In this episode of Science for Soundness, Steffi explores a major blind spot in the equine world:
our culture focuses heavily on behaviour, while often overlooking the internal state that gives rise to it.
Behaviour is a window into the horse —
but only one of the windows.
And when we rely on it as the whole picture, we miss the deeper truths about safety, regulation, readiness and connection.
In this episode, we explore:
- Why so many owners feel caught between R+ and R-
- How a horse’s state shapes their ability to learn
- Why methods feel inconsistent or confusing in real life
- What behaviour can tell us — and what it cannot
- The essential conditions horses need before training
- Why connection isn’t created by technique, but by the environment we cultivate
- The shift that changes everything in the horse-human relationship
This is a gentle but transformative reframing of the foundations most of us were taught.
If something in your training has felt “off” but you couldn’t name it…
this episode might give you the language for what your intuition already knows.
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