One of the biggest misconceptions I hear about clicker training horses is that it creates pushy horses.
In my experience, clicker training doesn't create pushiness. Poorly defined boundaries do.
Positive reinforcement doesn't mean the horse gets to crawl into your pockets, mug you for food, or dictate every interaction.
In fact, one of the very first things I teach is that politeness makes the food appear.
The horse learns that rooting around in my hands gets them nothing, while standing quietly, keeping their head in their own space, and waiting gets marked and rewarded.
That little lesson becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
I use pressure and release. I use positive reinforcement. I don't see those things as opposing religions. They're tools, and I'm much more interested in what the horse understands than which training camp gets credit.