How a horse thinks
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It all boils down to how one thinks horses think. If you think
horses are just a collection of per-programmed behaviors and are
incapable of modifying them or making new ones up then its only
logically for you to think that you have to act like a horse
in order to communicate with them.

It all boils down to compassion. Compassion is, toward horses,
walking in a horses hoofs. So lets do just this....

Suppose now that you have no hands..... never had any hands. 
Suppose that you have never relly talked to others, except for
yhe most basic of things, like food, how to avoid work, ect.
Suppose now that you have in prison all your life and relly
dont know anything, or have seen anything outside.
Suppose your role models have been a herd of horses and only on
occasion a human.
Decrease the size of everything mechanical by a factor of 10
Theres one more thing too that everyone forgets.... age. Yes, lets
suppose that your only 5 years old... Remember a horse may be mature
at 5 years old BUT the horse still only has 5 years of learning 
experience and very poor learning experience at that.

Do you think this 5 year old child PERSON could figgure out how 
to unlock a stall door if locked in a stall?  Probably not. 
Handicapped like they are do you think a 20 year old could? Maby
but probably not (yes.... most people cant figgure out how to
open child proof bottles WITH hands and traning.)

Other emotions
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Ive heard that some people say that horses dont love, and will never
feel love for a human. Yet.... humans cant relly describe love, or
what it exactly is to like, or ANY emotion.

I see a mare with a newborne foal. She dotes... licks, wants to be
 with it, protects it. This sure seems to be love to me
Can this horse feel love for a human? 
Ever had your favorite
horse put theirselves between you and other horses because they
wanted all your attention?
Ever had a horse or cow lick you, and keep trying to groom you?
Ever had a horse follow you arround wherever you go in the pasture,
and expecially get in the way when your priving posts or stringing
wire?
Sounds like love to me.... 

seperate a foal from a mare and see the mare run arround and pitch a
fit.
Sounds like a crazy emotional state a human would get into to me.
 Put this mare on a lead and watch her paw the ground and dig
a hole . They get SO upset they wont do anything till they calm down.
Sure looks like a temper tantrum.


so what if horses are like big furry children?
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The problem is if you treat a horse like you were a horse yourself 
then that horse will treat you like you were another horse. Then
you try to dominate them.....

Take a group of people. Try to dominate them. We can see attemps of
this everyday. You will get some followers (we will refere to as
the sheep). Many will run, not take you seriously but find a way
to avoid conflict. Some will however fight you. Only a few of the
sheep will like you.... sorta of  noone else will. Suppose this
above group was humans? The same holds true. Sounds to me like a 
mutiny waiting to happen.

However if you treat your horse like they were thinking LEARNING 
children, then the horse will understand that you 
are not a horse and  you can help the horse
form NEW behavior thwards humans..... all humans. 
The problem is
if you dont teach the horse that you are NOT a horse, then you are
always waiting for a confrontation. Too often I see nowadays an animal
attacking someone and that person saying IT WAS ALL MY FAULT, I
SHOULDNT HAVE DONE THAT. Thats the problem with this reasoning. Its
dangerous.

So If you train your horse like it had a brain, was like a big
child, most people already have a basic understanding of haw to
train as we were all children and maby even have raised some. 
Training becomes simple, reward vs punishment. This is the old
school. 
Unfortunately many trainers im afraid in the history of horses and
children have abused the punishnent bit and perhaps to make up for
a lack of reward.Their punishment becomes revenge or just plain 
nastyness. Many people tend to ne nasty ... its how our society
raises children. These people should avoid punishment and I would
probably think even avoid horses/other animals.... and people.
Unfortunately too some people go to the other
extreme and give NO punishment. With no great reward like love
this process to may be ineffective. 
These are the two extremes. 
The trick is to know when to do which and how much.

love as a reward
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 I would hope that a big part of this reward process would be love, 
but love/bond takes time and a professional trainer may not care to 
take this extra time. A love BOND IS PAID FOR WITH TIME.....and is cheapest
with a newborne foal. There is nothing wrong to bond with the foal at
the same time as it is bonding with its mother. It will have plenty of
time with its mother.... You might form a 3-way bond with mama too.
First lesson is simple. Lay the foal in your lap (with mama there)
and hold down till the foal falls asleap. Read a book, watch tv,
spend time....... In about 30 min the foal will hop up and be ready
to play, and probably walk all over you in the process, but you will
see a big difference each time you do this. Spend time with mama
too, bruch/scratch her, then she wont be teaching the foal your someone
to be avoided. Play at leading, placing a littly hand pressure on back.
The foal WILL remember it at a later date.

Foals you TRAIN.....you dont break, as theres no bad bahavior formed
TO break. If you do things RIGHT punishment may almost be nonexistant. 

punishment
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Older problem horses you BREAK. You break them of some bad behavior.
but the bonding thing still makes your job easier. The bigger reward
you give them, the more results. The problem is that if you use NO
punishment ever, you have never told the horse that any action is
BAD. Only that the opposite is encouraged. This can be dangerous.
Some behaviors can kill you. 

If you are TRULY in charge, it is as if you were a mini-king. A good
king sets up laws and enforces them fair. A punishment should be for
SPECIFIC THINGS, be immediate and quick, and the recipent should know
why they are getting the punishment. The punishment should MIRROR the
crime.

MY laws are that any deliberate and even some non-deliberate (remember
my horses have reason, so are expected to look out for me) actions
that may cause me harm get them PUNISHED in equal perportion to
the severity of their act. It may meen a slap, or mean a stick or
in extreme cases hambvurger.

In the case of all punishment it must be offset with reward. The 
total balance must be postiive, the reward must MORE than offset the
punishment. A little punishment goes a long ways, so without a strong
reward like love, you relly cant deal out much punishment without
the animal starting to hate you.

With love, its hard to overpunish as love if its real will hold
you back.

conclusion
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Horses are very remarkable animals. They have survived many millions
of years in every corner of the world BECAUSE THEY CAN ADAPT. They
will adapt to you... up to or down to your expectations
of them.
Some people say that disneyland horses dont exist in the real world.
Some people say that you shouldnt wish upon a star.
Yet I say these people just have never tried it, or looked for
the disney horse, or have ever spent the time to love their horse,
and as a result have never seen that wishes come true and 
disney horses CAN and DO exist......