Boundaries VERSUS punishment

I'm not sure why we chose to pick on this particular individual today...

I get that, all facts considered, the ad does sound suspicious. Why buy horses if you have to sell your herd of yaks for financial reasons, and why buy said horses in a different state??! However, since I am not standing in Jennifer's shoes, I do not really feel I am in a position to judge. Sure the ad might be a little odd, but really, is it worth publicly humiliating someone over?? Criticizing them, judging them, and sending your dogs after them??


And, surprise surprise, yes boundaries do actually exist in Natural Horsemanship. Just. As. Any. Method....it depends on the person.

"The horse simply doesn’t ever get a clear, concise signal that something he did was wrong."
Yea. I don't punish my horses when they 'do something wrong'. You know why? Because they are living, breathing beings who are simply responding to their situation and who are communicating the best way they know how. I do not subscribe to the belief that my horse should be punished anytime he steps a toe out of line, whenever he does something I deem 'misbehavior'. However punishment does not equate to boundaries...or lack thereof of either.

Had I punished our Paint when he kicked, because I pushed him past his limits, I would have only further proved his point - that humans are not to be trusted. In his case, he has an abusive past and does not trust people to pick up his hind feet. Pick up his hind feet and you have now effectively removed his means of flight - his first survival mechanism - should the need arise. So if he does not trust you, the last thing he is going to do is let you lift up his hinds. I certainly do not feel it appropriate to discipline a fearful horse for responding defensively. Instead, I work on his trust between him and I and he picks up his feet nicely for me. In the mean time, I am careful to read him so as not to push him too far for his current emotional state and level of trust or training.

Same follows for my Thoroughbred gelding, Link. He lashed out defensively on the ground at times as well as under-saddle. It was a fear-based reaction, a I'll-get-you-before-you-get-me reaction and punishing him to 'clearly and concisely let him know what he did was wrong' would have only further compounded his fear issues and lack of emotional collection. Instead, I did what no one yet had done with him - nothing. And soon he started to relax, realizing I was not going to hurt him, that he could trust me to be predictable and fair. Today, he never lashes out defensively. It just doesn't happen, because there is no need to.

One last example: punishing my warmblood gelding only elicited escalated behavior from him. Escalated behavior that was uncontrollable. Instead, establishing boundaries created control and eventually created a respectful horse.

The same has followed for any like horses I have ever worked with. Solving the root of the issue just works so much better - for both you and the horse, than responding to the symptom of the disease.

In short, you punish a disrespectful horse and it may work but it will ultimately create resentment and distrust; punishing the distrustful and fearful horse is only going to create a horse who is even more fearful and distrusting of you. It might not necessarily be all that noticeable, it might simply prevent the partnership between you and your horse from being all it can be. Boundaries, limitations, rules - all ways of earning respect, are vital. However respect cannot be forced and giving a 'clear and concise signal the horse did wrong' might not be the best answer.

"Therefore, being a horse, he starts to expand the range of his behavior. He says, hey, if I barged into him and that was okay, maybe I can smack him with my head the next time."
To get a little technical here, I really do not believe that horses smack your head on purpose. They just don't care or respect you enough to stay out of your space and thus not smack your head. The difference is huge. I don't tell my horses directly that 'smacking my head' (or any like rude behavior) is not ok, but my horses do not escalate their behavior, because they can't barge into my space in the first place. Boundaries. You don't have to smack a horse or otherwise punish it to prevent it from escalating rude behavior. Don't want him to bite or push past you? Keep him out of your space in the first place, unless invited (when he is polite). He can't push you or bite you if he is nowhere within your personal space. Don't want him to kick? Earn his respect. Have him move his feet more than yours and respect your space. Pretty simple.

"And there was that day when I was fidgety and she didn’t ride me because Pat says it’s ok not to ride on a day when they don’t feel like being ridden, so maybe this time I will strike at her in the cross-ties."
Let's get real. A horse is not going to strike at you one day because you didn't ride it when you felt it best not to ride last time. There is never any harm in dismounting. Let me repeat that: there is never any harm in dismounting. You might dismount because either your horse is too dangerous or posing a threat to your safety - in which case it is SAFETY FIRST or because you just do not posses the knowledge to handle the current situation. Continuing when you do not have the appropriate knowledge and skillset is a disaster in the making: you are either going to frustrate you and/or your horse (frustration in the rider leads to aggression versus assertiveness and frustration in your horse does not create an optimal learning environment), create mistrust in your horse (particularly if you are frustrated and thus your responses are aggressive) and/or create a situation where your horse does not learn and maybe even create damage you will later have to undo. If you are unconfident on your horse and feel the need to dismount, it usually is best, regardless of what the horse is or is not doing. By staying in the saddle and projecting your lack of confidence, you likely are not going to offer the type of leadership your horse requires and thus handle the matter in an effective matter where the horse is asked to respond respectfully or where the horse can trust your leadership and do as you request confidently.

