Is it liberty... or is it obedience?

“Liberty” training has gained an increasing amount of interest over the last 15 years or so, but have we lost sight of what liberty truly is? 🤔

“Liberty” has become the umbrella term for any work with a horse that is physically unrestrained, i.e., no tack or any type of physical equipment to keep the horse with the trainer.

The untrained eye would look at this form of training and think, “Wow, the horse chooses to stay with the trainer because if he didn’t want to, he could run away.” However, horses are incredibly peaceful and conflict-avoidant creatures, and they can very easily be made obedient enough to stay with you, even when you take the halter off.

Unfortunately, that is what most “liberty” methods are based on these days. They generally involve making the horse uncomfortable if he leaves you and then taking the discomfort away when he is with you (i.e., pressure & release). This creates obedience as the horse attempts to avoid discomfort and appease the human. (Appease means to try to please or satisfy someone you find intimidating/aggressive/scary/dangerous in order to not cause further anger or conflict).

However, the word “liberty” means freedom, independence, autonomy, and choice, and in order for the horse to be truly at liberty, he cannot feel threatened or forced… sounds kind of obvious, right?

Unfortunately, the forced “liberty” is very common and is often justified through the use of dominance theory. This theory suggests establishing yourself as the alpha horse so that your horse will respect and trust you as its leader, causing him to want to do whatever you say. However, science has proven that this is just not how it works, however romantic some trainers may make it sound.

Of course, some people prefer liberty training based on obedience because it offers greater reliability in the horse’s performance and response to your requests. True liberty requires much more freedom for the horse and thereby requires more fluidity within the session and for the session to be structured around the horse to ensure it’s a fun and positive experience for him! 🌟

So, with all the methods out there for so-called “liberty,” how do you know if what you are learning/doing/watching is actually true liberty?

Here are some clues you can look for:

• The method does not rely on the use of equipment initially to eventually “transition” to liberty.
• The horse can be in a wide-open space from the very beginning; you do not necessarily need a round yard or a small fenced space.
• When the horse leaves you, the method does not involve punishing, pressuring, or making the horse uncomfortable in order to cause him to come back.
• Positive reinforcement is incorporated into the method, i.e., you are giving your horse something they want (food, scratches) instead of relying on the release of discomfort to be the motivator. 🍏🦄
• The method does not rely on being the boss/alpha/leader over your horse or use dominance theory to justify harsh methods because “this is what they do to each other.”
• The method does not in any way work to suppress the horse into submission but works to build the horse up into a more confident, playful, expressive version of himself.
• The method is scientifically sound and not merely based on someone’s opinion.
• You feel good about applying the method with your horse rather than feeling guilty or regretful afterward.

To be honest with you, there are way more methods for obedience-based liberty than there are for actual true liberty. When I created the academy, I wanted to use a whole different word because “liberty” has become so tainted… but I decided to stick with it because it’s time to bring back the true meaning of the word!

I hope that helps you distinguish the different types of “liberty” in the horse world. If you are keen to dive deeper, I discuss this topic in my free masterclass: Launch Into Liberty: Where and How to Begin, and of course the academy is open for enrollments too, and I really hope to see you there soon!

That’s it from me for now. Have a wonderful rest of your week, and I hope that you get to spend some time with your beautiful horses! 🐴💕

Nadine 🌸