The main vehicle for moving forward would be a shift of responsibility from the person expecting the horse to adjust to ‘find the release’, to the person adjusting for the horse through an ongoing ‘feel of release’. This changes what the horse relies on for meaning, and therefore for clarity. If the meaning is in the release of pressure, we teach him to seek comfort in the release of our feel. If the meaning is in our adjustments, based on a commitment to present what we mean in a way he can understand, we teach him to seek comfort in our feel.
The difference between the two is significant. If it is the release of pressure that teaches, then the communication of meaning depends on pressure to release. Clarity comes at the end of the communication, when the horse makes the right adjustment. Discomfort, and the promise of more discomfort, drive the horse’s desire to tune into that final adjustment for the correct response.
If instead the person is doing the tuning in and the adjustments, until the horse understands and offers the correct response, then the meaning is in that person’s feel, not in the release of it. The horse learns to seek the comfort of mutual understanding in our ongoing feel, vs. in the release of pressure.
The nature of the connection changes because the horse is comfortable from moment to moment with the person, vs. in the moments the pressure is released by the person.