Markus & Andrea Eschbach

Feed me, give me water and care for me,
Talk to me – your voice often substitutes for the reins for me.
Be good to me and I will serve you cheerfully and love you.
From the poem: 'Prayer of a Horse'

Dual-activation: Better training results with your horse

Independently of your riding style - Western, English, Dressage - and of your level, dual-activation is a method to support your daily, normal training. 

The idea of dual-activation is based on the fact that there is an imbalance between a horse's left and right eye (as a matter of fact, there is almost no connection between the two eyes) which means that horses learn with their left eye and all over again with their right! So if it has seen an object on the way out of the stable, it has never seen the same object on the way back to the stable! Moreover, horses have a weak and a strong eye, which leads to a situation where they are naturally imbalanced. Unfortunately, humans reinforce that imbalance by mainly handling their horse from the left side.

How does dual-activation work?

It is a method that helps your horse to develop a better body awareness, balance and coordination of its feet. Studies have proven that of all colours horses can distinguish yellow and blue the best. Thanks to the optical impulse of these colours, the horse's brain is stimulated equally. Both eyes are stimulated by the yellow and blue - the horse starts to concentrate much better, which improves the relationship with its human. The aids for the dual-activation are blue and yellow beams, made of a soft material to avoid injuries, put together to make lanes or alleys between which the horse has to move (Michael Geitner). The horse has to pay attention to the rider, to coordinate its legs and move throughout the entire course in a very concentrated and collected way.

As mentioned before, dual-activation can be used in all disciplines as a basic training, enhancing a mutual understanding between horse and rider.

If you would like to find out more about this method, do not hesitate to contact us.