I've found many horse owners to be concerned about their physical strength as opposed to that of their horse. They fear they simply cannot firmly establish themselves as alpha, or leader, of relationship because horse is so much stronger. Thus when their horse displays poor ground manners or commits an inappropriate action they are more prone to ignore it and hope it doesn't develop into worse behaviors. After all, what choice do they have? The horse is just too strong.

The reality is that, except for youngest of foals, a horse will always possess more raw strength than a human. Any attempts to overpower a horse with sheer strength are doomed to fail. Techniques such as raising your voice towards or slapping a misbehaving horse do not rely on strength – they are psychological. The horse does not want conflict to escalate as it is uncertain exactly what your capabilities are, therefore it submits.

Of course there are exceptions, and truth be told such techniques are best used on already-trained horses or in situations where you cannot properly establish your authority due to lack of time or proper surroundings. The best way to instill respect and discipline into a naughty horse is by incorporating Great Equalizer: round pen.

Whereas many people view a round pen as a means for exercise (and it is true that it's a great exercise tool), true power behind round pen is its ability to establish dominance in a completely non-forceful method. In round pen, physical strength means very little. It is a quick and easy (as opposed to other methods) technique to make your alpha status known.

Allow me to share an example that will better illustrate why a round pen will serve you better than strength.

I once owned a willful young colt raised by a first-time mother, so unfortunately mare wasn't all that familiar with need to discipline her colt. In fact although colt was really quite a nice horse, he was unruly and tended to do whatever he wanted from day one. An experienced mare would not have permitted such antics, and had she "laid down law" better from first day colt would likely have been a little less rambunctious.

There are two issues here—Home-cooked meals verses commercial premium dog food.

Whether or not one is better than other is a matter of preference—you not your dog. And whether or not your dog becomes a demanding “gourmet” is also depending on you; not your dog.

In choosing varied “gourmet” diets for our dogs (diets which are quickly becoming expensive), we fall into an anthropomorphic fallacy—a tendency where human characteristics for animals.

Dogs and all animals are creatures of habit. A pup raised on an ordinary feed (even he’s strictly on commercially packed food) will grow to like it, sometimes shunning rarer delicacies in favor of "the usual."

Occasionally, your pooch may clamor for your steak while his own kibbles waits in his bowl, he’ll eventually go for his regular meal if other temptations don’t compete. Variety is not as crucial to him as it may seem to you.