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A Cautionary Tale of the Pandora’s box of Natural Horsemanship
Before you start down the long and arduous path of Natural Horsemanship here is a cautionary tale for you to consider if this is what you really want.
Picture if you will the perfect horse. It exists, I had one. Tas was an ex racehorse who had raced from an early age on the flat, over hurdles, steeplechasing and finally in point to points. He was everything I did not like in a horse. To start off he was a TB, then he was 16.2 and a smidge, and to finish off my prejudices he was a very bright chestnut. That is him up there in the picture. But I hear you mutter to yourselves, that picture does not seem to indicate anything like a perfect horse. Ah well, read closely readers and all will be revealed.
I had decided that at the great of 55, after many years hunting with the most amazing hunter – well apart from lack of brakes but that is another story, it was time for me to set my sights a little lower and get a NICE QUIET COB, coloured would be fun and 15 hnds would suite my 5ft 2 frame. So how did I end up with TAS? Good question.
After being unceremoniously dumped a few times by small coloured cob, the last time in the middle of the road which left me very badly bruised and in danger of not being able to ski again, I sent him off to be schooled and sold. The very kind lady who took him offered to lend me a horse until I found my perfect horse. Borrow this TB, she says, NO, NO I cry, not a TB, Not a racehorse, not chestnut. I was nevertheless persuaded to have him on loan for a few months.
Wow, what a horse, I decided after a couple of weeks. Completely bomb proof in all traffic, tractors, juggernauts, motor bikes you name it, he ignored it. Walk, trot, canter, gallop – if he could be bothered - , jump, no hassle, BRAKES, quite amazing. If anything he was a bit lazy, not terribly willing, I could quite see why he had not bothered to win any races. Easy to catch, box, shoe and I would have been hard put to find any fault – everybody’s dream horse. So of course he stayed.
Enter the Pandora’s box of Natural Horsemanship!
Fired up after attending the Parelli conference in 2007, I decided to change my relationship with my horses and get into rope wriggling! Having been avoiding riding my manic mare who had only one gear and that was full steam ahead, I decided to start on my NICE QUIET TB.
Got the kit, carrot stick, natural headcollar and 12 ft rope. Can’t be that hard I says to myself, after all I am reasonably intelligent and have spent 50 yrs with horses so off I go into the field with TAS. Like all learners I got very tangled up in rope and carrot stick and the horse looked snootily down his nose at me and refused to co operate. I enlist the help of a friend who educates me in the important rope wriggling business and how to play the friendly game before going on to direct the horse with rope and stick. I get the DVDS and study them avidly; I am on a mission and show all the classics symptoms of a convert.
Tas’s response was immediate and strong. He did NOT want to be friendly with me and if I was opening up a dialogue with him he promptly showed me what he thought of me and the world. Starting with foot stamping which I ignored – silly me but hey I was also a learner – and progressing to rearing, squealing and bucking. Nobody had ever asked Tas what he thought, nobody had ever him asked to participate in events. Nobody had ever asked Tas to think beyond his next meal. So like most people, deprived of mental stimulus he had shut down inside.
I no longer had the dream horse; I had a horse that scared me silly. I was asking his opinion and he was expressing it very forcefully. Picture a recalcitrant teenager being nagged by his mother to tidy up his room that is what I discovered.
What had I done? Once the box is opened there is no going back. Once you start talking to your horse in a language he can understand you open up a whole new relationship with your horse.
Be careful of what you wish for and consider hard if this is the road for you. The rewards are there but the journey is long.
It is now 2 years later and I still have Tas but he is not the horse he was. Some things have not changed, he is still traffic proof, still good to catch – except I do not catch him, he catches me – box, shoe but in many other ways he is like a new horse. Somebody I am still learning to play and be with. Is he a quiet, bombproof patent safety now, no he is not, will he be again, yes he will but only if I put the time and dedication into the relationship.
Would I do it again with the 20:20 vision of hindsight, I do not know. But I have learnt a lot, I am becoming bilingual in horse and my horse is bilingual in Rosie.
Where am I now you might ask?
Picture if you will the perfect horse. It exists, I had one. Tas was an ex racehorse who had raced from an early age on the flat, over hurdles, steeplechasing and finally in point to points. He was everything I did not like in a horse. To start off he was a TB, then he was 16.2 and a smidge, and to finish off my prejudices he was a very bright chestnut. That is him up there in the picture. But I hear you mutter to yourselves, that picture does not seem to indicate anything like a perfect horse. Ah well, read closely readers and all will be revealed.
