Natural Horsemaship Explained

    

     I wanted to write a small article for a while about what I see is happening in "modern" horse world. 

    First of all, one thing people don't realize much is that there is lot of marketing happening. There is a reason why all "Natural Horseman" are usually good looking men. There is absolutely no reason for them to wear chaps, big Vaquero hats that would fly away in first breeze or a lariat on their horn in a clinic. They will not be branding calves, they will not be roping bulls and we are not in Mexico where the sun shines on our neck all day long.

    I have always been involved with animals with fairly reasonable success. I have learned very very much from them when it comes to animal communication and body language, self control and training techniques. I have used my experiences on Horses, Birds and also Cats. I believe I am still the only one who has Free Flying Parrots in Canada and I titled dogs in the toughest trials possible. The point is tho, they are animals, they don't communicate via some special device in their brain, you don’t have to be dressed like a clown to do it and you don’t have to have special halters nor sit in a field during sundown and wait for your horse to come to you. This is just a romanticized picture good only for Hollywood movies.

    We must understand that horses are very powerful animals, they can hurt us very badly and for them it is about survival and pack order primarily. I have met countless people who love their horses very much, yet they get hurt, get broken ribs, broken toes from horse stepping on them etc and most of all have broken hearts because they love their horse so very much and he doesn’t care. As much as we try to go from the old days where I guess some were mean to horses, we must understand not to go overboard the other way, there is common sense and a middle ground. I believe your horse needs to have respect for you, that is if you want to ride him. By gaining respect you will gain trust and by gaining trust you will gain his desire to be with you, it doesn’t work the other way! The horse will not be with you because you pet him and call him baby. He simply will run away at any opportunity because he will be looking for someone to feel safe with, someone he will respect.

    Other point I wanted to make is that when it comes to training, every horse is different. What works for one, might not work for another one. They all have different experiences, genetics, size, speed etc. Some grew up wild in a big herd in a forest and some grew up alone in a 20x50' pen.

You don’t need to "follow" anybody with big hats, learn the basics of training, use common sense and don’t let your horse to push you around.

You don't need to call it "Natural Horsemanship", call it whatever you want.

You don't need any special halters and Lead ropes.

You don't need any special bits.

And last of all, Natural Horsemanship is not an excuse to do ground work forever and to not ride your horse.

    John