[slowlopinpaint]

I think natural horsemanship and its promoters are a load of cr.ap. Dont mean to step on anyone's toes but thats my opinion.

[Gallop N Gal]

I dont like NH very much either. There used to be a group of them that would hog the arena for 4 hours!! They were completley ignoring the fact that other boarders needed to use it too!!
The main reason I dont like it is because its just plain weird!! Waggling your finger to get your horse to back up??!! And the way they lunge, they have them on a very short rope and make them canter?! Isnt that supposed to be bad on their legs??? And those rope halters, Okay, I think its really cool that you can ride your "bombproof" horse in a piece of string, but NO horse is completly bomproof... Anything can spook them, afterall they are prey animals, but if that horse takes off in a rope halter they have no reason to stop! With a bit it hurts their mouth if you pull hard enough, but with a rope there is no way they are goning to stop just beacause you are pulling on their nose. I know they have those knots, but how well are they honestly going to work??
I ride Sandy in just his ordinary halter and hes fine with it, but that rope halter is thinner and he doesnt feel the pressure as well....

[HorseObsession]

They definatly seem to take the entire thing too far. We worked with my dad's horse for 2 years, everybody's methods. Nothing. Zeke would retaliate with more stregnth.

So eventually we just started acting like the head horse and order was restored. Yes, we used methods that were far from gentle, but if he respected us, we let up. Eventually, he understood.

[Serendipity Zip]

You don't see natural horsemen SMASHING our dressage, cross country, jumping, western pleasure do you?

Actually I do, heh.

We arnt smashing, we are debating. Just like we debate about everything else. If everyone plays nicely, does it really matter?

[John]

Interesting thread!! What exactly is NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP? Is it a skill or is it a method sold to beginners to train their own horse?

[Serendipity Zip]

I believe natural horsemanship is when you use your body to communicate with the horse. Yes? Im sure there is more to it, but I think thats basically what it is in a nut shell.

[DressageGirl22]

I just have to say this. I have done a lot of Parelli Natural Horsemanship and it is not a waste of time. You never hit the horse at all. It is based upon the ways that horses treat each other in different ranks. And it is telling your horse that you are the lead horse. It has worked wonders for all the people that I know who do it. Our horses just follow us around and are very well behaved. I never really like John Lyons, he seemed like the rough cowboy kind of guy and what he does is different than Parelli, well to me atleast. I watched him before and it was like he just scared a horse into a trailer to get it to go in, but with Parelli its more of trust and it doesn't scare the horses. I can see what some of you guys are saying, but I think some people are misunderstanding. But I guess it is just a personal preference between horse and rider/owner.

[PaintedRocket]

This has become quite an interesting thread.

If what you're doing is "based upon the ways that horses treat eachother in different ranks" and NOT hitting/smacking/disiplining them...well...then that is NOT what horses do to eachother. Horses DO bite and kick eachothers as a way to let eachother know that whatever action warranted the reaction was disrespectful and the other horse was therefor "punished"

My horses follow me around like big puppies. They don't envade my space, and if they do, they get it. I practice Common Sense..which in many cases may be the basis of most NH techniques today...but regardless of what ppl want to call it, I like using my noggin and experience with horses I'll take some advice and apply it, if it doesn't work for that horse, I'll keep it in the back of my mind in case it may work with another

[Endorphins4u2]

Originally Posted by John

Interesting thread!! What exactly is NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP? Is it a skill or is it a method sold to beginners to train their own horse?

I think it's people selling their experience to those who can't wait for it to come naturally..

I don't think you can buy horsemanship...

You deffinately won't be prepared for every horse problem doing 1 or 2 clinics...

However, watching cd's is very safe and you could pick up a few pointers which is still good I suppose..

[John]

Originally Posted by Serendipity Zip

I believe natural horsemanship is when you use your body to communicate with the horse. Yes? Im sure there is more to it, but I think thats basically what it is in a nut shell.

The natural horsemanship where they ride a horse in the same afternoon is the type that I am familiar with. It is night and day from what has been described here.