The other day while making a rare appearance in a grocery store, I couldn’t help but notice that almost everything carries a “Natural” label these days. I went to the dictionary to look up the definition of Natural, and there is a whole slew of definitions. I guess with all these definitions, food distributors and the like can find one to justify their label of “All Natural”, or made from “Natural Sources”, or whatever.
That kind of got me thinking that the term “Natural Horsemanship” maybe is just as misused in the horse industry as “Natural” is maybe misused in the food industry. Level One of our Training and Riding Pyramid talks about Tom and Bill Dorrance, and Ray Hunt as the early pioneers of “Natural Horsemanship”. Our training program incorporates many of the teaching methods of these early pioneers. And our definition of “Natural Horsemanship” is really pretty simple: Applying the appropriate pressures on horses in a non threatening, non predatory fashion, to get them to take the shapes we desire. It’s a lot easier said than done, since this approach does not come “Natural” for most people. We think that learning the language of the horse is the best way to become a “Natural”, which is what our whole program focuses on: Horse Sensible Horsemanship
Keep It Natural
