Editor’s Note: These articles were originally published in 2005 by Mike and Jean Gorzalka through their Wyoming-based website, Perfect Horse Gifts, and companion email newsletter, The Roundup. Long before social media and modern creator platforms, small enthusiast websites like theirs helped connect horse owners through newsletters, article syndication, blogs, and shared horsemanship ideas online.
Table of Contents
Written during the early rise of online natural horsemanship communities, the series reflected a relationship-focused approach to horse training centered around patience, communication, consistency, and partnership.
Mike Gorzalka spent much of his life around horses and often credited his father, Mike Sr., for teaching him the importance of understanding the horse and using a firm but gentler approach to helping horses understand what we humans are trying to communicate.
These archived articles have been lightly edited for spelling, formatting, and readability while preserving the author’s original voice and intent.
Overview
What Are The 6 Keys To Building A Life Long Partnership With Your Horse?
If you’re someone who is serious about developing your horsemanship skills or just want a great relationship with your horse I would encourage you to examine and then put into practice ALL 6 keys. It’s key that you not leave any of the six out if you’re to realize the end result, a lifetime partnership with your horse that is safe, enjoyable and rewarding.
1. Understanding
You need to understand your horse. To do that you have to understand how horses think.
2. Mind-set
Your attitude= How you communicate. Being assertive vs. aggressive and being evenhanded. Your mind-set (attitude) affects the mind-set (attitude) of your horse.
3. Approach
Helping your horse to understand what it is you want him to do.
4. Patience
Be patient/tolerant; take the time do it right and you won’t have to go back and do it again and again.
5. Creativeness
Creating challenges for you and your horse. Learning what the two of you can accomplish together. Why settle for mediocrity?
6. Equipment
Having the proper horse equipment, understanding what it’s for and how it’s used is essential.
First Key: Understanding
“Understanding”… The FIRST Of 6 Keys In Building A Life Long Partnership With Your Horse!
Yesterday we talked a little about the 6 Keys for a Life Long Partnership with your horse. Today I would like to visit with you about the first key, Understanding. I would like to start by asking you a question. Have you ever wondered why your horse acts like he does, how he thinks and moves? If so, then you need to understand the prey-predator relationship. But before we start, it’s important that we understand that if we’re going to effectively communicate with horses, we need to think like horses. We need to look at and approach everything from the horse’s point of view.
If we understand that horses are prey animals and that horses perceive people as predators and realize that each thinks differently, we can begin to understand how our horses think, act and move, and why we react the way we do. Both the horse and human are simply considering all factors, then adjusting to the situation.
Prey animals by nature are programmed to be cowards. They are herd, fear-flight animals. In other words, when they perceive danger they run and continue running until they feel they have escaped danger.
To horses, humans look and smell like predators. If we’re going to communicate with our horse in an effective manner, then it’s necessary to prove to our horse that we are not a predator. We need to understand what type of behavior we need to show if we are to get a certain behavior from the horse.
Once the horse accepts that we are not as bad as we seem and we are not a predator, he becomes gentle. In other words, he no longer perceives us to be dangerous.
In a herd of horses there is always a pecking order, and once our horse decides that we are not a danger to him he will put us in a pecking order to fit into his world. (Remember all of this is about the horse, his world and perceptions, not yours.) You will be placed higher or lower depending on respect and authority.
Remember the horse is a prey animal and is supposed to act the way he does. It’s our task to help him act less like a prey animal and more like a partner. To accomplish this we need our horse to be sensitive or aware of our cues and communication rather than danger. We need to turn his flight from fear reaction into forward motion or impulsion. We have to work at getting him to want to be with us, to take the herd instinct and turn it into bonding with us.
The concepts we have discussed today are much easier said than done. Why? Because horses and humans think differently, and this is often a source of conflict.
Let’s wrap up what we have discussed today. We will gain respect from our horse if we uphold our responsibilities, which are: not act like a predator, be where we need to be emotionally when communicating with our horse, think like a horse and not a human, and focus on where we are headed and what we want to do. If we do, our horse will sense this, respect us and follow us as the leader.
Reading and studying these articles should help improve your knowledge base and hopefully your horsemanship skills.
Second Key: Mind-Set
The Second of 6 Keys To Building A Life Long Partnership With Your Horse using Natural Horsemanship skills.
Your mind-set, approach and way of thinking (your beliefs) are critical to building trust and a lasting relationship with your horse. Your mind-set is the first thing you must scrutinize and work to understand in developing your natural horsemanship skills.
