I read that some people, horse whisperers, can communicate with their horses by simply acting and thinking like horses. It's interesting to think about, that people can just bond with their horse and gain the horses trust, by behaving like one. I read that some people never use whips or spurs or anything like that on their horses, that can go both ways, bad and good, depending on your horse. There was an article about this guy that just went in a pasture with this wild, untamed horse, and all he did was act like a horse himself, he would follow the horse around (while it would be trying to kick him) and then, somehow it eventually decided it could trust this guy. The guy then saddled this wild horse and rode it without any trouble. I'm not quite sure that is real, it sounds like something that would happen in a movie, not real life. The point is, people have to gain the trust of a horse in order to have a good bond with it, that's what I'm trying to do with Elliott, then he will trust me more and I will trust him more when I ride him bareback.