To be honest, I have gotten off of horses many a time and it never ever set us back. Not even one step. Should the horse be disrespectful and misbehaving under-saddle (and you cannot handle it effectively), you simply walk away and approach it another day. On another day you might be in a better frame of mind, have researched the issue and be able to approach it from another (hopefully successful) angle with new ideas, or you might bring a professional along to help you. In this way, you have a relatively fresh start - as opposed to having continued on your horse last session when you really should not have, and having failed (ie. horse learns it can walk all over you or mistrusts you - digging yourself a deeper hole that endangers your partnership with your horse). If the horse is just not in the right frame of mind and is jittery, staying on may only compound that (if you do not handle it correctly), whereas dismounting represents not potentially pushing the horse excessively past its comfort level. Doing so allows the individual to backtrack and establish more foundation, build the horse up to the point where that comfort level may later be pushed safely or that comfort level is raised in the first place. Continuing when you should not have may only escalate a situation and create excessive and unproductive emotional distress, resistance, and tension in the horse (as opposed to relaxation) when there was another way.

Dismounting does not necessarily mean having to work the horse on the ground or remount after groundwork. Of course that would be optimal however if your horse is acting up and you are just not in a position to deal with it, there is no harm in dismounting, untacking your horse, and throwing it out to pasture for another day. Doing so will actually progress your training with the horse in question by allowing yourself a fresh start with said horse the next session and no work to undo. That said, if you have to do this say more than 3 times it is definitely time to find a trainer to help you because you are now establishing a pattern of behaviour the horse will attempt to continue.

Striking, for the record, is often an act of disrespect. What can you do about it? Keep the horse out of your space and stay away from his front end until you have sufficiently earned said horse's respect. My warmblood gelding learned to strike as a youngster however though I never directly addressed the issue, I addressed the root - disrespect. By earning his respect, he naturally had no reason to strike anymore.

Personally, I would much rather an individual constantly be putting away a horse they can't handle (and never going anywhere with said horse) than continuing on session after session, frustrated and lacking the appropriate knowledge and skillset (and frame of mind) to actually teach the horse anything correctly. The latter is going to create a frustrated horse who is an emotional wreck, whereas the former only creates, at worst (ie. the horse being turned out repeatedly and never being taught anything but that misbehavior results in no work), a horse who simply walks all over a person - which is so much easier to undo and less harmful to the horse. Dismounting excessively is not going to create damage that is impossible to undo, whereas failing to dismount when one should could create a wreck of a horse that could take years to undo (if ever possible).

"For example, if a horse is trying to barge along, I don’t just run alongside like a kite on a string. I take the time to stop, growl, back the horse up a few steps and then ask him to proceed at the speed I was wanting to walk."
Because growling really does the trick. Actually seriously, there are a number of ways to deal with this. My own rule with horses is that they can do 'anything' they want while being led, provided they remain out of my space and keep up. When I allow them to do a little of what they want, they usually opt to do a little of what I want ;) 99 percent of the the time leading my horses as such automatically results in them leading quietly behind me and to the side (for the record, if they jump at something, no, they do not jump on top of me - say hello to respect - ask me how I know). 1 percent of the time they might choose to grab a couple mouthfuls of grass (without stopping or holding me up) or might be initially (prior to sufficient emotional collection) too hyped up or disrespectful to walk quietly. Personally I find there is little to be gained by forcing a horse to walk quietly at my side. Instead, I set up a situation where they can make the choice to walk quietly with me. Forcing a horse to physically 'collect' when they are not 'emotionally collected' creates a horse who is stifling their emotions and who could possibly blow. In contrast, when they are permitted the choice to move their feet, more often than not they choose not to, simply because they know they can, should they absolutely have to.

