by Laura Crum
Kerrin
made some interesting comments on my last post (How to “Train” a Solid Trail
Horse) on the subject of NH or “natural horsemanship.” Like many traditional
horseman, I have never had much use for this form of training, pioneered by Pat
Parelli. I watched Pat Parelli show a bridleless mule at the Snaffle Bit
Futurity maybe thirty years ago, and I thought he looked like a real hand. But
I have not been impressed with the money making machine he created in NH and
its games and tools and clinics, nor by what I have seen of NH horses and NH
practices in general.
But…the
truth is I really know very little about NH. By the time it was fashionable, I
had already paid my dues in the traditional horse training world, and the only
horse training I did any more was for myself and friends. I wasn’t interested
in interacting with trainers of any sort—I’d just had enough of that world. I
knew enough to train and get along with my own horses successfully, and that
worked for me. So my actual experience with NH was/is limited to the times I’ve
run into practitioners (in real life and on the internet) and what my friends
(almost all traditional horsemen) have told me.
The
consensus has always been that NH horses are pushy and not respectful, that the
NH people get to call themselves trainers without ever learning to ride, that
the answer for every problem is working the horse from the ground, and that no
NH horse was ever effectively trained such that it could compete at a high
level at anything. I’ve seen a little to support this view, but I honestly just
haven’t seen enough to know. And my most recent interaction with a NH
practitioner has been entirely positive.
Several
years ago my friend Wally and I were looking for a home for a flunked out rope
horse that we had trained. Wally and I bought Lester as a two-year-old because
he was by a three quarter brother to my horse, Gunner, and we both thought
Gunner was a great horse. The breeder gave us a really good price on the colt
and seemed quite anxious to be rid of him, despite the fact that he was
obviously the most athletic horse in the group and appeared kind and
cooperative. I asked where his mother was, so I could see her, and was told,
“We got rid of that crazy bitch last year.” I ignored this. And that was our
first mistake.
Lester
turned out to be kind, smart and easy to train as a riding horse. He was very
athletic and could really run. Wally and I trained him together and we thought
he would make a great rope horse. We were wrong.
Lester
had a crazy streak. I now think it was inherited. He simply could not take any
sort of intensity or pressure or stress. Over and over again he would show his
ability to execute and then blow up. He would make five great roping runs and
then rear straight up in the box. He would travel down the trail nicely behind
another horse and then be a basket case if asked to go out by himself or put in
the lead in a “scary” place. Lester was willing to get truly violent when his
buttons got “pushed,” though he never meant to hurt anyone. I always felt that
he was just as likely to hurt himself as his rider. He wasn’t defiant; his
circuits just plain shorted out under stress.
Of
course, we tried to work with him. But nothing we knew how to do really
improved him. He’d go well for awhile and then blow up again. We had several
other people who were competent riders/ropers work with him, but they all got
the same result. I tried all the training tricks I knew, but nothing helped. In
reference to my previous post about tying, I tried this technique with Lester
fairly early in the piece. But Lester did not respond the way the other colts
I’d worked with responded. If tied by himself Lester just got worse and worse;
his violent behavior continued to escalate. I feared he would hurt or kill
himself and gave up the tying. And yet Lester remained a kind, cooperative
horse most of the time. If not stressed, he was great. Anyone could ride him at
a walk, trot, lope around the arena, or follow another horse on a trail ride.
He would take either lead, spin a little, stop and back readily…for anyone,
including a beginner. He was reliably pleasant and calm for this sort of work.
We certainly succeeded in his training to this degree, anyway.
After
several years of persisting, we gave up the idea that Lester could be a rope
horse. He was immensely talented—we’d been offered ten thousand dollars by
someone who saw him make three great runs one day. We turned it down—we knew
well enough how that would end up. An unhappy roper and a horse that was sent
down the road. Lester might not be rope horse material, but we were fond of
him. We didn’t want him to come to a bad end.
My friend wanted a riding horse for her teenage daughter and
Lester had proven that he would pack beginners reliably in an arena and on a
trail ride in a group. So we loaned Lester to Sue to be a kid’s horse.
This
worked surprisingly well (except when Sue’s daughter wanted to try barrel
racing, which Lester—predictably--showed a lot of talent at, but—equally
predictably-- he always blew up when under pressure) and Lester stayed there
until Sue’s daughter outgrew her horse phase. He then went to Sue’s niece. But
eventually she lost interest, too. And Lester needed a home. Lester was a
teenage horse by now and I really wanted to find him a forever home, as I just
had too many horses.
Wally
and I resolved to find him a place where he could babysit beginners—which is
what he was good at. And my friend Kerrin decided to give him a try. She and
her partner have a ranch where they teach kids to ride and educate people on
horsemanship. Kerrin is a NH practitioner, and I also knew her to be a kind,
competent horseman who took great care of her animals. Whatever prejudices I
had and have about NH, I didn’t let them get in my way. It’s my belief that
there are good horsemen and poor horsemen in every discipline and method.
Lester
has thrived with Kerrin and her crew. He fits their uses and they love him. I’m
not sure if NH practices improved Lester’s quirks or not—perhaps Kerrin could
tell us. Its possible, too, that age has mellowed him—he’s in his 20’s now. But
I do know that Lester has had a good life at Kerrin’s ranch, as do all the
horses that live there. So I have to say that I am really grateful to this
particular NH practitioner.
In
the comments on my last post Kerrin asked why all the bashing of NH, and it got
me thinking. I don’t really know why non-NH folks have such a low opinion of
this training method. I stated earlier in the post what my perceptions have
been, and the perceptions of others that I know. But are these perceptions
correct? I thought I’d open the door to letting people tell me what NH is and
whether or not it is a training method that can make a good horse. Maybe I just
need a little education on the subject?
I
would particularly like to raise the point Kate made at the very end of the
comments on my last post. It seems that most of the poor horse behavior
attributed to NH could just as easily be attributed to middle-aged women who
have never owned/trained/ridden horses before and acquire a horse thinking the
main goal is to be “nice” to the horse and that being nice will result in the
horse loving them and behaving well. This is just not true, as any experienced
horseman can tell you. The goal is to have a good partnership with a horse and
this can only come about if you are willing to be firm/a leader/set
boundaries/reprimand appropriately….or however you would like to phrase this
key aspect of horsemanship which involves teaching the horse to respect you.
Kerrin also referenced this aspect of the situation in one of her comments. For
whatever reason, this sort of novice horse owner really seems to gravitate to
NH.
I
would also add that a person new to horses who wants to ride must spend a lot
of hours riding a steady eddie horse in order to learn to ride effectively. It
is not possible to work with a horse other than a steady eddie if you can’t
ride competently, or rather, its possible, but nothing good will come of it.
It’s my perception that many NH people have not learned to ride well enough to
deal with a horse who is anything other than a schoolmaster. But they buy an
unsuitable mount…and then can’t deal with it. It appears to me that the NH
program encourages them to work with this horse, using games from the ground,
and believe they are training it to be a riding horse. I do not think this is a
workable concept, and would venture that this sort of pattern is one reason the
NH horses have a poor reputation in the world outside NH. But maybe I am wrong
in my perception?
So,
please, chime in and give me your explanations. It is quite true that I don’t
really know much about this subject.
