Moving horses is a great thing to do for the horses mind to learn how to take and respond to human pressure, and it is a great way for a human to learn how to get better at moving livestock.

The reason it is good for the horse if done right is that they learn how to get the pressure released by moving away from it while also learning not to get themselves in trouble with other horses. They have to think ahead and set themselves up not to get in a tight spot. They get used to having a human in all different spots around them and learn they can switch eyes and ends without panicking. All real good things if they learn to think their way out of pressure rather than react or panic out of pressure. One of the real important things to try to figure out is putting enough pressure on so the horses are challenged but not so much that they just react rather than think.

The benefits for the human is that with horses it is easier to recognize and remember how a horse reacted to your pressure and to the other horses pressure, than it is with cattle or sheep. With the way a horses neck are so long and they swish their tale they tell you when you are out of position better than a shorter necked animal, and they show their feelings towards other horses and when you are creating the wrong pressure more.

Horses will sure show you if you are stopping or slowing movement, pressuring in the wrong spot, or using to little or to much pressure. You will learn from it if you think about it.

Remember, if they get easier every day you are doing the right thing(it can always be better) and if it gets harder every day you are doing some things wrong.(it could always be worse).

The nice thing about having cattle and horses coming into the same spots at different times is the horses will really teach you how to get better at pressuring the calves to get a better flow with out making mistakes that you don’t even see.