Natural Horsemanship Peeps

Ginger Bear

Ginger Bear

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Could someone pm me if your well in to your natural horsemanship & could help me with something with pole work.. I'm new to this but due to the nervous nature of one of our newbies I've given it a go for the first time and so far everything is working. But just need a bit of advise.. Thanks
 
Personally I've seen a lot of horses' heads thoroughly done in by people practising so called "natural horsemanship". For instance, someone had read an article, gone to a workshop, seen a vid on U-Tube, etc etc., and its a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing.

As with any other method of training, it needs experience, a common-sense approach which looks at the WHOLE picture, i.e. horse AND rider combined, and an ability to sit back and think things through so that if something isn't working, finding the best approach.

Why don't you have a look at Michael Peace's website and read some of his stuff there, which is a good common-sense approach without any of the type commonly associated with, shall we say, more American methods (please note I've not used the "P" word here:):):))

Or alternatively look at Intelligent Horsemanship's website who will be able to give you the name of a trainer in your area who might be able to help you.

IME it needs a professional, particularly in the early stages of training, to put you right and get you going as a horse & trainer combination. If you get the first things wrong, you're likely to thoroughly c@ck up up the whole thing, so care needed.

Good luck anyway.
 
Me too. It is certainly true that it is far easier to do stuff in person, because timing is all important and it is hard to advise on that. There are a few "tools in the tool box" that can help in certain circumstances, and hopefully Ginger Bear has got some good stuff to begin with. It could be just a question of getting back on track - we all know if you have been to a clinic it works fine so long as the clinician is there, but things begin to go slightly awry when you are at home on your own and you need someone to just let you know where you are going wrong.
 
To be honest MiJods I think it's a bit rude to jump to the conclusion that someone is going to do their horse's head in and make a mess of some thing they're doing just because they put some initials in the title of their thread. Op may or may not have an understanding of what she's doing, we can't tell from the thread. Sometimes I can't help wishing that people would let the question be answered, instead of immediately leaping in and recommending alternatives.
Anyway, I hate mornings so maybe I'm being too sensitive. Ginger Bear, I'm off to do a bit with my horses now, but will look at pm's when I get back. I've met JillA and she's very knowledgeable about nh and non-nh stuff. :-)
 
Tinypony said:
To be honest MiJods I think it's a bit rude to jump to the conclusion that someone is going to do their horse's head in and make a mess of some thing they're doing just because they put some initials in the title of their thread. Op may or may not have an understanding of what she's doing, we can't tell from the thread. Sometimes I can't help wishing that people would let the question be answered, instead of immediately leaping in and recommending alternatives.
Anyway, I hate mornings so maybe I'm being too sensitive. Ginger Bear, I'm off to do a bit with my horses now, but will look at pm's when I get back. I've met JillA and she's very knowledgeable about nh and non-nh stuff. :-)
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I agree with mijods, I also know local people who have read a bit and seen a video and think they are the next best thing but have no real knowledge. Also in her post she states quite clearer to go on the IH website and find a trainer. To me that's sound advice and not rude
 
thatsmygirl said:
I agree with mijods, I also know local people who have read a bit and seen a video and think they are the next best thing but have no real knowledge. Also in her post she states quite clearer to go on the IH website and find a trainer. To me that's sound advice and not rude
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Yes, please re-read my post. This is precisely WHY I advise OP to find a professional. And that's not referring just to NH training, but ANY situation basically where the owner has the b@lls to recognise that they're a bit stuck and need some solutions and aren't afraid to ask for help.

I saw two lovely youngsters with lots of potential totally ruined because their well-meaning but novice owner persisted with Parelli (OK so named and shamed) when patently another approach and some professional input would have prevented that. So I'm prepared to be shot down on here if it means the same thing doesn't happen for another horse.

Please note I'm not anti NH!! - I have a trainer who works with me and my horses, when necessary, and she uses a variety of NH approaches as and when appropriate. And that's the important thing IMO; is knowing what works when, and what doesn't - and that's why its good to have a professional with a detached approach and the knowledge of different situations, to come alongside rather than for an owner to muddle along on their own and do a lot of harm.

No offence intended to OP!!! I am just suggesting solutions not slamming anyone's horsemanship here!!
 
Oh dear the P word has been uttered :-O :-) there is more to so called natural horsemanship than the P method and there are lots of great trainers about. I have an issue with the term Natural too. It seems to imply that anything else is not Natural but its the word we seem to be stuck with for now. I did a training day with Ben hart last week and found it really useful however I've also had a P type training session and also found that useful. Next up is Gerd Heusman who I think I will also learn a lot from. So in my case I will take what suits my personality and belief from whoever comes along and hopefully end up with a good set of 'tools' to enable me to deal with different situations depending on my assessment of what suits that particular horse. So OP my advice would be to find out as much as you can then find a method which suits your horse's way of learning.
 
TrasaM said:
Oh dear the P word has been uttered :-O :-) there is more to so called natural horsemanship than the P method and there are lots of great trainers about. I have an issue with the term Natural too. It seems to imply that anything else is not Natural but its the word we seem to be stuck with for now. I did a training day with Ben hart last week and found it really useful however I've also had a P type training session and also found that useful. Next up is Gerd Heusman who I think I will also learn a lot from. So in my case I will take what suits my personality and belief from whoever comes along and hopefully end up with a good set of 'tools' to enable me to deal with different situations depending on my assessment of what suits that particular horse. So OP my advice would be to find out as much as you can then find a method which suits your horse's way of learning.
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Yup! EXACTLY!!! thanks for summarising:)

"Set of tools" is a good way of putting it, i.e. use some, discard others, mentally file away others for another occasion.....
 
Yeah, I know, I'm a grumpy old git. :-)
I just think that Op asked a really simple question, and until anyone knows more we don't really know if she's well on the right track and a little bit of input will help, or not...
 
Haha I love this forum.. Just to put some of your minds at rest.. I'm not a parelli lover or a total follower of one training method or another. I have a tb gelding & an instructor that teaches classical dressage & am just testing a different approach with a pony we have to help him gain confidence as he's very willing & very good but it seems he hasn't always been treated properly & can shy away if pushed to much. Despite the different opinions of people on nh techniques, I am open minded to most things, If I see it & try it & it works I will use it, if I read about it & it doesn't add up to me or someone can't explain a logical reason to use it I'll leave it alone.. So far the nh techniques I've tried out with this pony over the last couple of weeks has given me a very calm & willing little guy with situations he was previously afraid of so has given me reason to explore it further. Thanks for your replies..
 
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