Reading Horse Behavior- What do you see?

 Do you assess the horse's behavior after the session? 

This horse whose past is not completely clear has experienced enough aggressive training that he is highly defensive toward people. He would appear very "sweet" (as long as you had a treat) and come over and impose to be caught... But once he realized there was no food, he'd leave and avoid all human interaction.  If he was troubled on the lead rope, he'd either stop and lock up or bolt off. This is after the second session out in the field. I find a lot of folks want to "see" the immediate warm-and-fuzzy moments with the horse, without seeing the horse learn to work through their anticipation and old coping/default behavioral patterns. This is a good opportunity to practice reading the horse's behavior.

If you're curious about in-depth horse behavior (which is the foundation to every quality equine partnership) please visit The Remote Horse Coach video catalog and click the "Horse Behavior" category at the top of the page.