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May 6, 2009
How Do You Feel About Natural Horsemanship?
If you conduct a Google search on the phrase "natural horsemanship", the search engine will return about 500,000 results. Suffice to say, this is a huge issue in the equestrian community.
I'd never heard of natural horsemanship until a few years ago, and when I finally researched the concepts behind it, my reaction was: "But this is common sense!" Natural horsemanship is not a marketing scheme or a program you can follow to perfect results. It is merely a philosophy that has existed for many generations.
The "horse training gurus" like Parelli, Roberts, Lyons and others often teach various aspects of natural horsemanship, but their ideas are not new. As for me, I don't have any use for Parelli's games or Roberts's demonstrations because they do not further my own goals. However, some aspects of my own training philosophy are derived from natural horsemanship.
Recently, I've received several messages from Suite101 readers about natural horsemanship in general and these training gurus in particular:
- "Should I trust Pat Parelli?"
- "Does John Lyons know what he's talking about?"
- "Are Monty Roberts's claims just parlor tricks?"
- "Should I follow a particular trainer?"
- "What is natural horsemanship?"
I'm going to write an article on the final question, but the others are up to the masses. What do you think? Should you trust one of these horse training gurus over another? Or are they all just frauds? And what does any of this have to do with natural horsemanship?
I'm interested in your opinions. Please leave them in the comments section below (respectfully, please).
Have a horse question? Send it to horses@suite101.com and Laura Thompson will answer it, either in a personal e-mail or in a blog post.
Comments
Aug 28, 2009 1:52 PM
Guest :
My train of thought I have always had is "who knows what I want from
my horse more than me, and who knows my horse better than me? I would say
that if you can't answer both questions with "me", then you owe
it to your horse to learn more about them, and to yourself about you. My
father always said "every horse wants a job, and to be treated with
respect and dignity. Treat them firmly,but fairly and they will always want
to work for you." There is nothing more satifying than walking out in
a pasture where the horses can see you, and have the herd of them come
running when you beckon with a simple gesture.
Having a horse that
wants to work for you is the only secret there is.
Oct 23, 2009 2:10 PM
Guest :
At the barn where I board my horse, there is a teenager girl who brags that
she is the expert on natural horsemanship and the barn trainer knows
nothing about natural horsemanship. The trainer is extremely good with
horses and seems to know exactly how they think and what causes them to
react and the horses seem to instantly relax in her presence. On the
flipside the teenage girl beats her horse and screams at her horse and
loses her temper frequently (which inevitably results in the horse being
whipped with the reins or whatever is handy). This behavior horrifies me so
I finally looked up "natural horsemanship" and Parelli. It
doesn't sound like being a bully has anything to do with natural
horsemanship which is good to know. But Parelli's bravado and need to show
off and do all his tricks seems to over shadow what natural horsemanship
really is to the point where kids like the teen at our barn, don't even
know what natural horsemanship is, she just seems to think it means doing
tricks. Personally, I find Parelli's writing style hard to follow and all
of tricks and games tiring. I have read Lyons and like what he has to say.
For me the most important lessons I've learnd are not from "training
gurus" but reading about horse's physiology and their herd mentality.
If I understand how my horse thinks and what scares her/comforts her then I
work with her much better. I have never whipped or screamed at my horse
and ironically, last week the teen at our barn noted, "Your horse
really respects you as the herd leader." Imagine that! Without ever
having to beat or scream at her! I agree with you that natural horsemanship
is more common sense and education than anything else.
2 Comments
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