The Reason Performance Riders Hate Natural Horsemanship
The Reason Performance Riders Hate Natural Horsemanship - by Don Jessop
Hate is a strong word! I should say "The things performance riders don't like about natural horsemanship."
And by the way, there are a few things to not like about natural horsemanship. And even though I promote natural techniques, I understand that the bias performance trainers have isn't completely misaligned. What I mean is this: The natural horsemanship movement that started nearly 50 years ago has been devoted to helping people see "inside" of a horse rather than the "outside". A good, and much needed premise for change in a mostly abusive horse industry, but it has a few big holes in it.
Traditional performance riders learned early on about the outside of the horse. Things like balance and energy management, foot placement and engagement. Unfortunately, performance horses often suffer from from problematic behaviors, due to riders having minimal understanding of the mental processing of horses.
However, natural riders usually don't learn enough about physical balance or energy management, because very few "Natural Horseman" (even famous natural horsemen) actually know much about it. They don't have the experience in performance, such as dressage or jumping. That's not to say that some of them aren't brilliant. They are. Every person on the planet has something good to offer the world. And a handful of trainers or "horseman" are what I call "Master Horseman". These men and women cross over. They see the whole picture. That's why our program is called Mastery Horsemanship. We don't want to live in one world. We want the best of both worlds. Traditional and Natural.
The thing performance riders don't like about natural riders is that typically, even though a natural rider learns early a lot about emotions and psychology, they learn little about the physical requirements of performance. That's why we see "natural riders" with horses that have horrible self carriage issues and balance. We often see "natural riders" with horses that have horrible posture too. Not because the natural rider doesn't care, but because they don't know. The more they learn, the better they get and if they are willing to cross over into more traditional education, they can learn about balance and energy development too.
The other thing performance riders don't like about natural horsemanship is how too many "natural" people are wimps. That's right. Wimps. They don't dare be firm with their horse for fear of losing the relationship. Ironically, they often only have a relationship that's based on "walking on eggshells" in order to avoid offending their horse. In other words. We see too much "soft love" with natural horsemanship and not enough "tough love".
Of course the pendulum swings both ways. I see people in the performance industries showing too much "tough love" and very little "soft love". There has to be a balance if you want to be a master.
In my book "Leadership and Horses" I talk about this balance. I called the training/bonding ratio. It's important that trainers stay as close to 50%training and 50%bonding as possible.
The reason we need to stay close to that number is because, anything outside those numbers either verges on wimpy, ineffective techniques that create a dull and disrespectful horse, or they slide toward abuse techniques that create a reactive and fearful horse.
The point is, when performance riders see a wimpy leader they immediately blame the "natural" industry. And on the other side of the coin the "natural" people are doing the same thing. Their calling out abuse when they see a rider be firm and direct, but in my opinion being assertive can be important if it's done for certain safety situations.
The truth is, "abuse"... is riding a horse that you know doesn't want you up there. That's why the bond you create with a horse is critical. But riding a horse that likes you doesn't guarantee you'll be safe and it certainly doesn't guarantee the horse could ever perform well. Because without proper alignment, energy management, and postural control, it's hard to achieve anything outside a controlled canter. Once again. We find ourselves looking for balance. We find ourselves looking for strategies that accomplish all aspects of horsemanship. We find ourselves looking for what it takes to be a better leader!
Here is what I think. I think good leaders look for balance. They learn about alignment and energy and power. They learn about psychology and how the horse thinks. They learn about how people think too, so they can pass on a more balanced message and have it get through. Good leaders in essence, don't stop learning. And if you've ever heard someone say, "my way is the only way" then you know they're closed to learning and you also know they are losing ground as a leader.
Here is what I hope for. I want performance riders to see the value of natural horsemanship and I want natural riders to see the value of performance training. I also want natural trainers to see how, many performance riders are in fact "natural". Because "natural" shouldn't mean wimpy. "Natural" should mean you are reward oriented instead of consequence oriented in your training style. Many performance riders are natural.
Also, performance or "traditional" riding shouldn't be considered as thoughtless or mindless. It's takes enormous amounts of concentration to balance and align a horses body parts. That level of concentration usually exists, only in the "elite." The best of the best, or what I call "masters", can teach a horse to align and even stay aligned by themselves, plus feel rewarded for it. The road to mastery can be enriching and powerful for both riders and horses. It's a road I have been on for decades and one I hope you'll join me on.
My real hope is that people find common ground and look for ways to make progress. And that doesn't just relate to horses. Hint, hint:) Life, politics, marriage, religion, raising children. Whatever the endeavor, we need to look for balance and keep the doors to learning... open.
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Don Jessop
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10 Responses
Brittany Ritenour
Someone on here mentioned about WWI and WWII, they were treated better because they were a rare commotity. That is because they were going to “Slaughters”. I don’t consider horses becoming rare because of Slaughtering Plants as a great time for horses, during that time nearly half of the Akhal Teke Horse population was wiped out into the slaughtering plant. Ardennes Drafts were another one after the war that were used and sent to slaughter. I would not have wanted to be a horse living in Europe during that time.
