Is Natural Horsemanship Overrated?

[teamsarazara]

At the yard tonight a group of us were talking, and my boss said she'd seen some really nasty people in natural horsemanship, and all they wanted was the money, tv and to be a star and horses were drugged and hurt in the making of it. (not sure im allowed to mention names) I've never tried it so cant knock it, but has anyone had success or not so succesful stories? x

 

[jeeve]

you will get this kind of comment about any one that is more successful, or more well known, or does things differently from the person who said it, don't waste your time listening to this kind of opinion , not worth repeating

 

[jaye1780]

I think to some degree she is right, in the sense that some people pass themselves off as NH but dont actually understand it and therefore dont use the right methods. However I dont think you can apply that to all as there are many out there with fantastic results that speak for themselves. I have seen it done badly (not by a professional) so can see why some people say its overrated but those who do it well are not overrated at all and I would love that knowledge and skill level

 

[ticketyboo]

I attended an IH course some years ago as a helper and it was fantastic, the people were great, kind, friendly, helpful and all had the horses best interest at heart, there were no drugs involved, other attendees brought their own horses for work and saw a horse that would not load, load with no problems!
People always have their opions, this is mine and I can only take as I find, I found the IH team great, not sure if that is the same as NH but for me, the horse always comes first, they cant speak so we have to listen to them extra hard and any person being cruel or nasty to any animal does not have the animals best interest at heart and that cannot be natural!
You can always find a bad apple in any barrel if you look hard enough but in my experience with IH, it has helped me and it has helped my horses and I met one of my best friends ever on the course so I am all for it!

 

[muff747]

No I don't think it is over rated, it does work if it is carried out with empathy and the horses welfare in mind. Over the last 12 or 13 years, I have been learning as much as I can about NH and take every opportunity to watch and learn.
It defo worked for me when, in the early days my gelding was very bolshy, pulled away when he was tied up, or away from people leading him. He would go backwards if you tried to make him come forwards when leading him and was a nightmare to load because of all the above.
I learnt initially from Richard Maxwell and also from Monty Roberts and have used their methods on many bolshy horses, caught uncatchable ponies in the field, got non loaders to load and helped nervous horses trust people more. I am no expert and have much more to learn but with basic knowledge, I have found it does work and makes the relationship between horse/pony and handler much happier and relaxed. Of course there are always sceptics who probably tried it themselves and found it didn't work or can't believe someone can have such an influence over a horse without using violence or trickery. I usually find those people use fear and violence themselves to make their horses to do what they want and have to discredit NH to justify their own methods.