Do you have a curious horse? Then you might recognize the following from your training or just the daily handling of the horse. "Bend the horse away from what it is afraid of." Or "Just ride fast past what makes it nervous". But this might not be the best method at all. At least not if you ask Michelle Lindenskov from The Art of Mindful Horsetraining, where she publishes i.a. podcasts on horse training. Michelle encourages all horse owners to train their horses to be curious because it ultimately ensures calmer rides.
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Foals, like so many other animal children, are born with a natural curiosity towards their surroundings. They have to learn what is dangerous and what is not. So they scratch the surface, for example, to see if it is safe to walk on. Over time, the investigative behavior disappears, but as Michelle Lindenskov points out, it can be helpful to stick with it because it results in a lower stress level. Michelle explains it like this:
Start by finding out what motivates your horse. Maybe it loves treats, a favorite exercise or a proper round of cuttel. Use that as praise in your workout.
It is important to remember that all horses are different. Therefore they will not all be equally exploratory by nature. When that is the case, it is important to make the exercise more inviting for the horse. Maybe the red bucket or the blue tarpaulin is not interesting enough, well then it could be that a Pilates ball does the trick.