If you square up to a horse and look directly at it, it is more likely to move out of your way than if you approach softly with your eyes cast down, right? No, says behavioural zoologist, Emma Creighton, PhD, from Newcastle University. Your speed of approach is the only "body language" with any meaning to a naive horse, and looking away as you approach may actually make him even likelier to spook.

The appropriately timed application of pressure and release is the only sure way to a calm and obedient horse. With good training, every horse can become responsive to the lightest of aids. But once in a while, something stronger than a regular halter may initially be necessary to show the remedial horse what is expected of him. The effectiveness of a training aid depends not just on how much pressure it is able to put on the horse. The ability of the horse to tell the various cues apart is even more important. So how exactly are some of the most popular training aids perceived by the horse? Manuela McLean from the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre explains.

Once the young horse has worked out how to canter in self carriage, it's time to work on refining his transitions. Dressage trainer Kirsten Hansen has used the same method for over 30 years and it works every time.

Dressage trainer Kirsten Hansen can take months to prepare a young horse for canter on the lunge. But once he is well balanced and used to carrying his back in a raised position in trot, he can do the same in canter without much ado.

A schooled horse collects by coiling his loins and bending the haunches for a marked lowering of the croup. Dressage trainer Kirsten Hansen teaches the frail beginnings of this to young horses on the lunge.

What makes a ridden horse stretch into the contact? This ability starts to develop when the green horse learns to carry his back by actively reaching his head and neck out and forward, Dressage trainer Kirsten Hansen shows you how.

The young horse needs to stretch his topline in order to learn to carry his back in a raised position. But how can you show the horse the way down without using any side reins? Dressage trainer Kirsten Hansen explains.

Why is it so important for a horse to voluntarily drop his head and neck to stretch? What does it look like when the back really swings. See a young horse move in slow motion to understand the importance of a decontracted topline.