Training Techniques

Often referred to as 'horse whispering', Natural Horsemanship uses the horse's own language to train the horse and involves the use of gentle pressure with increasing escalation to get the horse to respond. It becomes a dance. By enabling communication through leadership and mutual respect, natural horsemanship removes dangers, limitations, and frustrations between horses and people. Natural horsemanship training offers both horse and rider many alternatives and new experiences that traditional horsemanship cannot.

The training process with the horse and their owner involves progressive levels of training that build upon each other so that a horse has a clear idea of what is being asked of him. This training involves round pen work, on-line ground training, and training on giving to pressure. I only agree to work with a horse if the owner is willing to learn natural horsemanship techniques. In order to make the hard work of training last, the owner must be willing and able to take the techniques they learn here home with them.

Round Penning

The first step in my training program is to put the horse in the round pen. I have found that the round pen is one of the most effective tools for getting the horse to connect with you immediately. Round-penning is used to mimic the body language of the head of the herd moving the other horses around. Exactly what I do in the round pen depends very much on the horse. I will behave very differently with an aggressive horse than with a shy, fearful one.

The timing of what you do in the round pen is critical, and I spend a lot of time getting my students to understand why I do what I do, when I do it. There is no "canned" way to train a horse and my approach is to train people to develop their own sense of intuitive horsemanship.

I learn a lot about a horse at this stage. A horse's body language will tell you volumes about their training needs. The methods used in the round pen are a response to this body language. I also use the round pen to put the horse to work when they are not making good choices. Putting a resistant horse to work instead of becoming angry and punishing him will get dramatic results. If your horse is misbehaving, there is probably something the horse doesn't understand or some resistance in his/her body. By breaking down what we ask of our horses into understandable steps that build upon each other, you can teach your horse without resistance.

Sensitizing and Desensitizing

The horse's nature determines how much time will be spent on sensitizing or desensitizing exercises. For example, a horse that is very fearful of many things in the environment needs to be exposed to and desensitized to as many experiences as possible. Conversely, a very lazy horse needs to be sensitized to respond to pressure.

Horses are now taught to move their bodies in various ways in response to light pressure from the ground. Just as important as the pressure, is the release of pressure, and the timing of that release.

Line Work and the One-Rein Stop

The one-rein stop is one of the most important lessons I teach. This is initially taught on the ground with the horse in a rope halter. The one-rein stop teaches the horse to stop moving his feet while releasing his head to pressure from the side. The one-rein stop, when used while in the saddle, is like the emergency brake on your car. It is a very valuable tool for people who have become afraid to ride.

During line work, the horse is taught to move respectfully around me and to stop and face me up when asked. The horse is taught to move backwards and also to pivot on the fore and hind quarters in response to light pressure.

Riding

All the techniques that have been taught on the ground are now incorporated into our final goal of being able to use the trust and mutual respect we have developed to ride the horse safely.

Now that we have this relationship, we can begin to train the horse to be ridden. The horse is first taught to accept a saddle and bridle willingly. Then the horse is taught to stand perfectly still while being mounted. I next concentrate on moving the horse forward using escalating pressures, and then asking for one-rein stops. Stopping on whoa is the next area of concentration, followed by steering exercises.

As the rider and horse become more comfortable with these basics, I begin to teach techniques such as backing, pivoting, and side passing. Once these areas have been mastered, the horse and rider can begin to use these basics to enjoy any pursuit they choose.

Solving Problems

Some of the common problems solved through our training program are:

• Bucking or rearing
• Kicking
• Biting
• Inability to catch
• Spooking or shying
• Disrespecting personal space
• Mounting/ dismounting issues
• Trailering problems
• Running away with the rider
• Bad attitude

These examples are only a small sampling of issues solved through our natural training methods.

Gaited Horses

While I train many trotting horses, all of my personal horses are gaited horses. I offer specialized gait improvement training. Natural horsemanship makes a horse very relaxed, which usually leads to an improved gait and a great headshake for the Tennessee Walking Horse (TWH). I have worked with many TWHs that have a problem with stopping and the owners have them in severe shank bits. These horses can be re-trained so they are easily stopped in a snaffle bit with no shank.

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