What is Natural Horsemanship anyway? The answer may depend on who you ask. The most common definition I could find is training based on communication with the horse. We have all seen the advertisements on television or in magazines. Images of seemingly ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things with horses. Riding bridleless, Jumping over obstacles, or simply just walking onto a trailer they had always refused.
These demonstrations are the very least intriguing and entertaining to watch. I must admit I was awe struck the first time I saw a horse with his head lowered, mirror imaging every movement made by his trainer. No halters or lines, no whips or sounds, just the two of them engaged in what looked like a well choreographed dance. The first time you witness a horse responding in this manner it truly does appear to be magic.
Since the discovery of horse’s usefulness to man, we have sought out more effective ways to bend them to our will. Many of the traditional methods of training involved forceful, coercive and often inhumane tactics to gain control of the horse through domination. Though there are many traditional training tactics still being used, I believe the shift towards gentler methods has already begun. It is not that some of these traditional techniques are ineffective, simply that they are becoming less accepted by the horse owners paying the bill.
The “Natural Horsemanship” movement has gained momentum in the last decade. Thanks mostly to movies such as “The horse Whisperer” along with a few well known round pen clinicians popular culture has taken notice. This trend may be fairly new but the art of natural horsemanship is not.
Partnership based training has been around for thousands of years. From the works of the Greek General Xenophon, who wrote of many of the same principles in 360 B.C.,to the famous horses of the Spanish riding school, to the practices of the California Vaqueros. While each of these forms of horsemanship in history may have had different tactics to achieve the desired result they also had one commonality, they learned to work with the nature of the horse instead of against it.
As a student of Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre, I learned a lot about the methods utilized by "natural horsemanship" trainers as well as theory behind it. Dr. Ron Meredith the founder and president of the school is another innovator of the horse training world. He developed a system of training which he calls “Heeding”. Heeding uses methodically applied pressures to create shapes that the horse can understand. This is a horse communication system that proceeds in small, horse-logical steps that never create fear or antagonism in the horse.
Teaching heeding builds a communication link between yourself and the horse in the horse's language the animal kingdom, humans are predators and horses are prey animals. In order to work with horses, we have to figure out how to bridge that zoological gap. We do this by establishing a pattern, a feeling in the horse, that we are the safest, most comfortable place in the world to be. I hope to shed some light on this particular program in the next few entries.
This Robohorse could be an awesome teaching tool for riders wanting to develop skills, confidence and stamina. I wouldn't even mind having one in my living room for exercise or a sweet party attraction. The only catch is they cost about as much as a new Lexus, and the nearest manufacturer is in Canada. For now I'll have to wait. Unless they come out with a less expensive version for those of us on a Hyundai budget...
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