this, nor has he chosen for you to do that.
Make it worth his while, entice him with your requests, set out for success and reward, reward, reward, the smallest try. Then when the horse offers shoulder in towards you on request or better even, of his own accord, you have the information from your horse that he is open to communication with you, open to do things with and for you. Keep things worth his while, make it fun and easy, while challenging enough at the same time, give your horse a voice and a choice and the sky is the limit!

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For the love of Horses,
Josepha

© All rights reserved Josepha Guillaume - Dressage in Hand