When the fearful or reactive horse dances around, I simply continue walking along my original line and ask them to disengage their hind. Besides the obvious - halting forward movement, doing so causes them to cross their hind legs, which encourages thinking over reacting, and allows them pause to re-think and relax. When the disrespectful horse dances around in an attempt to have me move my feet, I continue on my original path and ask them to disengage, move their feet, move out of my space, etc - ask them to do more work than they would have had to do had they simply walked politely at my side. This puts me in the dominant position and thus in control. I have created boundaries (stay out of my space), limitations (no holding me up), and rules but allowed them the choice (you can move here and here, but not so much here). Allowing them the choice, they figure out pretty quickly that it's just less effort to walk quietly as opposed to dance around - they choose the right answer (particularly if they were dancing around disrespectfully). Furthermore, as you develop a balanced partnership with and further develop your horse, they choose the right answer more often than not anyways because they can (because they are sufficiently emotionally collected and respectful) and because they want to.

Juuuust sayin'.

In short, punishment just does not equate to discipline, which encompasses rules, limitations, and boundaries and just because a method (ie. NH, clicker training, etc) does not include punishment, does not mean it also does not include boundaries. When the ultimate result is a respectful, willing, and happy horse who is beginner-safe and/or well-rounded and well developed, boundaries obviously were involved.

NH applicable to the real world

One of the comments I hear from adversaries of Natural Horsemanship is that "it's great for groundwork but is not really practical for the real world". I have to be honest that I never understand what that is supposed to mean - how is a solid partnership with your horse not conducive to real world work like showing, or ranch work? I like being able to fully trust my horses because they fully trust my leadership, to be able to slow a horse with my seat rather than my hands (which should just be good horsemanship, really), and to have my horse working in full partnership with me, whether it be working cattle, doing dressage, or jumping. Using Natural Horsemanship-like thinking (which includes methods other than Parelli as well, including a lot of classical dressage, I find - etc) can enable a great working partnership that actually helps you excel in the real world. So to those who don't think Natural Horsemanship methods are practical in the show world, I give you (in addition to the O'Connors, Ian Miller, Karen Rohlf, and many other greats out there) the following exerpt from a recent Parelli e-news:

Parelli Trained Horses Win Big at the Missouri Fox Trotter World Show
Several Parelli students blew their own socks off last week with our Fox Trotters at the Missouri Fox Trotter World Show in Ava, Missouri. First up was showmanship, than came western pleasure. Horsemanship and reining were next. The Parelli patterns prepared their horses very well for these challenges. There were jumping classes and trail classes. One day was ranch horse day which included cutting, roping and working cow horse classes. They always remembered to put the horse first, occasionally scratching a class if their horse wasn’t mentally ready. By the end of the week they had accumulated 18 world champion titles, 26 Top 5 titles, and 5 top 10 titles! To top off our week, Nichole Copple riding Velvet, not only took home an amazing 13 world champion t itles, she was awarded the two highest youth titles that can be achieved. Nichole is the 2009 Youth Over-all Hi point World Grand Champion which included 13 classes. She also took home the Youth Ranch Horse World Grand Champion. Caitlyn Vaught with her horse Attu, came home with the Youth Ranch Horse World Grand Champion reserve. Caitlyn also came home with two world champion titles. So how old is Caitlyn? Just 9 years old!!! The Novice Hi-Point Championship went to Susan Engle on her horse Nova along with two world champion titles. Mindy Bertholdi came home with the Amateur Pleasure Hi-Point Reserve title. She and her horse Vegas are also the amateur reining World Champion. Hope Kohout and her horse Raffle were in the top 5’s and top 10’s. Tony and Jenny Vaught also showed in the open division for clients Lynne and Waland Burger and had a successful week as well. It was a wonderful time!

Point made :)

Natural Disasters

The following is a magazine article (Horse Canada magazine, Sept/Oct 2009 issue)that I felt hit the issue right on the head! My personal comments in orange.


Natural Disasters
By Laurie J. Blake

Like any other training system, natural horsemanship doesn’t provide a magic bullet but requires education and commitment to get results.

Levi Walchuk on No Public Dncing in the Bridleless Cutting at the Big Sky Futurity and Aged Event Aug 11-16, 2008 in Great Falls, Montana

A few years ago, a group of us travelled to watch a show Pat and Linda Parelli were presenting in Guelph, Ontario. My friends were keen about “natural horsemanship” and the Parelli system; I went to see what all the fuss was about. I intended to be unimpressed, but I wasn’t able to stay that way.

While there was certainly a good sales job for the Parelli system going on, the horsemanship of the husband and wife duo was clearly evident. The main part of the show involved each of them working with an unfamiliar horse chosen by the audience, applying groundwork techniques and their seven games.

