🧠 10 Neuroscience Findings That Changed My Life

1. Horses learn through prediction, not dominance

Horses’ brains prioritise predictability over hierarchy. Studies show reduced stress responses when cues & outcomes are consistent & increased anxiety when they’re not. This reframes “leadership” as providing clarity, not control.

I have seen this with my mare Sage in particular, she came to me as a restart & the root of her issues was a lack of understanding, when the cues became clear & predictable she was in a position to learn & make sense of our exchanges.

2. Stress shuts down learning - literally

Elevated cortisol impairs hippocampal function (memory + learning). Mild challenge promotes learning, high arousal blocks it. This confirms why calm, short, successful sessions outperform long stressful training exchanges.

3. Horses learn best when their nervous system feels “safe enough” — not just when pressure is removed

Modern affective-neuroscience research shows that learning is strongly influenced by the balance between the sympathetic (threat-response as well as attention & focus) & parasympathetic (rest-digest-social) systems.

Horses don’t need to be fully relaxed to learn, but they do need to be in a tolerable zone of arousal. Too much pressure pushes them into defensive survival states, while too little stimulation limits engagement & retention of learning.For training, this means the goal isn’t calm-for-the-sake-of-calm, it’s creating a safe, curious, connected emotional state where the horse can process information instead of simply coping.

4. Social learning is real & powerful

Neuroscience & behaviour studies show horses use mirror-neuron–like processes to learn from herd members. Watching calm horses perform tasks can reduce fear & acceleration in adopting new behaviours.

5. Body language is processed before words or cues

The equine visual system & threat-detection circuits give priority to movement & posture. Your breathing, stance & presence are processed faster than your aids, explaining why subtle shifts work better than escalating pressure.

6. Horses remember emotional experiences

The amygdala tags emotional experiences for long-term storage. Harsh, frightening moments create robust memories, while positive emotional states dramatically increase retention of new skills.

7. Horses form attachments that influence learning chemistry

Research shows oxytocin rises during calm, affiliative human–horse interaction, improving bonding & reducing fear.

8. The young horse’s brain has sensitive periods

Foals have critical neurodevelopment windows where gentle exposure shapes lifelong reactivity & coping capacity. Calm handling during these windows leads to more resilient adult behaviour.

9. Repetition builds neural pathways, but only if the pattern is clear

Neurons that fire together wire together – Hebb’s Law. But if the release or reward timing is inconsistent, the neural pattern remains weak. This makes timing the single most important skill in our horsemanship repertoire.

10. Agency accelerates learning

Giving horses small, safe choices (targeting, following, exploring, touching) boosts the brain’s motivation circuitry.

Touch in my experience is an essential tactile experience for equine learning, each vibrissae (whisker) on a horse’s muzzle is rooted in a specialized follicle rich in blood supply & sensory nerves. These vibrissae are crucial for touch & sussing out a situation for horses, particularly as they have limited binocular vision & have a blind spot in front of their muzzle. Tactile cues are an important source of information & when allowed can actually reduce a horse’s stress (touching the saddle pad, horsebox ramp etc.)

Neuroscience shows animals learn faster when they feel control over outcomes, shaping a more confident, willing horse. This is often what we refer to as ‘try’ in horsemanship circles, when a horse attempts something we need to recognise it & support it. A try can be as simple as turning to look at something or shifting their weight.

‘Never knock the curiosity out of a young horse.’

Tom Dorrance

If you’d like to work with me, learn more, or just have a conversation about what’s possible, feel free to contact me & I would be only delighted to chat.

Helen