I had decided that at the great of 55, after many years hunting with the most amazing hunter – well apart from lack of brakes but that is another story, it was time for me to set my sights a little lower and get a NICE QUIET COB, coloured would be fun and 15 hnds would suite my 5ft 2 frame. So how did I end up with TAS? Good question.
After being unceremoniously dumped a few times by small coloured cob, the last time in the middle of the road which left me very badly bruised and in danger of not being able to ski again, I sent him off to be schooled and sold. The very kind lady who took him offered to lend me a horse until I found my perfect horse. Borrow this TB, she says, NO, NO I cry, not a TB, Not a racehorse, not chestnut. I was nevertheless persuaded to have him on loan for a few months.
Wow, what a horse, I decided after a couple of weeks. Completely bomb proof in all traffic, tractors, juggernauts, motor bikes you name it, he ignored it. Walk, trot, canter, gallop – if he could be bothered - , jump, no hassle, BRAKES, quite amazing. If anything he was a bit lazy, not terribly willing, I could quite see why he had not bothered to win any races. Easy to catch, box, shoe and I would have been hard put to find any fault – everybody’s dream horse. So of course he stayed.
Enter the Pandora’s box of Natural Horsemanship!
Fired up after attending the Parelli conference in 2007, I decided to change my relationship with my horses and get into rope wriggling! Having been avoiding riding my manic mare who had only one gear and that was full steam ahead, I decided to start on my NICE QUIET TB.
Got the kit, carrot stick, natural headcollar and 12 ft rope. Can’t be that hard I says to myself, after all I am reasonably intelligent and have spent 50 yrs with horses so off I go into the field with TAS. Like all learners I got very tangled up in rope and carrot stick and the horse looked snootily down his nose at me and refused to co operate. I enlist the help of a friend who educates me in the important rope wriggling business and how to play the friendly game before going on to direct the horse with rope and stick. I get the DVDS and study them avidly; I am on a mission and show all the classics symptoms of a convert.
Tas’s response was immediate and strong. He did NOT want to be friendly with me and if I was opening up a dialogue with him he promptly showed me what he thought of me and the world. Starting with foot stamping which I ignored – silly me but hey I was also a learner – and progressing to rearing, squealing and bucking. Nobody had ever asked Tas what he thought, nobody had ever him asked to participate in events. Nobody had ever asked Tas to think beyond his next meal. So like most people, deprived of mental stimulus he had shut down inside.
I no longer had the dream horse; I had a horse that scared me silly. I was asking his opinion and he was expressing it very forcefully. Picture a recalcitrant teenager being nagged by his mother to tidy up his room that is what I discovered.
What had I done? Once the box is opened there is no going back. Once you start talking to your horse in a language he can understand you open up a whole new relationship with your horse.
Be careful of what you wish for and consider hard if this is the road for you. The rewards are there but the journey is long.
It is now 2 years later and I still have Tas but he is not the horse he was. Some things have not changed, he is still traffic proof, still good to catch – except I do not catch him, he catches me – box, shoe but in many other ways he is like a new horse. Somebody I am still learning to play and be with. Is he a quiet, bombproof patent safety now, no he is not, will he be again, yes he will but only if I put the time and dedication into the relationship.
Would I do it again with the 20:20 vision of hindsight, I do not know. But I have learnt a lot, I am becoming bilingual in horse and my horse is bilingual in Rosie.
Where am I now you might ask?
Fast forward two years and I still have Tas but he is not the horse he was. Nor am I the same person.
I have sought professional help and been greatly aided by David Stuart (a past instructor of Parelli) and Mark Rashid. I have studied avidly the information available from the Parelli web site. I have learnt to say ‘How interesting’ in classic Linda Parelli style when he rears and carry on calmly as though it was all very boring. As you may well imagine that deflates the energy coming from the horse and I am eternally grateful to Linda Parelli for those two words! I have learnt not to think in direct lines and not to get hung up if Tas doesn’t go over a log but to see it as an opportunity to ask him to try again.
Instead of smacking him when he tries to bite he gets a mint, in Natural horseman ship world a horse that bites needs more loving not more smacking. Against everything I was taught in the traditional world he gets treats when I see his teeth, lots of mouth rubs and I play games with him, ask him to reverse, move his feet and hey now he rarely bites! He wants to be with me; he smiles and gets a soft expression on his face. Wow, now is that not exciting?
We still have daily tussles over who is boss but each day he cedes the high ground to me more readily. But I have to be interesting to him and I have to be a good leader. I have learnt to communicate with my body and my energy rather than using my voice, after all I am still struggling to learn horse, what makes you think that a horse speaks English or French or German. What a strain but how challenging!