I left impressed with the skills of the husband and wife duo, and more than impressed with natural horsemanship than I had intended. And yet, even before attending that show, and many times since, I have worked around, instructed or cared for some “natural horsemanship trained” horses and have been just as unimpressed.

I’m not alone in this. If you gather together a group of horse people and talk about natural horsemanship, for every success story told, you’ll likely hear just as many, if not more stories of huge failures.

Nature vs. Nurture
Maybe, then, the question we need to ask is: Is being a natural horseman (or woman) something that certain people just have, something they’re born with? Or, can anyone learn how to become a natural horseman?

According to the three different natural horsemen/women I’ve talked with over the last couple of months, it is absolutely possible to learn the skills and acquire the ability to “speak horse,” as “Canada’s horse whisperer” Chris Irwin calls it. In fact, these trainers maintain that until one learns to understand the way a horse thinks and responds, it’s really not possible to be truly successful in working with horses at all.

Equus in: I completely agree, regardless of whether you’re an Olympic rider, or what. I’ve seen high level riders competing at the international level still not getting along with their horses – they could be so much more successful with that horse, even.

Surprisingly, despite their disparate approaches and methodologies, most “natural” horsemen and women agree: learning how to understand how a horse thinks, how it “speaks,” and using that knowledge in how you approach a horse, ride it, and train it is what “natural horsemanship,” or horse whispering – choose your term – is all about.

“Whether you call yourself a horse trainer or not, as soon as your horse sees you heading towards him, you’re teaching him to respect you or not,” says Ron Pyne, an Elgin, Ontario-based Parelli 3-Star Trainer.

In this age of self-awareness and self-help, it’s probably not surprising that most of us who spend much, if not most, of our time around horses realize that what we do directly impacts our equine companions. Maybe that’s why the idea of training horses, particularly training our own horses, has moved to the forefront of many riders’ minds over the last few decades – and, perhaps, why we’re seeing so much attention focused on “natural” training techniques.

Lyons certified trainer Wendy Downer says she used to train horses and was almost always disappointed by how owners subsequently worked with the horses. Now, under the banner of Kinder Horsemanship, the Elmvale, Ontario-based natural horsewoman trains owners and riders to train their own horses.

“Training the riders and horses together takes longer, and the progress may be slower,” Downer says, “but the two, rider and horse, learn how to complement each other.”

Creating our own problems
So why then, when applied with the best of intentions, does natural training (like any other type of training) so often prove ineffective? In some cases, misguided training has created horses that are so poorly trained that they spend their lives as someone’s lawn ornament, or are sent off to auction to become someone else’s problem, or become residents of the meat-man’s feed lot.

One person who was part of the group with whom I first saw the Parellis was impressed enough that he followed the system with his horse Dax, to some effect. “Dax and I were working on level 2/3 of the Parelli system – say “system” because that’s what I think it is. I don’t believe it’s a new paradigm on horse training, however, I do believe that what the Parellis have done is to systemize a set of procedures that were not available to the general public before. In this way the Parelli system has brought a new level of understanding to horsemanship for the average person.”

Equus: man, I couldn’t agree more!!!!

He did warn, however, that “if it’s not done correctly (ie. with proper supervision or instruction) most often what happens is that incorrect behaviour is encouraged instead of discouraged.”

As I talked with and listened to the three natural trainers, I realized the answer lies, as it does so often, not with the concept itself, or with any particular system, but solely in the way in which natural training is applied and understood, or misunderstood. As I discovered from my original contact with the Parellis, the proponents of the systems are compelling, knowledgeable, and passionate horse people who are well aware of the risks of natural training and more than willing to suggest ways to succeed with horses.

What you really need to know about horses
“A horse is ‘naturally’ a paranoid, attention-deficit, passive-aggressive victim waiting to happen,” says trainer, communicator and coach Chris Irwin. But, he says, what you see with a horse is what you get. Horses don’t lie, as the title of Irwin’s first book states: they tell you exactly what they’re feeling and even what they want from you, if you know how to listen.

Yet, Irwin has not been shy about uncovering problems with some of the application of natural horsemanship principles. “I believe we can “aid” our horses to evolve their nature into being calm, focused and willing partners.

David O'Connor jumping bridleless

Equus in: this is what I mean when I talk about “developing” a horse.

(cont.) But there are a lot of people playing games with horses in the name of natural horsemanship and the horse’s body language is upset: swishing tails, inverted backs, bending/pushing their body laterally into the person during the groundwork, flattened ears – but people don’t see it. They just live in their romantic illusion of ‘natural’.”