People generally have one of two mind-sets when it comes to getting a horse to do something. They either have the mind-set that they are going to use force or intimidate the horse to get him to do what they want, or they use the buddy-up method of trying to sweet-talk their horse into doing it. Both of these methods are hopeless. You will not gain the trust nor respect you’re looking for from your horse.
There is a third mind-set, one that will get the results you’re looking for in your horse. People that fit into this mind-set are not aggressive or willy-nilly, but evenhanded. They lie somewhere between the two extremes.
When working with your horse your mind-set is to be as gentle and calm as you can, but as firm as necessary. It’s important to keep in mind that while you’re being gentle, be gentle without being wimpy, and when being firm, do so without being mean or mad.
The mind-set of a horseman should be to not do things to your horse, but rather to do things for and with your horse. Be creative and think outside the box when it comes to doing things with your horse.
The mind-set of a horseman should be that principles are more important than purpose and that adjusting to fit the situation is more important than rules.
Let’s recap today’s discussion on Mind-Set and Natural Horsemanship.
1. Your mind-set is critical in developing trust and a lasting relationship with your horse.
2. People generally fall into one of two mind-sets. The first, they use force or intimidation to get what they want out of the horse. The second uses the buddy or sweet-talk method to try to get what they want from the horse. Neither work.
3. There is a third mind-set, being evenhanded, not aggressive or willy-nilly.
4. Horsemen should do things for and with their horses and not do things to them.
5. Be creative and think outside the box when doing things with your horse.
6. Be gentle and calm without being wimpy and be as firm as necessary without getting mad or mean.
7. Principles are more important than purpose and adjusting to fit the situation is more important than rules.
Understanding Natural Horsemanship and using the 6 Keys can help you achieve a wonderful and long lasting partnership with your horse!
Third Key: Approach
The Third of 6 Keys To Building A Life Long Partnership With Your Horse
Approach… In horse training or natural horsemanship, approach is nothing more than a technique or method used in helping your horse understand what it is you want him to do.
I feel it’s important to point out at this time that one of the major reasons people fail to achieve excellence with their horse is that they are not mentally, emotionally and physically fit. The way to achieve this is by being persistent and consistent in learning and practicing your horse training and natural horsemanship skills. Remember, it’s not your horse’s fault. It’s your responsibility to be fit if you’re to achieve success and excellence with your horse.
In talking about approach or techniques in our horse training, we’ll use some examples to point out some approaches people take in working with their horses which are very different from natural horsemanship.
Let’s talk a little about longeing… Most people longe their horses to exercise them, but let’s look at what happens when you do this. Your horse is going in mindless circles, usually circling to the left, and will certainly get stronger physically, but unfortunately he will also get mentally weaker because you are only exercising his body and not his mind. Good horse training and developing good horsemanship skills requires that you exercise both his body and mind.
Now let’s look at lateral longeing. This is where we are going to exercise both your horse’s body and mind. First, what are the differences between longeing and lateral longeing?
In normal longeing, the person is only exercising the horse to take off the edge so the horse will be easier to ride. I think it’s important to note that if you’re longeing your horse 15 minutes to take off the edge, eventually you will be exercising him 30 minutes to take off the edge. As you continue this regime he will become stronger and stronger until you can no longer handle him.
In natural horsemanship horse training, using lateral longeing, you’re looking to develop a communication system with your horse along with exercising his body and mind, which will cause your horse to be emotionally collected. This communication system is built around 6 yields… Your horse going forward, backward, left, right, up or down. These 6 yields work into a series of maneuvers which will exercise your horse’s mind and body. By being persistent and using the 6 yields you will help your horse become mentally collected and instead of increasing the time it takes to get your horse under control, you will decrease the time each day. By using lateral longeing you can help your horse become mentally collected in a shorter period of time.
Remember that horses can do only 6 things, but they can do them in combination… move forward, backward, left, right, up and down. Your goal should be to get your horse to go forward, backward and sideways whenever you ask him. If you can do this, you will become the Alpha horse in his society.
When you teach your horse to go backwards you are also teaching him to stop. The better he backs up, the better he stops. When you teach him to go sideways, you are also teaching him to steer left or right. When moving right or left you are simply moving his hindquarters or front quarters, or moving them both at the same time to move sideways. Most horsemen will tell you that the better a horse backs up and goes sideways, the better he will do everything else.
In natural horsemanship and horse training, lateral longeing is different from normal longeing in that you are exercising your horse’s mind with his body following naturally, causing your horse to yield to you mentally.
