Natural Horsemanship: Friend or Foe?

Posted by
Laura Thompson
Nov 24, 2008

I'd never heard of natural horsemanship until I started writing about horses and conducting extensive research into horse training philosophy. When I first encountered this school of though, it was through marketing gurus who have turned horse training into a media circus, and I dismissed the philosophy out of hat.

Upon further examination, however, I discovered that natural horsemanship does have merit. The trick is separating the truth from the hype.

I can see the hate mail messages now, but I'm going to shoot from the hip on this one. I don't put much stock in trainers like Monty Roberts, Pat Parelli or John Lyons. I realize that this isn't a very popular opinion, but my reasons are grounded in personal research.

For one thing, I simply don't believe that these horse trainers can "whisper" to horses. They step into a round pen with a horse they've supposedly never met before and suddenly the animal is eating out of their hands. I don't know about you, but horse training has always been hard work in my experience. I believe in getting to know horses over time and establishing a relationship--something that just doesn't happen in 45 minutes.

Furthermore, I do not believe anyone who says that he or she is the definitive expert on any given subject. This is usually a designation that is earned rather than successfully marketed, and I'm far more drawn to people who let their actions speak louder than their words. What I've seen from these TV horse trainers is a whole lot of talk, and not much action.

The problem is that natural horsemanship has become associated with the big names in the industry. When someone says they practice natural horsemanship, others will automatically ask which trainer he or she "follows". This, to me, leads to sloppy horse training and a lack of personal techniques and tactics.

Natural horsemanship is actually an age-old method of horse training that is rooted in several key philosophies. It is not a "program" or a "system" that is designed to get results in as little time as possible. Instead, it is a way for human beings to relate to horses with the best possible outcome in mind.

I write this post to encourage you to explore natural horsemanship, but on your own terms. If you want to watch a workshop or demonstration with one of the media trainers, go ahead, but allow yourself to question their methods and apply what you learn to real-life situations. Chances are, if you follow their advice verbatim, you won't have much luck.

Feb 6, 2009 10:44 AM

Guest :

BOY, do I ever agree with you! I also have found TV shows mostly are full of....something except for Pat Parelli.
Another show that at first I found right out stupid was "Horse Whisperer".
Out of fustration I turned to horses. I realized if you are going to travel in another country without knowing their language you will be in a poor shape. (Well, unless they talk in your language.)
Horses will never talk in engish therefore I have to know how do they "talk" to eachother so I would be able to "talk" to them. That lead to countless days watching and later interacting in horse herds.
I finally understood what they mean by 'horse whisperer'. With a little funny note horses have very good hearing so to talk to them only takes a whisper. I might get some laughs now but they DO have a language. Sadly not enough people care or "have enough time" to learn it.
So if somebody out there have a horse that don't want to listen or has no respect you can't blame him/her for not hearing you.

Jul 25, 2009 5:15 AM

Guest :

Hello, Laura,

No, not hate-mail, just curiosity, lol. I'm not a rider at all, but I did see Monty Roberts once. Have you ever read his books? If so, what did you think of them? What strikes me is exactly what you said at the start - about the marketing hype. It distorts everything and it's got little to do with what he writes. "Horse whispering" is not what Monty Roberts does or claims to do. His book's called "The Man Who Listens to Horses" and it's based on the matter of learning equine body language, the language of the herd. I'm guessing he's a certain amount of credibility if he's worked with establishments as conservative as the racing industry and the Queen's stables. Anyway I'm enjoying reading your posts (I happened upon them while looking for info on Pluvinel).

Cheers,
LL