Equus in: this happens so much. On the other hand, some of the above body language can happen as part of the progress, or evolution, of the partnership between you and your horse. However it should eventually disappear as the partnership progresses.

Wendy Downer agrees that there are many people attempting to apply natural training principles without understanding what natural training really means. “Humans tend to carry too much emotion into training,” she says, “but horses live in the moment and don’t carry the emotional baggage we do.”

Natural training, she believes, does not equal aggressiveness, but it is about safety – for both the horse and the rider. People need to know where to draw the line with horses and how to establish the pecking order, as horses themselves do very clearly in a herd.

It’s not the round pens, fancy sticks, rope halters or other equipment that either make the training work, or cause the problem, it’s how people use or misuse them, Downer believes.

Equus in: like Jonathan Field says, “the bit doesn’t train the horse”. That follows for any piece of equipment. The person is what trains the horse. The tools you use make a difference, but they are not what actually "train" the horse.

“We still have to ‘know horse’, have that horse sense,” she says. “This can’t be learned in a weekend or through occasional instruction, but through experience.”

“How often is it not the system that is the problem, but the misunderstanding or misapplication of the system that is causing stress in a horse?” asks Chris Irwin. “Depending on the system, this is happening a LOT! It happens to us all and I will be the first to admit that there are people are there trying to do what I teach – thinking that they are doing it correctly – but not doing it correctly and, therefore, the results are often limited."

“And it’s not just the riding. In the round pen or in ground work games in natural horsemanship there are too many horses being stressed out because of the body language of the person,” he says. “HOW you are shaping your body is far more important – it suggests whether or not you are in fact herding the horse or sending the message to capture it, which always stresses a horse out.”

Speaking horse
Through the Parelli system, Ron Pyne believes there are seven keys to succeed in natural horsemanship: attitude, knowledge, tools, techniques, time, imagination, and support. If all of them are not present, success will be limited.

For Wendy Downer, becoming a natural trainer means changing the way you think. We need to be constantly and actively aware of what our horses are doing and learning, not simply reacting to what they’ve already learned, often unintentionally. Riders and trainers need to be in control of training, the horse, and the situation – at home and away.

“In fact, we need to expect 110% from our horses at home, so that when concentration is down, say at a show, everything still remains safe,” she says. Sometimes, this control is achieved simply by relaxing. She suggests three simple rules to apply when training horses:
1. YOU can’t get hurt
2. The horse can’t get hurt
3. The horse (and trainer) has to be calmer after the session is done than when it started.

What is the goal in natural horsemanship? Chris Irwin says, “While people talk about partnership and harmony and respect and trust, too often they are taught to be “alpha” in their approach. But, very few horses need us to come on as alpha. That’s too much and it sabotages trust. It’s not balanced. I teach that we need to read our horses well enough to be just who they need us to be to find the balance of respect with trust.”

Barrel Racing

Don't forget to note the undeveloped topline and overdeveloped underline of this horse's neck (see previous muscling blog for further details)...

I have already previously written about barrel racing, but I just had to vent after reading Shame in the Horse Show Ring's blog on barrel racing.

See, people (outside the barrel racing world) often seem to think it's about 'training the horse properly', that barrel racers are not training their horses properly, which results in this:



(what bugs me about this video is that the wrecks - essentially horses being abused - are somehow glorified, the riders made out to be so "amazing")

or what about this:



oooor this:




Newsflash: if your horse is bucking, he's sending a clear message - get off my back!

The music in these videos really bugs me - I'd be ashamed to even video clips such as these of my horses, nevermind post them with music to portray the clips as "so fantastic". There's just nothing "fantastic" about my horses hating me and loathing their work. There's nothing fantastic about a scared horse, and there's nothing fantastic about a horse in pain.

It's not about whether or not the horse has adequate training, or if it was over-schooled, it's a matter of the horse in question's emotional status. These horses are absolute emotional wrecks. They are being encouraged (often indirectly and inadvertently) to react rather than to think. The sad part is that the horse is usually blamed, or the sport itself is. The horse is henceforth forever labelled "useless" for anything else after his barrel career and its behaviour is blamed on the sport itself "oh, barrel racing does that", like that's just how it has to be and we all have to accept it. The same often happens in the jumper world. Well it's not, and we don't. When the horse is developed into an emotionally balanced partner with a solid foundation, barrel racing can be done successfully for both horse and rider!

Here's one example:



(granted, I doubt it was much of a good time, but it shows that it can be done, and hey, even in a simple rope hackamore!)