Let’s take a quick look at riding. What do most people do after saddling and getting on their horse? They kick him to go, rein him across the neck to turn and pull on him to stop. In natural horsemanship horse training these methods are rarely or never used. Instead, why not get him mentally and emotionally ready first? Why not put your horse through the 6 yields? Yes, I know that takes some time, but is it worth it to you and your horse to be emotionally and mentally fit before you go riding?
After putting your horse through the 6 yields, you’re now ready to mount. After you’re mounted, it’s time to ask your horse to move forward. Instead of kicking him to go, why not ask him to move by giving him a cue?
For example, if you want to move your horse forward, put 2 or 3 cues together, put them in order and be consistent with them and your horse will eventually respond to the cues. An example of this would be to…
1. Squeeze both cheeks of your buttocks tightly. If that won’t cause him to move forward, then progress to cue number 2.
2. Gently squeeze with your legs clear to your ankles and use a verbal cue such as a cluck, kiss or smooch. If this still won’t get him moving forward, then progress to cue number 3.
3. Give your horse a spank, preferably closer to the center of the tail head. This will start your horse to move straight. If you spank right or left of center, you will cause your horse to move off to the left or right.
When using cues remember to start the cue with light pressure and increase the pressure. (The pressure should only be for a few seconds before moving on to the next cue.) If there is no response, move on to the next cue until you get the desired response. With practice and consistency, your horse will learn to move off the pressure (cue) at the slightest squeeze of your buttocks or legs, whichever you decide to use as your cue.
This article is getting long, so I will briefly touch on stopping your horse. There are two ways to stop your horse: pulling back on the reins, which most people use, or you can bend your horse’s neck around with one rein and cause him to stop. If you can bend his neck to the right and stop his right side, then his left side is probably not going to run off and vice versa.
I do not recommend letting or allowing your horse to stop on his own. If you allow this behavior, you will eventually have problems keeping your horse moving. You only want your horse to stop after preparing him with a cue to stop and then giving him the cue to stop.
A cue might be bringing down your energy by putting both hands on your thighs, completely relaxing and looking down at your tummy. To sum it up, quit riding. Eventually your horse figures out that you have stopped riding and he will stop. Remember, you have to be consistent and persistent. It is not going to happen overnight, but eventually your horse will figure out the cues and you will get the desired response.
One other thing: make sure you keep your horse straight. This will cause him to stop. Don’t worry about him not stopping as quickly as you like as long as he comes to a stop. As I said before, it takes time to get the desired response.
Good luck and have fun with your horse(s)!
Fourth Key: Patience
Patients… The Fourth Of 6 Keys To Building A Life Long Partnership With Your Horse
In Natural Horsemanship, being patient and tolerant means taking the time to do it right so you won’t have to go back and do it again and again.
Why do I call the fourth key “Patients” when we are really talking about time? Because if we lose patience, we will not spend the time it takes to get our horse through the stages necessary for building a life long partnership. Being patient is very important because it’s going to take time to build that partnership.
Let’s talk a little about your horse and the time it’s going to take to get him from where he is now to being a green broke horse. Let’s assume your horse has never been ridden, or has been ridden very little in terms of proper training or natural horsemanship.
For a horse to feel comfortable having a person on his back will take approximately 300 hours of riding. If you rode your horse 1 hour a day, five days a week, then it would take a little over a year to get 300 hours of riding time, or a little over a year for your horse to feel comfortable having you on his back.
Let’s say you’re not consistent with your riding time. Maybe you rode your horse 20 hours and then, for whatever reason, turned him out. Then six months later you rode him 40 hours and turned him out again for another six months, then started riding him again and put another 75 hours on him. If this continues until you have 300 hours, how old would he be? If you started him as a 2-year-old, he may be 4 or 5 years old or older before you had the 300 hours.
The point here is that the quicker you put the 300 hours on him, the quicker he will feel comfortable with you on his back. Being patient is important, and being persistent and consistent will shorten the time it takes to accomplish your goals.
To take your horse from being a green broke horse to the next level, and by that I mean getting your horse from the green broke phase to being a solid, safe and dependable partner, requires that you gain the necessary skills by going through the different phases of natural horsemanship.
The time it takes to get your horse from the green broke phase to being a solid, safe and dependable partner is around 1,100 hours. I want you to keep in mind that you will never really finish your horse because you will continue to refine your horse for a lifetime.