Brittany Ritenour
Someone on here mentioned about WWI and WWII, they were treated better because they were a rare commotity. That is because they were going to “Slaughters”. I don’t consider horses becoming rare because of Slaughtering Plants as a great time for horses, during that time nearly half of the Akhal Teke Horse population was wiped out into the slaughtering plant. Ardennes Drafts were another one after the war that were used and sent to slaughter. I would not have wanted to be a horse living in Europe during that time.
Brittany Ritenour
Most english riders are wimpy, they act like know it alls. They know everything about balance, best saddle fits, best horse outer body care, but can’t handle a “Thoroughbred Mare” without saying she is a crazy witch and freaking out the moment this Thoroughbred mare just does a normal horse thing. One barn I was at the girl Perfect Barrel racer, inside and out , I watched her beat the crap out of her horse in its stall, all the horses were scared of her, in their eyes there was not respect but fear. Fear and respect are not the samething, in a herd horses know the leader is not only going to demand respect but is also going to protect them and look after their safety as a herd. Learned helplessness is most horses. They don’t love humans, they are forced to deal with them. Its not a mutual give and take for horses with most humans. We don’t treat dogs or most pets the way we treat horses, we train dogs that we are leaders, and we are consistent about boundaries and what we expect from them based on dog pack behavior. Horses don’t like being ridden, they dont need to be ridden, horses don’t like living in stalls every minute of the day, horses always have a reason for what they do. Wimpy, I see natural horsemen working with horses that everyone else throws away, which is usually English barns. I had an English barn tell me I had “Cheap Horses”, what is a cheap horse?
Brittany Ritenour
Natural horsemenship isnt whimpy. Listening to your horse is not whimpy, a horses eyes never lie, horses don’t bond with most owners just look up studies done on it. Horses don’t bond with humans the way they do with other animals, part of it is because they are tools to us. Thinking like a horse is not being a wimp, these people train even the most aggressive horses and turn them around. If it was an English barn, they would just be like that horse is evil, that horse needs to be put down. Balance, and the phsycal importances is important if your doing a sport with your horse or a more serious discipline. However not everyone is showing or doing anything competitive. Some people just want to understand their horse better. I would rather have a relationship with my horse then ride her. If having a horse is self serving for my benefit then I should be ashamed. I want her to be happy, that is not being wimpy. I have seen people mistreat horses thinking they know something, but they truly didnt understand the horse or the animal.
Brittany Ritenour
I totally disagree with this article. I know a lot of natural horsemen that are not whimpy and are truly about the horses. We always want soo much control. I never see disrespectful horses from natural horsemenship. I see people who are traditional horsemanship that beat the crap out of their horses to show “Whose Boss” because they dont really understand the horses behavior or why the horse is doing it in the first place. I see so many traditional english barns that label horses as “Mean, Witches, Evil, Bad, Cheap, Gaited, etc”, most natural horsemship always finds a solution even for the most difficult horses. Horses eyes never lie, Animals eyes never lie. I rarely see happy horses at any english barn, owning horses shouldnt be all about the riders, which is for most english barns. It should be about a horses feelings and happiness too.
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Eva Z
The comments follow the same pattern as everywhere else on this divisive subject. The indisputable fact is, a horse business would not be thriving if we all started doing the right things. Nutritionists, veterinarians, farriers, trainers, stables, associations, sport registries, breeders and dealers, they all make more money if we need their services, the more the better. Historically, the only time a horse welfare became important was when WWI and WWII decimated horse populations to an extent that horses became temporarily a rare commodity and this is precisely why European literature from the post-war era was written with a horse welfare in mind without a pretense. Some comments under the article mentions these.The literature, although not very scientific, has one common theme – how to keep a horse (of any quality) usable, healthy and long lasting with a minimal expense. If we all had these factors in mind the discussion would certainly change the course. We would be unified in approaches to keeping and training. If we all start to feel ashamed when our animals became prematurely unusable (or less usable) or having high bills just to keep them around, I would call it a good start.
Oda Barhuf
I come from an English background and am also familiar with natural Horsemanship. Over the years I have found that English trained horses often dearly lack ground manners . Is it oversight or lack of assertiveness? Or maybe it is plain ignorance, because one can get easily hurt with a horse who is disrespectful on the ground!
Secondly, focusing on how to move a horse around while ignoring the rider position is also a common problem with English riding. Many English riders lack true balance in the saddle, so it is not only a natural Horsemanship issue!
Natural Horsemanship riders can be as assertive as needed and as soft as possible, if they are following the right training approach, like Ray Hunt or Tom Dorrance. That will also develop a balanced horse and rider, IF the rider follows the training correctly!
So in short, neither side is perfect and there is room for improvement in many areas.
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Brittany Ritenour
October 08, 2022
I agree with Oda