When are people going to learn that it is not the horse's fault! Furthermore, when are they going to learn that it does not have to be this way! It's not due to a lack of training either, it's due to people mistreating their horses. Yanking on the huge bits in their horses' mouths (snaffle or gentle hackamore, anyone?). Kicking with spurs (anyone ever heard of squeezing?). Whipping. Tie-downs (gotta keep that head down now that the horse is tossing its head due to the pain!). The list is endless. People seem to think that it is okay for a horse to "spazz out" prior to a run - it's not. Look at it from the horse's perspective. A horse rearing or bucking is desperately trying to tell its rider something and it shouldn't have to resort to those extremes! Forcing them to do so (due to circumstances) is what turns these horses into wrecks. Oh, and it's not because "they're competitive" - that the excuse one of the barrel racers at our barn uses. No, your horse's brain is fried, that's why he acts the way he does. Horses can be excited prior to a run, but the key is to teach them to think and to learn how to turn them on and off. The key is in teaching the horse to wait patiently to its riders cues and to channel that energy.

What's with the flapping legs? Ever seen a horse send a shiver through his skin when a fly lands on him? Yup, doesn't need the kicking, much less with spurs. Someone please answer me this: why would you pull back on your horse's mouth while asking him to run? I see it constantly at the gymkhanas. Rider kicks with spurs, beats their horse's hindquarters, and simultaneously yanks on that big bit in the horse's mouth (time for a tie-down!). Then the horse goes up (I mean, really, where else was he supposed to go??), which gets him more beatings, because now Rider's angry at her horse for "acting up". *sigh* Let's not forget either that horses are not stupid. After the hours of practise I recognize it takes to sufficiently prepare a horse to run barrels, he should be able to ride those barrels bridleless - a.k.a. without that severe bit in his mouth. As intelligent animals, horses should easily be able to do a barrel pattern - a pattern they've done a million and a half times, with very little guidance. Unless of course we need those twisted-wire-long-shanked curb bits to keep him in the arena in the first place! And don't tell me "some horses can't run in a snaffle". We'll do a blog on bits later. Suffice it to say however that bits are for refinement. Thus you use the gentlest, thickest snaffle you can find and work your way up through the higher-level bits as (get this!) - your horse moves up through the levels! If you cannot control your horse, if he's "running through your aids", it's time to go back to the drawing board. Simple as that. You move up into a shanked bit when the horse has sufficient flexion and bend, when it is time for more intimate communication, and more advanced collection. Not because your horse is ignoring your cues. At that time (refinement), your hands are soft as silk and quiet as a still lake. Not yanking on the poor horse's mouth.

In my humble opinion, if you foster that cool-as-a-cucumber mindset in a horse (as demonstrated above), you are at an advantage and you are maintaining your horse's best interests. It's tough to do when you are training that horse to be competitive and to have that 'edge', especially given that horses suited to upper levels of competition are often very high-energy athletes, but it is absolutely crucial. Doing so is the foundation of the training scale, which enables you to thus teach the horse to use its body efficiently. When the horse is balanced and using their body efficiently, they can put 110 percent of their available power, into the task at hand - none goes to waste. Furthermore, the horse with the emotionally collected mind is able to better focus on the task put forth to them as well as listen better to the cues its rider gives. That ability to intensely focus allows the horse to channel all their energy and effort into a successful run.

As a side note, this type of damage to a horse is reversible, but it takes a lot of work and expertise. As another note, I am not writing this blog to criticize all barrel riders. I am criticizing the ones riding such as those in the videos above. Please, for your horse's sake, take a look at your horse and consider his perspective. The barrel world can be a cruel cruel place, but it does not have to be that way. People need to realize they will get a lot more from their horse when their horse loves their job and loves their rider, when they're working in partnership with that rider.


Sorry this post is a little snarky, I just wish people would take a step back and consider things from their horses' perspectives. If "it looks ugly", consider this: it probably is, from your horse's point of view. GAH!!

Natural horsemanship

John Lyons

Clinton Anderson

Pat Parelli

Aaah natural horsemanship. The receipt of so much criticism as of late. So let's address some of the "issues" people have with natural horsemanship.

"It takes so much time."

Well, consider how much time you put into your horse already. I can assure you (as someone who used to work with horses the "traditional" way) that natural horsemanship, because it uses psychology of the horse, actually takes less time to get what you want. Sometimes it requires you to go back a few steps, so that you can fill in the gaps in your horse and your's partnership, but ultimately it allows for faster progression. The groundwork that we do prior to working under-saddle can be done in the 15 minutes it takes to lead your horse in from the pasture. Anything takes time, and the ideal partnership is certainly worth it.

