At the dawn of the twentieth century, New York City was the home of more than two million horses. Horses can adapt to almost any circumstances, but the ideal Guide Horse owner will live in a suburban or rural setting. The Guide Horse Foundation uses the same techniques that have been employed for centuries in training Cavalry horses to remain calm, even in the heat of battle. The GHF also borrows techniques used by police departments in their training of riot control horses. The Guide Horses are systematically desensitized to chaotic and noisy situations and they are trained to ignore threats from other animals when in harness.
Horses also look to their leader to know how to respond to a novel event.
In a herd, all horses look to the lead mare to see how she reacts to a new event. If the lead mare does not exhibit fear, all of the horses will relax. This principle applies to Guide Horse training, and the Guide Horse will not exhibit fear if their trainer is not scared. During training the Guide Horse will develop an almost symbiotic relationship with their handler. The Guide Horse will anticipate the desires of the handler and it will appear to spectators that the horse somehow senses the desires of the handler before the command is issued.