Horses have played a very important role in the history of man. From fighting in battles to hauling loads, horses have played a vital role in the development of society. What has changed though is the way we approach the training of horses and natural horse training is becoming increasingly popular.
Years ago horses were literally ‘broken’ and forced to submit to the needs of men and to recognise men as their leader. There is another way though which brings far more satisfaction to both horse and rider. There are a number of different methods of training through natural horsemanship methods.
All these methods rely on some basic ideas. Horses are herd animals and in any herd a leader will automatically be recognised willingly by the other horses in the herd. The basis of natural horsemanship is getting the animal to recognise the person as their leader, willingly without pain or punishment.
Basically you want the horse to follow you by choice. Another basic idea of natural horsemanship is the lack of punishment. By making behaving in a way attractive to the horse, he will do it willingly. For example, if the horse is pulling back from it’s halter it will feel pressure, which it won’t like, when it relaxes it is a far more pleasant place to be, so he learns not to fight the halter.
There are a number of natural methods. Perhaps the most famous is Monty Roberts and his idea of join up. This process involves utilising the way horses behave in the wild and result in the horse seeing Monty and other humans as their natural leaders. The Parelli method, pioneered by Pat Parelli involves understanding how a horse thinks and seeing the world through his eyes.
All of the natural horse training methods involve love, gentleness and a lack of punishment and result in a close bond between horse and human. This is surely what every horse lover and owner wants for them and their horse. This coupled with animal communication, you can build a deep, long lasting relationship between yourself and your horse.