We have talked about how long it takes a horse to go through the different phases. Now we need to spend a little time on the individual horseman.
So, how long does it take a person to be considered a good rider? We will approach this question from the thought that the rider is a green novice. It generally takes a green novice about 1,000 hours before being comfortable in a saddle. You need to remember it’s going to take time for the rider to get used to the horse and how he moves, thinks, acts and feels. The only way to get the feel of a horse is through riding experience. The more riding a novice does, the better rider they will become.
Have you ever wondered how much time you should spend working with your horse? (Instead of working with your horse, why not think in terms of playing with your horse?)
Consider this: when it stops being fun for you or your horse, you’re not playing anymore. It’s become work and probably time to stop. When you’re playing with your horse, you should think of it as working on yourself and playing with your horse.
One other topic I would like to discuss with you is timing. We spent a few minutes discussing playing with your horse and when it’s time to quit. Equally important is your timing when playing with your horse. Timing will probably be most important to your horse.
In your relationship with your horse, it’s very important to know when you should quit doing what you are doing. It’s not what you do with your horse that counts; it’s when you quit doing something that counts.
An example: let’s say you have asked your horse to do something through a cue you have given him and he gives you the slightest try. You should instantly quit giving him the cue. You need to recognize that the horse tried, no matter how slight. It’s your responsibility to have perfect timing and stop what you’re doing when your horse tries.
When you are learning this skill, remember it’s going to take time to get perfect timing and you shouldn’t get discouraged. You will learn. At first it will be difficult, but as you learn to read your horse’s body language you will begin to perfect this skill.
Natural Horsemanship is about learning this skill — being able to recognize if your horse is trying to do what you are asking him to do. Be careful not to reward the wrong response or reward the horse for doing it with an attitude.
If your horse is attempting to do it correctly with the right attitude and you are slow in rewarding him, he will be confused because he thought he tried. If your horse gets no reward (relief) after trying, soon he will quit trying.
How long you do something with your horse is not as important as knowing when to quit doing it. Knowing when to take away the pressure — when to quit — is as important to the technique as the technique itself.
Have fun with your horse(s)!
Fifth Key: Creativeness
The Fifth Of 6 Keys To Building A Life Long Partnership With Your Horse
Today I am going to ask you to think about being creative when playing with your horse.
I would like you to remember that when I use terms such as horse training and natural horsemanship I am actually referring to playing with your horse.
Of the 6 keys, the two most difficult to grasp are mind-set (attitude) and creativeness (imagination). Of these two, creativeness is the most difficult. This is where you need to work on yourself and play with your horse.
You need to ALLOW your creativeness to come through. Think about when you were a child, how active your imagination was and how creative you were. As adults, we have forgotten how to use our imagination and creative powers. When playing with your horse it’s important that you learn to use your imagination and be creative again.
You need to challenge yourself and your horse. Don’t be satisfied with mediocre results. As I have mentioned earlier, there are only six things a horse can do – move forward, backward, left, right, up and down – and there are a thousand challenges for each.
An example might be moving your horse forward into a horse trailer. Not much of a challenge unless he hasn’t been loaded into a trailer before, but let’s say he has and is good at loading forward. A greater challenge might be to load him by backing him in. Now you are challenging both yourself and your horse.
The next time you are out riding, look for all the challenges that are staring you right in the face. Let’s say your horse won’t cross a stream, but you work at this challenge until you get him to cross. Now what? How about getting him to side-pass through the stream or even back through the stream? How many other creative ideas can you come up with? Great, now you’re using your imagination!
I think it’s important to note that most people are generally looking for answers in a logical way. They want rules and regulations and apply them to horses. Things can change quickly when you’re dealing with horses and a dogmatic approach is not the answer. You need to be flexible and change as the situation dictates.
In horse training or natural horsemanship there are no rules or regulations that fit all situations, only goals and principles and adjustments you will need to make to fit the situation.
Once you have the knowledge about mind-set, understanding, patience, approach and equipment, then you need to put in the time it takes to be successful. The last ingredient needed is to be creative and use your imagination to come up with adjustments to fit any situation you may be in with your horse.
Remember, things can change quickly when training your horse. Rather than training your horse to put up with your shortfalls, use the six keys.
Have fun with your horse(s)!
