In this three part series we’re considering what makes something an advanced behavior, or an advanced topic or concept. When people say they want to attend an advanced seminar, what do they mean? What are they looking for?

In Part 1 we explore this question from the perspective of what are we teaching our horses. I make the case that advanced training is just the basics done very, very well. Added to that is anything is an advanced skill or topic at the point where you don’t have the underlying components. So what is an advanced skill for one individual will be just the next doable step for another.

We consider if there is a difference in how we view advanced skills when we’re thinking about teaching our horses versus what we ourselves need to learn.

As the teachers of these behaviors it seems to me that we have the more complex task. Teaching well requires many skills. Would we consider these to be advanced skills?