I now have a horse that I can ask to come out of his stable one hoof at a time, who will stop and reverse just by my asking him to with a finger, who will reverse through gates and doors without me having to manage him through them, who will stand up on objects for all the world like a circus horse. I can send him on a circle just by pointing my finger, I can increase the pace from walk to trot to canter just by increasing the life in my body and I can get him to stop and turn his quarters away from me just by staring at them.
I am daily delighted by those things I have taught Tas and Tas has taught me. I am daily dismayed at how little I really knew in the past about horses and how they think.
When I ride I now have a horse that now goes willingly everywhere, who wants to investigate and is eager to go out. Contrary to all traditional methods this was achieved by going down the clover trail! 10 steps munch of clover, 15 steps munch of clover, 20 steps munch of clover. It is now a game for him, which enticing tidbit on the ride will he get to munch on. He wants to go forward I can stop and start him just by changing my seat and move up or down a gear by changing the beat in my head.
I am now terrified that I am sitting on a horse that has the interest and capability of getting round Aintree. Is he a quiet, bombproof patent safety now? No he is not. Will he be again? Yes he will but only if I put the time and dedication into the relationship.
I am daunted by the task ahead of me, at the hours of work and play still to be done in order to reach the nirvana of my perfect horse. I am overjoyed that I can reverse my horse by gently pulling his tail!
Natural Horsemanship is not a short term quick fix, beware readers, if you start you have make the decision to do it for life. Natural horsemanship is not something you think ‘I will do that for an hour’ like I will do dressage or schooling or jumping, it percolates through everything single thing you do with your horse. It is a way of life.
I have sought professional help and been greatly aided by David Stuart (a past instructor of Parelli) and Mark Rashid. I have studied avidly the information available from the Parelli web site. I have learnt to say ‘How interesting’ in classic Linda Parelli style when he rears and carry on calmly as though it was all very boring. As you may well imagine that deflates the energy coming from the horse and I am eternally grateful to Linda Parelli for those two words! I have learnt not to think in direct lines and not to get hung up if Tas doesn’t go over a log but to see it as an opportunity to ask him to try again.
Instead of smacking him when he tries to bite he gets a mint, in Natural horseman ship world a horse that bites needs more loving not more smacking. Against everything I was taught in the traditional world he gets treats when I see his teeth, lots of mouth rubs and I play games with him, ask him to reverse, move his feet and hey now he rarely bites! He wants to be with me; he smiles and gets a soft expression on his face. Wow, now is that not exciting?
We still have daily tussles over who is boss but each day he cedes the high ground to me more readily. But I have to be interesting to him and I have to be a good leader. I have learnt to communicate with my body and my energy rather than using my voice, after all I am still struggling to learn horse, what makes you think that a horse speaks English or French or German. What a strain but how challenging!
I now have a horse that I can ask to come out of his stable one hoof at a time, who will stop and reverse just by my asking him to with a finger, who will reverse through gates and doors without me having to manage him through them, who will stand up on objects for all the world like a circus horse. I can send him on a circle just by pointing my finger, I can increase the pace from walk to trot to canter just by increasing the life in my body and I can get him to stop and turn his quarters away from me just by staring at them.
I am daily delighted by those things I have taught Tas and Tas has taught me. I am daily dismayed at how little I really knew in the past about horses and how they think.
When I ride I now have a horse that now goes willingly everywhere, who wants to investigate and is eager to go out. Contrary to all traditional methods this was achieved by going down the clover trail! 10 steps munch of clover, 15 steps munch of clover, 20 steps munch of clover. It is now a game for him, which enticing tidbit on the ride will he get to munch on. He wants to go forward I can stop and start him just by changing my seat and move up or down a gear by changing the beat in my head.
I am now terrified that I am sitting on a horse that has the interest and capability of getting round Aintree. Is he a quiet, bombproof patent safety now? No he is not. Will he be again? Yes he will but only if I put the time and dedication into the relationship.
I am daunted by the task ahead of me, at the hours of work and play still to be done in order to reach the nirvana of my perfect horse. I am overjoyed that I can reverse my horse by gently pulling his tail!
Natural Horsemanship is not a short term quick fix, beware readers, if you start you have make the decision to do it for life. Natural horsemanship is not something you think ‘I will do that for an hour’ like I will do dressage or schooling or jumping, it percolates through everything single thing you do with your horse. It is a way of life.