In the equestrian sports we agree that the communication between horse and rider forms the core of good riding. This communication is therefore often the main focus of for instance a dressage training session. However, in-depth analyses of how the communication between horse and rider is used as an educational resource in training are scarce. Here, theories and methods from communication and learning science are brought together to show how trainers and riders together address this communication during intermediate level dressage training. The results presented are based on a qualitative, mixed methods study, combining interactional analyses of 15 hrs of video recordings of dressage trainings and phenomenographic analysis of interviews with the participants. Analyses of the interviews show the complexity of these learning situations: the foci of the training sessions vary depending on the riders’ and the horses’ condition and the goals set up by the human participants as well as on the experience of the horse and the rider. Regardless of the didactical focus (on training the rider, training the rider to train the horse or training the horse) and the scope of the training session, the analyses of the video recordings show how all trainers orient towards the horse-rider interaction in essentially the same three ways. The trainers give verbal instructions aimed at modifying the horse-rider communication, they use their own bodies as models and they intervene physically by for instance altering the posture of the rider, the position of parts of the rider’s body or showing the correct degree of pressure to be applied in a certain situation (and combinations of the above). However, trainers do not always set the agenda for the discussions. When given the opportunity, many riders participate actively the discussions. During the presentation, extracts from the video material will be used as illustrations of these findings. By enlightening the complex interaction between the participants as well as the interaction’s intrinsic connections to the goals of the training, it becomes possible to discuss (and further develop) the communication in the horse-rider-trainer triad within both the equestrian and the scientific communities.