"But you have to do so much groundwork!"

The foundation of any horse is groundwork. What you have on the ground is always halved in the saddle, from trust to respect, to partnership, so if you achieve a great partnership on the ground, you can have a great partnership under-saddle. Just to give you an idea, when I start your average laid-back 3yo QH, I usually do a week of groundwork. After that initial week, we spend maybe 15 minutes each session before doing our under-saddle work (this is assuming the horse has no previous issues that stall average progression). Is that really all that much groundwork? Groundwork allows you to first introduce concepts and lessons to a horse without a rider on their back (which can have a number of benefits, depending on the horse) and where you are safest.

"You have to use so much equipment!"

Don't you buy martingales, nosebands, saddles, bridles, bits, halters, boots...?? Of course you need tools to do a job, and natural horsemanship is no different. During your typical session, I'll use a saddle and pad, a bridle/rope hackamore, a carrot stick, and a rope and halter. Well I don't know about the next person, but that doesn't really seem like all that much equipment to me. The tools I use help me communicate efficiently with my horses. On that note, you don't have to buy the equipment NH trainers endorse, but do consider, and question, why they use such equipment. Ask them questions about their equipment. For example, Pat Parelli uses the rope halter he does because it encourages the horse to move forward and to release to pressure, rather than push against it (such as with a web halter - read my quip on halters here). He uses the yachting ropes he does because they're heavy and respond faster than your average rope. The weight also enables the horse to feel you picking up the end of the rope and such, easier. Similar concept as weighted reins on a bridle horse. The carrot stick is a rigid, fiberglass rod - it extends your arm and responds accurately according to how you move. It lacks the flexibility of the dressage or longe whip that your horse can ignore, and it has a 6' string at the end to respond just exactly how you flick it. It's not that you need Parelli's equipment to do Parelli, but I can certainly attest to its quality (I have yet to find a replica of similar quality - and I've looked), and it really helps you communicate clearly to your horse, especially to the horse who's new to people and interpreting our body language. Of course some trainers out there are simply making a shitload of money pumping out equipment that really does you no good, but that's where research comes in - for any piece of equipment, "natural" or not. Ask them why they use the equipment they do and how it can help you. On another note, I have yet to buy a figure-8 noseband, a martingale, or any other like piece of equipment, despite preparing horses for competitive purposes, so really I'm not putting out any more money than the next person.

"Horses don't run around with carrot sticks, why should I?"

Your horse also has ears that move better than yours and a long body that communicates horse language better than your human body does. I do not always use a carrot stick, but I have to admit it often makes a huge difference in my communication efficiency with a horse when I do.

"It's so unnatural!"

What's unnatural about looking at things from the horse's perspective, using horse psychology, and playing the same types of games horses play out in the pasture with their buddies? No, the tools aren't natural (neither are any tools out there on the market) - but the partnership is. What's not natural about being able to work with your horse at full liberty and have him want to work with you? Yea, I dunno either.

"I don't have the time!"

If you are riding your horse regularly (or not, even), you have the time. You just don't want to make the time - that's okay, but don't say you don't have the time! It just has not become important enough yet for you to make the time.

"It's so commercialized"

Unfortunately this certainly has become the case - money has a way about things. However that doesn't make the right NH method itself any less great, or helpful, to your horse.

"It's only for newbies who know nothing about horses" or "it's only for people with problem horses"

When I got into NH, I had been involved in the horse industry for 14+ years. I wasn't a newbie by any stretch of the imagination. I'd worked cattle, jumped, done Pony Club, a little dressage, gaming, gone through 4H...etc etc. I'd trained my Quarab from green 30-day'er to accomplished jumper and cow horse. I was currently working out how to train my young Warmblood colt. My WB was a "problem horse", but my Quarab - though we had problems at times - was just your average horse. My WB attacked me. He's what pushed me into NH, and as a result, I picked up knowledge I could then pass on to any horse, problem horse or not. You don't have to be new to horses or have a "problem horse" (there are no problem horses, only problem riders) to do NH; any person can improve the relationship they have with any horse. You can never know everything. What kind of relationship do you have with your horse - can you ride that jump course or do that dressage pattern at liberty? If you can, can you imagine what you can do, what type of control you have, in a bridle?