Sixth Key: Equipment
Horse Training Equipment: The 6th of 6 Keys To Developing A Partnership With Your Horse
Today I would like to talk with you about the equipment you will need and a little about these tools.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you’re not able to get your horse to do what it is you’re asking of him or correct a problem you’re having with your horse? If you have, then you may have found yourself in the unfortunate situation of having to use severe aids (torture devices). Maybe a bigger, more severe bit to get him to do what you want or correct a problem you’re having. Believe me when I say, this is not the answer.
In the last article we talked about using creativeness and imagination, a great tool. Use it to help solve problems you are having with your horse instead of using equipment that is severe and punishes your horse. Always use equipment that helps you communicate with your horse rather than punishes (tortures) him.
How would you like to be able to communicate with your horse with nothing attached to him, independent of halters, ropes, lead ropes, bits, spurs, sticks or other aids? Is it possible? The answer is YES. To accomplish this you will need to understand the categories of tools and how to use them.
Tools are aids, and there are two kinds: natural and artificial. Artificial aids are such things as lead ropes, halters, ropes, hackamores, bits, spurs and others. Natural aids are simple — they are you: your arms, legs, hands, seat and voice.
What are the different categories of tools? They are not in any particular order.
a. Spurs
Extensions of your legs.
b. Sticks
Extensions of your arms.
c. Halters, ropes, hackamores and mecates
Used for basic communication.
d. Bits
Used for riding refinement.
The bit and spur are used while on your horse’s back and are used to teach, reinforce, control and refine the 6 yields (forward, backward, left, right, up and down). The spur is used as an extension of your leg.
The stick, lead rope and halter are also used to teach, reinforce, control and refine the six yields and can be used on the ground or from the horse’s back. The stick is used as an extension of your arms.
Using these categories you can play with your horse to develop and build a great foundation between you and your horse.
Tools I use and suggest you use are:
a. Rope hackamore
Why? They are the most gentle, followed by leather and rawhide, and have no metal parts.
b. 6′ horseman’s string
Used to teach the horse to yield to pressure. It can also be used as a rein attached to the hackamore.
c. 5′ horseman’s stick
Has a leather keeper at the end. Used for teaching the horse to yield to pressure and can be used for flagging, touching and tapping. You can also attach the horseman’s string and use it as an extension of your arms. (Do not use it as a whip.)
d. Mecate reins
Mecate reins are usually 22 feet long with 10 feet of continuous loop rein. The remaining 12 feet is used as a lead rope. The mecate rein can be used with a hackamore or snaffle bit. You can loop the mecate rein through your belt loop or around your saddle horn.
e. Snaffle bit
Used for teaching, controlling, reinforcing and refining lateral flexion. The snaffle I prefer has 3-inch rings and a 5-inch-wide mouthpiece made of sweet iron with a few copper inlays. This creates just enough taste and saliva and helps prevent dry mouth, which can become an irritant and distract the horse. The bit then loses its effectiveness as a communication tool.
f. Bareback pad
This is optional. They have a handle on the pad to help you balance yourself when learning to ride bareback. If you opt for a bareback pad, make sure you find one made of leather with felt pad liners and regular mohair cinches.
g. Saddle
Used for riding your horse. Having owned a saddle shop with my brother, who is one of the best saddle makers in the country, I can tell you the most important thing in choosing a saddle, whether western or English, is the tree. Make sure the bars fit your horse’s back and the seat is comfortable and fits you. For more information, visit with your local saddle maker to find out how to properly fit both your horse and yourself.
h. Saddle pad
Used under the saddle on the horse’s back. Choose a saddle pad made of natural materials, something like wool, and make sure it offers enough protection for your horse’s back. If you are doing a lot of hard riding in a western saddle, you will want to use a good saddle pad and a folded Navajo blanket. Light riding usually requires only one good pad.
i. Spurs
Extensions of your legs. DO NOT jab your horse with your spurs or use them as a torture device. Spurs are meant to be used to teach, control, reinforce and refine lateral movement and up-and-down movement. GENTLY apply pressure to get the response you are looking for. I prefer a medium-shank spur with a rowel that rolls freely. Make sure the rowel is large and wide with a lot of blunt points.
I hope this gives you some insight on the types of tools and how to use them.
Have fun with your horse(s)!
Mike
This article brings to a conclusion the 6 Keys for developing a life long partnership with your horse. I hope you found it helpful?
Preserved from a scattered collection of surviving web pages, blog archives, syndicated articles, and Wayback Machine captures from the early days of online horsemanship communities.
Originally written by Mike Gorzalka and published online in 2005 through Perfect Horse Gifts and The Roundup newsletter.
Last updated: May 23, 2026
Originally published: June 15, 2005
