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.