Liberty is where horse behaviour, strength, and performance come together. It’s about developing your understanding and communication while shaping your horse into a truly athletic, capable partner.
Sean doesn’t just teach Liberty as a set of techniques; he uses it as a tool to help students understand the way horses think, learn, and respond. For us, Liberty isn’t about tricks or showmanship; it’s about developing an understanding of your horse’s mind, why they do the things they do, and how they learn. Through Liberty, you’ll learn to read what your horse is telling you through their body language—and, more importantly, how to shape their response.
The 4 Liberty Pitfalls Every Trainer Faces
Four common pitfalls can stop your Liberty work dead in its tracks:
- Lack of Draw – Your horse won’t come to you, even when you’re in neutral, or without constant cues.
- Lack of Connection – The horse is disengaged: they’re either fearful, distracted, pushy, leaving, or focused on something or someone else.
- Poor Expression – Your horse looks like they’d rather be anywhere else—bored, unenthusiastic, or sour.
- Confusion – Your horse is trying, but can’t find the answer due to your position or the presentation of information.
Building a Dialogue
This isn’t just about theory—it’s about results. By using Liberty to create more dialogue, we can teach horses how to be smarter about navigating pressure, and how to become problem-solvers and super learners. This translates into every other aspect of your training.
In just a few days, people walk away with a deep understanding of horse behaviour, a better understanding of their horse as an individual, and a new level of skill in applying that knowledge to their training.
Skills for Groundwork, Riding, and Beyond
The lessons learned in Liberty clinics don’t just apply to Liberty work—they transfer directly into every other aspect of your horsemanship, whether you’re doing groundwork, riding, or competition training. The principles of Liberty build confidence, understanding, and mental flexibility in your horse, and those qualities carry over into everything else you do with them.
Sean’s approach offers a clear, sequential pathway for developing dialogue with your horse. Every exercise builds on the one before it, ensuring rapid progress and a lasting transformation in your partnership. With this method, students make progress quickly—because they’re not just learning techniques; they’re learning how to think like a horse.
