How horses learn:
Horses don't do categorisation like humans. They learn each cue and respond to it with exacting detail. To horses, little differences have a big impact in their learning. People often think they have to change course completely if a horse does not respond in a correct way the first time. But more and different cues do not really solve the problem. Stick to the cue you gave your horse and give it time to figure out the "correct answer", trial and error. The cleanest and consistent cues work best. Ask in the same way you have asked before. You horse will figure it out what you want. 
If it does not work even if you have given ( or think you have) the same signal for the expected task, something is wrong. ITS NOT THE HORSE!!!!! Its either the teacher, the body awareness of the rider/trainer, the environment is not suitable for your horse to learn (stress triggers, distraction....), or your horse is physically not able to perform the task (yet).
It is always helpful to check certain factors and the learning environment and mental state of your horse when the training is not progressing as you expect.
An example of a problem: If you do pole work on the ground and you want your horse to walk or trot over them, but your horses fails and stumbles within or always touches the poles. You get inpatient or frustrated, your horse becomes helpless because it cannot understand what you want him to do. 
Solution: A solution here can be to check the distance of the poles! If the poles are too close, it is physically impossible for your horse to do this task. Measurement aids for pole work are available on the web, or your trainer might be able to provide the information too.

What is happening in their brain when horses learn?
Such as human learning, learning means built new connections/pathways within the braincells.
Horses gain knowledge by:

• Association
• Consequence
• Observation
• Emotion
• Problem- solving
• Testing

The difference to human learning process is:
Humans add to them the ability cognition, planning, reasoning, forethought and judgement. And the " baggage" of doubt, arrogance and fear of embarrassment. As we all know, this baggage is not helpful for learning. Actually it prevents us from learning and causes stress. 
Horses are fast learner as they do not have these " baggage" abilities within their learning process.

A horses behaviour is a mirror of the past as you know, if you own a horse that did not have a nice previous life before it met you....A lot of bad experiences you have to deal with. But as we know, learning never stops. You can still train a horse with bad experience, it just takes longer, needs more patience and a lot of practise. Like humans, horses with a bad past have a lot of triggers that you need to find out within time and " override" them with new, more positive behaviour. That takes time and needs lots of repetitions over time .( not in the same training lesson)

If you want to know more about body awareness, equestrian yoga and Mindfulness for equestrians, please contact me.
I am your coach for Harmony in motion and mindful Horsemanship. 
Happy to help you improve your body awareness and riding posture and be more present with your horse.

You find answers here, why a good sense of feel or body perception of your horses body BUT also your own body is essential for the quality of your riding and the health of your horse.

The sense of feel is called proprioception and is the sense of body awareness.
This sense gives us the feedback of where our bodies are in space (e.g. if we are standing, moving, laying down, having our arms straightened or bended, if we are standing on one leg or two etc.).
Our horses have that sense too. It is interacting with our sense of feel when we are riding.
In riding , the sense of feel is very important as ( within practise) we are able to feel where our horses legs are, whether their back is relaxed or tensed up, how their movements change if we are moving in the saddle or when we  apply our aids with the legs, just to give a few examples.
For the horse it is important too, to feel our "communication" with our body , to respond to our aids with the manoeuvre we asked them to. They have learned to canter, stop, walk, turn etc. on certain amounts of pressure with the leg, signals with the reigns or shifting weight of our body when in the saddle. 

We are constantly demanding body control of our horses, means we are demanding him to control the speed, walking over pools on the ground, jumping, doing side pass etc. These are very complex tasks for the sense of proprioception. It involves contractions and release of muscles, balancing, coordination of the legs, staying soft on the reigns, and staying focused. All at the same time. Often the horse needs to compensate, if the rider is not balanced and centred in the saddle yet. And this is probably the normal case, as nobody is perfectly balanced or aligned within their body without doing constantly exercises or stretching in a Gym or by doing Yoga or Pilates once a week.
So, the horse needs to work hard but also the rider.
We need to FEEL our own movements very good to be able to balance our aids we apply with legs and hands and the centre of our body, all at the same time. Just if we are balanced and have a good body perception we can achieve good performance, not inhibiting our horses movements and balance and also helping him to become stronger, more balanced, coordinated and easier to ride each time.

Everyone knows, the horse needs to be warmed up, doing stretching and strengthening exercises to prepare the body for the work and to become the "athlete" we need or want. Within training he needs to built up the right muscles to carry the rider and himself  balanced without developing soreness or injuries.
BUT what about the riders body? It is as essential as the horses body, for healthy and sound performance.
So, ask yourself:

• How is my body perception? 
• Am I having pain somewhere in my body?
• Do I suffer from chronic back pain, tensed shoulders or an old injurie?
• Am I aware of what my body parts are doing while I am riding?
• How is my balance in my daily life? Am I struggling holding my balance when putting on my shoes, standing on a ladder or walk on uneven ground?
• Am I aware of it, when I tense up my shoulders while sitting at my desk working?
• Do I feel my feet properly when I am standing?

Riders learn how to strengthening and stretching the horses body, how to jump properly or do certain dressage movements. 
BUT riders normally do not learn how to warm up and prepare their own bodies before getting in the saddle. That is not part of a riding lesson. 
So, riders hear all the time " straighten up", " sit deeper in the saddle", " move your heels down" etc etc. So, everyone is trying hard to follow these instructions, but what if the body is not capable of doing that? What if there a restrictions in the mobility due an old injurie or present mobility issues?
Due to our " modern" world we are sitting much more and moving less. The modern society is developing all sorts of musculoskeletal diseases such as chronic backpain, high tensed shoulders, neck pain, knee pain, restricted hip mobility due to long sitting etc. The list is long.

The good news: Riders can train their body perception and learn an easy way to warm up their bodies and prepare them for riding! There is a lot available on video like Yoga, Pilates, tai chi, ground exercises etc.
Look for equestrian yoga and Pilates as these address the specific needs of the rider. 
If you improve your own sense of feel you can improve your communication with your horse and achieve a better performance. The sense of feel of your horse and your own sense of feel are connected and interacting in a better balance. 
The result: Better performance, healthy and mobile horse AND rider, happier riding experience. 
If you have questions about yoga or mindfulness practise to improve YOUR body perception, please contact me. I am able to practise Equestrian yoga with you to address YOUR mobility issues and help you to improve your mobility for riding.
​Contact Britta on bbhorsecare@gmail.com or on Facebook :BB HORSE CARE