How to Read Horse Behavior — Elsa Sinclair on the 5 Types of Leadership

Horsewoman and filmmaker Elsa Sinclair explains how to read horse behavior through five types of leadership — dominant, persistent, assertive, passive, and supportive — and defines leadership as any action that results in harmony. Drawing on her year training a wild mustang named Myrnah at liberty, she breaks down feel vs. timing, how to see a horse's thought before you reward it, and why being the most accurate trainer beats being the best. This is freedom based training as a craft. Part 2 of 2. CHAPTERS 0:00 The question under everything: would he choose you? 0:23 The five types of leadership — dominant, persistent, assertive 4:53 Passive and supportive leadership: reading the room 7:31 Riding Myrnah bridleless — and the three-month wait 9:46 Feel vs. timing: seeing the thought before you reward it 13:26 Going faster without making the horse opt out 21:44 "I desperately wanted to give up the goal of riding Myrnah" 24:30 Hyperfocus vs. process: set the goal, the horse sets the timeline 30:23 The homework: read the room four times in a row 40:19 Confidence trumps every strategy 45:36 Myrnah and Atlas: the two horses that made her 49:00 Curiosity over patience 56:24 Rapid fire Episode Sponsored by Total Feeds Our mission to provide quality nutrition to people and animals puts us in contact with all manner of interesting folks. Whether you're interested in our animal feed, or the people involved in the animal industry: you'll find it at Total Feeds! Check out our line of Quality Animal Feeds here: https://totalfeeds.com Interested in more from Noëlle? Noëlle's writing again — head to her Substack for essays, observations, and the kind of thinking that doesn't fit in an episode. https://noellefloyd.substack.com And if you're ready to go deeper, NF+ is where the real work happens — masterclasses, curated content, and a community that takes horses seriously. https://noellefloydplus.com