The horses react with puzzlement if you are not trained to a similar level - if you are a junior rider, expert horses are incompatible.
"A good horse" is actually one that matches your level, or is only slightly above, whatever that may currently be.
Note that Teitelman eventually gave up on getting machines to DWIM, and scratched that itch by doing dog agility instead.
(the most indirect control I've seen was someone from the local extension program, mounted on horseback, whistling to his dogs in order to instruct them to herd a flock of geese in slaloms/eights around a set of traffic cones. Roping horses still need to be doing their jobs even after their rider has left the saddle and is on foot to tie/doctor the roped critter.)
Of course it's not the same as it's a machine, not a living animal your are communicating with.
But so much it feels like it becomes an extension of your body and you just move by pure thought.
Similar to using a game controller I guess but more of a whole body experience.
the difference between an animal and an instrument is in the expression of intent that is parsed by another being. the sensors interpreted by a computer are a feedback mechanism more like a thermostat or ABS, but now with AI we're starting to challenge our understanding of those differences.