Left Brain, Right Brain
October 21, 2008
Knowing how horses operate can help your training efforts.
By AQHA Professional Horsewoman and Certified Horsemanship Association International Spokeswoman Julie Goodnight
Horses are very one-sided because they have a very underdeveloped corpus callosum, which is the connective tissue between the two hemispheres of the brain that allows messages to go from one side of the brain to the other.
Humans have a very highly developed corpus callosum, meaning we think with both sides of the brain at one time.
In horses, however, there’s not a lot of information going from one side to the other.
So, that’s why you train a horse on one side and then you have to go back and train them completely on the other side.
A horse pretty much thinks with one side of his brain at a time.
This has many implications for behavior and safety.
What are the most-appropriate training aids for your horse? Get advice from Dennis Moreland in AQHA’s Horse Tack Information report.
For learning, this one-sidedness means that we have to train both sides of the horse’s brain, but we should only work on one side of the horse at a time. In other words, if you are training the horse to be mounted, you would work first on the left side, train the skill thoroughly, then go over to the right side of the horse and start over with the training until the horse gets it.
For some horses, the second side will come much more quickly; for others, it is like you are starting all over (especially if you have not handled the horse from both sides).
Being able to switch from side to side fluidly with any skill will only happen once the horse is thoroughly trained on both sides.
How quickly a horse picks up a new skill on the second side is a good indicator of how balanced, or two-sided, the horse is (which, of course, is a good sign for performance training).
Horses are individuals and require different training techniques. Let Dennis Moreland help you choose the tack that’s right for you and your horse in AQHA’s Horse Tack Information report. Download your copy today!
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- General admittance – $7
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Call OK Tickets at (405) 948-6827 to place your order.
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Comments
2 Comments on “Left Brain, Right Brain”
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October 29th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I have been studying the Parelli Natural-Horse-Man-Ship methods for several years now. They have recently come out with a series of DVDs referred to as Liberty and Horse Behavior. This is a must see for anyone interested in forming a deeper relationship with their horse and truly understanding how they think.
Thank You
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Clinton Anderson thoroughly demonstrates the need for training each hemisphere in his training techniques. My husband and I find his methods very easily understood and easy to apply to our horses. It is amazing the difference we have accomplished with our horses.
See Clinton’s website about his “No Worries Club”. I like his direct and concise demonstrations with trained and untrained horses. In his No Worries Club videos, he works with a rider and her own horse.
Again, I like the concrete and logical steps of Clinton’s training program.