Horse owners need to understand one important element about their horse that will make their training easier and more successful.

We’re talking about your horse’s brain. Your horse’s brain has two halves that are not connected. You’ve probably heard trainers say, “make sure you do it on both sides of the horse.” What this means is that whatever technique you do with your horse, you have to do it on his other side once he does it on one side. In other words, if you get him used to a plastic bag on his left side, then you should do it on his right side. Why? Because his left brain doesn’t communicate with his right brain since they’re not connected.

Think about this. Your equine has one eye on both sides of its skull. His right eye is looking at what is happening to the right of him, in front of him on the right and behind him on the right. The left eye is doing the same thing on his left side. His eyes can see what is happening independently of each other. This means that when your horse looks at you with one eye, you only have half of his brain, therefore you only have half of his attention. If you don’t have his full attention, then you don’t have the horse.

This means that if you are about to teach your horse something, you need his attention. Think about it this way. Have you ever talked to someone and when you do they look somewhere and then back at you? That’s hard. You don’t have their attention. Why, then, would you allow your horse to do the same? There will be times when you cannot have both eyes due to the way you are training your horse. However, when you can get his eyes on you, then make sure you do. It makes training a horse easier and more successful.