Natural horsemanship anyone?

[Mrs. Jingle]

I know we have a few ardent followers on here and very interested to read your views on this I have stumbled across?

https://phys.org/news/2012-07-urge-...RUaQnDvy0sKQ36Xt9yUzupWzvAZf1fAKoYn76fjvJsH_s

 

[dogatemysalad]

I kind of agree with this. The only people on livery yards I've seen attempting join up, have been novices who don't understand horse behaviour enough to lead their horse quietly in from the field, let alone ride it. If newbie owners don't understand the basics of teaching a horse to lead and stand quietly on the yard, how can they understand the complexities of controlling a loose horse while it motorbikes around a pen ?
If success is measured by pushing a stressed horse around a pen until it's exhausted and complies, then it's no better than the old method of breaking a youngster by slapping a saddle on its back and trying to sit the rodeo.

 

[cornbrodolly]

Totally agree with article. I have seen lots of bad 'join -up' and worked with horses that have had a rough time being galloped round and round. Some sessions I have watched , with quite famous names , have been uncomfortable viewing. 'Comply or die' is what the horse seems to learn from this treatment.
How can it be right to gallop a horse for 20 mins in each direction? The horse is only learning to give in through fear and tiredness.
Instead of a round pen we make a square about 20 m each side. This is a better test , because if the horse tries to hide in a corner, then the handler is being too dominant [ or perhaps useless, but thats another story!].
When I work with a horse at liberty [ whether an unbacked horse or not] I aim for the first session to be done at walk, with the horse totally relaxed and in a learning frame of mind. Its not always like this , as an energetic horse may want to have a hooley , but I never send the horse away at speed [ unless I was about to be kicked - unlikely one hopes] , and the horse is rewarded ,never punished.