Equestrians of all ages gathered in Salmon Arm to learn more from Dr. Andrew McLean, one of the world’s leading authorities on equine behaviour and learning theory.
McLean’s ground-breaking work in equine cognition, and his method of teaching horses through the use of simple, readily understood ‘aids,’ has helped riders worldwide develop a more humane way of training their horses.
“Tradition can take us so far, but there are quite a few pitfalls of tradition. One of them is the way we understand what is going on in the horse’s head,” says McLean, whose first equine career was as a competitor in Olympic equestrian events. During his two days at Topline Stables, McLean worked with a wide range of horses, some of whom were young and at the beginning of their riding careers, some with conflict behaviors from inappropriate training, as well as experienced horses like Topline owner Sonya Campbell’s Zamiro, whose focus was to improve tempo changes in preparation for Intermediaire.