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This article is the first in a series explaining the concepts behind what has been marketed in this country as "natural horsemanship". I use quotes around the phrase because frankly, I have never thought it was a particularly accurate or elegant description. I've also found that that phrase tends to segregate horse people. It has become widely associated with trainers that have done a bang up job of branding and marketing tools, certifications, and product lines. But the truth is, at the core of "natural horsemanship" is a way of creating a willing partnership using herd dynamics and the innate language of the horse. Common themes run through the teachings of the popular clinicians: making the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy; making your idea the |
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horse's idea; using ground
work to gain control of all four of the horse's feet, and carrying
that over to the saddle. All very good ideas, but often expressed in
a way that fails to explain how to really make this type of
horsemanship work, and apply it to any situation. Too often, we're
shown "moves" that we are told we need to master, but the WHY
remains a mystery, and if we suddenly need to accomplish something
for which we were not taught a "move", we're stuck. It's a lot like
the old adage: "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a
man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime."
I spent years studying this type of horsemanship (and mind you, that
was after years of studying the OTHER type of horsemanship) before I
finally figured out the difference between going through the
motions, and true "feel". It is in your focus; in your intent; in
your body language; in your posture. It is in the way you hold a
lead rope or a rein -- not the physical position, but whether you
simply carry it, or expect to hear something through it. It will not
work until you learn to feel of the horse; it requires a level of
concentration and acute attention, or you will miss the message from
the horse, who is always trying to figure out how to release himself
from pressure, and the opportunity he has presented. It cannot be
practiced with any kind of tension, anger, or annoyance. It requires
incredible focus, but it cannot be done with the sort of intensity
with which we live our daily lives. In fact it is that very
intensity borne of our frenetic, multi-tasked, driven society that
makes the average horseperson's relationship with their horse so
much less than it could be. The horse gives us a valuable
opportunity to learn to be in the moment as much as they are, and
give them our truly undivided attention.
Try each of these seemingly simple groundwork tasks and see how you
fare; remember that EVERYTHING we do on the ground with the horse
translates under saddle:
Can you move your horse's feet -- any one of the four that you
choose -- forward or backward just a single step without applying
force either to the halter, leadrope, or the horse's body? Or do you
have to move him forcibly, i.e. taking all of the slack out of your
rope, or pushing on him?
Will he readily pivot on his hindquarters, yielding his front feet
away, as you walk towards his shoulder?
Will he pivot on his front feet, stepping his hind feet one over the
other to yield his hip to you, without being touched by your hand or
rope?
Will he walk quietly on a slack rope, maintaining the exact distance
back and to the side that you prefer? Will he then stop when you
stop, or back when you back, without the slack coming out of the
rope?
In the "natural horsemanship" parlance, we let a horse "soak" on
something once we've shown him what we want. Now I want you to go
soak on what you just read here, and come back when you're ready for
more...