laura Domenica
03-09-2009, 11:53 PM
I have been reading the comments re demos and about looking at natural horsemanship methods and just wanted to post this note in the hope that it might be of help to those of you exploring the subject.
During my studies over the last few years i have watched many practitioners and watched hundreds of demos and I think i now have some insight into the subject.
While it is good to watch as much as you can one of the pitfalls for most of us when we are starting out is not really being able to assess the quality of what we are looking at. Everything can look great to our inexperienced eye, it may even look impressive, but just because a result is achieved or a task gets done doesn't mean that the “quality” of what is achieved or "how " it was achieved is consistent with good training and the true well being of the horse.
When i was training several years ago with my Dutch warm-blood , I watched my horse being worked by the instructors who were teaching me. At times i found it hard to watch. It seemed to me to be wrong, crude, even forceful, yet I ignored my gut instincts and trusted the judgement of those who were supposed to know far more than me.
I rationalised this because I reasoned that natural horsemanship had changed my horse, from a horse who people, including instructors, were unable to control and who had inspired fear, into a fairly manageable one.
It took several years of training before i was truly able to understand what had gone on then and to understand the inherent value in “how” things were done rather than “what” was done, in short how to tell the good from the bad and the crude from the refined.
So how do we as beginners proceed to tell the difference? In a sense we cannot but we can be you be guided by
Firstly - Trusting our instincts- your gut reaction is usually right. I didn’t listen to mine, idiotic I know, but i did it nonetheless. You should feel good about what your are watching and you should feel the well being of the horse is uppermost. This doesn’t mean you will understand why things are being done, but at this stage, this is not important.
Secondly –read as much as you can about the subject “in general” don’t get bogged down early on in one particular methodology or ideology. Try to get a broad understanding of what the subject is about first. This is best gained from reading anecdotal material rather than “how to” material
Thirdly - look at as many different people and practitioners as you can before you decide to study any particular methodology or with any one practitioner in particular.
Fourthly- look to work with practitioners who are good teachers, who explain what is being done, who demystify the process and break it down into manageable chunks that you as a learner can get to grips with. While it is impressive to watch a really good practitioner effect a change in a difficult horse in a manner of minutes, if you try to emulate this you will not succeed. As beginners we don’t have the skills to understand what we are looking for let alone employ the subtleties and nuances of the work. At best we will manage to emulate some of the gross motor skills, but the art, the finesse and well being of the horse lies in the former.
There are many good trainers out there. I do not believe it matters whether they are traditional or “new” What is important is “how “ they do what they do and not so much “what” they do. My best advice is to become a good student, to stay open in your mind and your heart to learning.
We need to be patient with ourselves, for it is us who needs the education, us who needs to change, to learn to listen, to understand how to use our bodies in a way that makes sense to the horse, and to think in a way that he understands.
Good luck and enjoy the journey, the good thing is, it never ends.
During my studies over the last few years i have watched many practitioners and watched hundreds of demos and I think i now have some insight into the subject.
While it is good to watch as much as you can one of the pitfalls for most of us when we are starting out is not really being able to assess the quality of what we are looking at. Everything can look great to our inexperienced eye, it may even look impressive, but just because a result is achieved or a task gets done doesn't mean that the “quality” of what is achieved or "how " it was achieved is consistent with good training and the true well being of the horse.
When i was training several years ago with my Dutch warm-blood , I watched my horse being worked by the instructors who were teaching me. At times i found it hard to watch. It seemed to me to be wrong, crude, even forceful, yet I ignored my gut instincts and trusted the judgement of those who were supposed to know far more than me.
I rationalised this because I reasoned that natural horsemanship had changed my horse, from a horse who people, including instructors, were unable to control and who had inspired fear, into a fairly manageable one.
It took several years of training before i was truly able to understand what had gone on then and to understand the inherent value in “how” things were done rather than “what” was done, in short how to tell the good from the bad and the crude from the refined.
So how do we as beginners proceed to tell the difference? In a sense we cannot but we can be you be guided by
Firstly - Trusting our instincts- your gut reaction is usually right. I didn’t listen to mine, idiotic I know, but i did it nonetheless. You should feel good about what your are watching and you should feel the well being of the horse is uppermost. This doesn’t mean you will understand why things are being done, but at this stage, this is not important.
Secondly –read as much as you can about the subject “in general” don’t get bogged down early on in one particular methodology or ideology. Try to get a broad understanding of what the subject is about first. This is best gained from reading anecdotal material rather than “how to” material
Thirdly - look at as many different people and practitioners as you can before you decide to study any particular methodology or with any one practitioner in particular.
Fourthly- look to work with practitioners who are good teachers, who explain what is being done, who demystify the process and break it down into manageable chunks that you as a learner can get to grips with. While it is impressive to watch a really good practitioner effect a change in a difficult horse in a manner of minutes, if you try to emulate this you will not succeed. As beginners we don’t have the skills to understand what we are looking for let alone employ the subtleties and nuances of the work. At best we will manage to emulate some of the gross motor skills, but the art, the finesse and well being of the horse lies in the former.
There are many good trainers out there. I do not believe it matters whether they are traditional or “new” What is important is “how “ they do what they do and not so much “what” they do. My best advice is to become a good student, to stay open in your mind and your heart to learning.
We need to be patient with ourselves, for it is us who needs the education, us who needs to change, to learn to listen, to understand how to use our bodies in a way that makes sense to the horse, and to think in a way that he understands.
Good luck and enjoy the journey, the good thing is, it never ends.