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With an increase in demand for rewarding horse-human relationships and training programs focused on equine welfare, positive reinforcement is posed as a suitable addition to equine training regimes. Positive reinforcement is not without challenges, and suggestions to overcome problems associated with hand feeding, as used in positive reinforcement, have been explored. Positive reinforcement was shown to reduce signs of body tension during training, which could be used to improve horse welfare and potentially reduce the time needed when training basic grooming and veterinary techniques, making these procedures safer for both the horses and people involved. Primary reinforcers are beneficial in helping horses to learn to perform new and potentially fear-inducing tasks, though the introduction of a secondary reinforcer was not shown to prolong extinction of these learned behaviours. Applications of positive reinforcement include training foals, reducing stress in rehabilitated horses, and reducing potentially dangerous behaviours associated with trailer loading and hoof handling. Suggestions for how positive reinforcement can be used while riding are also presented. Overall, positive reinforcement has been found to be a useful tool in training horses and an effective method for gaining a more willing equine partner. Despite this, more research needs to be done due to small experimental group sizes and other applications of positive reinforcement, including work under saddle, are sorely lacking in current literature. This lack of research should not discourage trainers and owners from integrating positivereinforcement into their routines.