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This is an excellent observation. Dressage (for example) is a set of evolutionary constraints about controlling a 600kg similarly trained million dollar animal through tiny movements (mostly in your thighs and buttocks) in order to win prestigious prizes including Olympic medals.

The horses react with puzzlement if you are not trained to a similar level - if you are a junior rider, expert horses are incompatible.

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How does an ‘easy’ horse react to these movements? Not at all? Is this what they meant in westerns/literature by “a good horse?”

Not at all is fairly close. Think "beginner friendly" (phone?) vs "expert friendly" (nix?) interactions.

"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.)

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