What's Natural Horsemanship?

In this world there are a lot of different 'types' of people . . For instance there are 'Horse People' vs 'Not Horse People', but even within the horse world there are so many different kinds of people . . . There are 'Barrel Racing People', 'Dressage People', 'Jumping People', 'Equitation People', and so many more. In my experience most 'Horse People' work towards the same goal: a well behaved horse that responds to the riders 'aides'. Many horse people also don't understand other horse people's methods, and I think a lot of this has to do with the language used. I work for a dressage instructor and most my language is based in 'western horse people' terms yet I continue to astound the dressage trainer that I understand what she wants in the horse I just speak it in a different language. Our methods are really quite similar . . . So lets get down to the topic of today! What is 'Natural Horsemanship'?

Meet Pat Parelli. Pat has quite the following and is currently probably the most famous 'Natural Horseman'. Yet . . A lot of people really don't like him, albeit, a lot of people really love him. I have to hand it to him Pat puts on some pretty impressive demonstrations, and his methods work for a lot of people. 

They also don't work for a lot of people. Is it because people are training their horses wrong? People watch Parelli's hunkey dorey shows and think they are going to make instant best friends with their horse, guess what, WRONG! Training a horse is a long-term commitment and everything isn't going to be perfect instantly. Also, all people have their own 'style' so the chances of being a Parelli clone aren't very high. Be yourself, use what works for you. 

Look on the internet and try to find some down to earth practical horse-training by Parelli. Chances are you won't find it. His Parelli games can be a lot of fun and a good bonding/ desensitizing game for you and your horse, but overall I find the rest to be pretty yuppy-ish. Granted every person and every horse is an individual every trainer out there has something to teach you, but that doesn't mean you have to be a fan of their whole method.

Now meet Stacy Westfall. Here she is doing her infamous 'Live Like You Were Dying' freestyle reining stop. Ready for the shocking news? Stacy doesn't call her methods 'Natural Horsemanship' at all. She starts her horses in a good old western saddle and bridle. But Stacy has something going on here? What is it that gives her such good communication with her horses? Because you know Stacy has been successful on several horses not just the one.

Stacy is an incredible horseman (or horsewoman) she has what I like to call 'good horsemanship', and I'd love to be able to say someday that I even came close to her riding ability. She teaches her horses to be responsive to her aides in a real and attainable kind of way.

In fact Stacy makes things look so easy bareback and bridle-less on her beautiful horses a lot of us lose sight of what is real. The truth is Stacy puts a lot of behind the scenes work on those horses to make them what they are. Her training videos are a great place to start when looking for a practical start to horse training.

Now I know, I know, there are a lot more trainers out there! John Lyons, Clinton Anderson, Tom Dorrance, and Dennis Reis to name a few. But the man I want to recognize is one of my own personal heroes. His name is Monty Roberts.

Monty has too many accomplishments to list here. In my mind he is one of the 'founding fathers' of GOOD HORSEMANSHIP. His round penning join up method is considered today as one of the most crucial steps to starting a green horse.

Monty had a very troubled child-hood. Part of what inspired him to truly learn the language of horses was watching his father cruelly train horses (as shown above). Monty knew there had to be a better way, and his methods work because they are based on the language of the horse.

So you tell me. What is Natural Horsemanship? Is there such a thing? Or is there just 'good horsemanship' and 'bad horsemanship'? And if so what is considered 'good horsemanship' and what is considered 'bad' in your opinion?

Well folks, thanks for reading.

"Show me your horse and I will tell you who you are." ~ Anonymous