It's nothing to do with soft. It's everything to do with effective.
The horse wants to know exactly what to do. They don't want to be overfaced, stressed or confused. They'd like to have a nice time.
The owner wants a horse that behaves the way they want their horse to behave. Some owners also want a horse that responds to them in a way that suggests liking or affection, some owners also want to see evidence that their horse is enjoying what they're doing.
How you achieve these things is - slightly - irrelevant. Whether you achieve them is the important thing.
I would suspect from a horse's point of view, an effective clicker trainer would be lovely. An effective NH person would be better than an ineffective clicker trainer. An effective traditional person would be better than an ineffective NH person. None of the effective ones are by definition soft or hard, they're just effective.
The horse wants to know exactly what to do. They don't want to be overfaced, stressed or confused. They'd like to have a nice time.
The owner wants a horse that behaves the way they want their horse to behave. Some owners also want a horse that responds to them in a way that suggests liking or affection, some owners also want to see evidence that their horse is enjoying what they're doing.
How you achieve these things is - slightly - irrelevant. Whether you achieve them is the important thing.
I would suspect from a horse's point of view, an effective clicker trainer would be lovely. An effective NH person would be better than an ineffective clicker trainer. An effective traditional person would be better than an ineffective NH person. None of the effective ones are by definition soft or hard, they're just effective.