"It only works for certain horses, not all horses"

Horse psychology is universal - every horse has it. Parelli states that he's never met a horse yet that didn't appreciate natural horsemanship. Neither have I thus far. In my experience, it works for all horses, but not all people.

"NH people are unsafe"

"They ride around bareback in halters or bridleless, they stand on their horses' backs..." Well, what someone does is their prerogative. On the other hand, it's not so unsafe when you're in ultimate partnership with your horse. Your horse isn't going to spook if he's following your direction, and he's going to do what you ask because he wants to - you're working in partnership. Just like a trick rider or vaulter wouldn't do what they do without knowing they were safe on their horse.

"What I do works already"

Great. Just keep an open mind that your way might not be the only way - that there might be something out there that allows you to have an even better partnership with your horse. "Good, better, best, never let it rest." We should be constantly striving for improvement and to better ourselves and our horses. And for crying out loud, don't criticize others because they choose to do something else!

"Well it didn't work on so and so"

Was the individual working with the horse a professional in that particular method? Besides, Parelli (or other NH methods) are designed more for the human than the horse. You can balance out a horse, develop a horse, but after that it's up to the person. Just because a horse is "NH trained" doesn't mean he's going to do all the things with you that he did with the individual who was doing NH with him originally. It certainly makes him a well-rounded horse and sets him up for success with the next person, but the horse is not a pre-programmed computer. If you want a horse to do those things, you have to "talk" to him the same way! I can promise you my Warmblood x will still walk all over you if you don't assert yourself around him. He doesn't do so around me, because I'm assertive! My Thoroughbred won't necessarily work calmly and relaxedly under-saddle for someone else, just because he does so for me! These are animals, not robots. They don't respond robotically when you press a particular button (or at least they shouldn't), they respond according to how you work with them.

"My horse is too old"

I'm working with an 8-9yo APHA gelding at the moment. He's picked it up fabulously. When I started working with my Quarab using NH, he was about that age as well. Horse psychology is horse psychology, regardless of age. Habits may be difficult to change when a horse has done them for a number of years, however it is possible with patience and persistence.

"I don't need to ride my horse bridleless"

Neither do I. It's not about being able to do tricks with your horse, it's about the type of partnership that allows for those types of exercises (such as riding bridleless). If you can ride your horse bridleless, you can negotiate a course with a bridle.

NH is more than a method, it's a way of thinking. It's not about being able to do all these "tricks" with your horse, and it's not about "fixing" a problem horse. It's about creating the ultimate partnership with the horse in hand. It's about teaching your horse a common language the two of you can share (ie. teaching your horse his language in your own words) and being able to "talk" back and forth efficiently and effectively. It's about learning as much as possible and about creating a partnership where ropes are no longer required to "keep" your horse at your side, where the two of you are in harmony - a partnership based on love, language, leadership, with balanced doses of trust and respect. Sure it's become pretty commercialized, but you just have to find the right method that works for you - read trainers' philosophies, watch their demos, see what their students can do. Furthermore, don't let a few bad examples of a method turn you off completely - bad apples are everywhere. Evaluate each method on its own merits, based on the professionals within the system. Above all, have an open mind and be willing to always learn.

ETA: I wanted to add a little more after watching the Nexen Cup Derby at Spruce Meadows on tv today (after seeing the real thing a few weeks ago). At the time of seeing the Nexen Cup - to me, Ian Miller and Redefin had seemed like the best combination (I even blogged about it here). They were fluid, they were relaxed throughout, and they were in perfect harmony within their partnership. There was no sawing on Redefin's mouth, big bits, pumping up in the gym so as to have the arm strength to ride him (*ahem* Beezie on Judgement *cough cough*), or fighting with Redefin. Redefin was calm and relaxed - not rushing fences, bucking, or wringing his tail without relief (*cough* Jeanne Hobbs on Night and Day 8). Miller and Redefin's partnership outranked anyone's by a long stretch. I did not realise though (am I the last to do so?) that Miller does natural horsemanship. The commentator of the competition put it nicely: with that type of partnership, it becomes more about the horse and rider and less about the jumps. Pessoa was eliminated when his horse, Champ 163, refused the Devil's Dyke - twice. Despite practising it at home numerous times. See, it really is not about the jump. You can practise a specific jump until you are blue in the face and your horse is dropping over dead. However if you've got a strong partnership with your horse, your horse is following your leadership - over any jump. Take note this is nothing against Pessoa of course, just an observation of where he was possibly at with that horse that day.