Living With My Horses

by Lynne Ferguson
(Suquamish, WA USA)

The following is additional information regarding Lynne’s life and program Native Horsemanship Youth Program.

Here's a picture of Joey (our stallion) and 2 of his students. I built my little cabin in one of my pastures to be closer to my herd. The grey mare is in for breeding- but he completely understands when it's time for lessons. I'm sure this is because he lives with mares often, and he is expected to behave respectfully toward them at all times. Just as he is expected to behave respectfully toward two-leggeds! And I can't improve on the Creator's method of horse keeping! Having my home in the pasture is just the best! So are my views!

Side note from Elaine:

I asked Lynne what her opinion and experience was regarding the similarities and/or differences (if any) regarding the approaches commonly used today called Natural Horsemanship vs. her Native Comanche Horsemanship background. She replied:

Of course, there were and are Native and non-Native people who are poor horse people too. I was fortunate that my tribe, along with I believe, 7 others, began their own horse programs, using the Native Horsemanship program as a model. One of my daughters and I went to Cache, OK to help with the Numunu horse program. The Comanche program was run by and elder in his 90's that had been raised by his grandparents, so the horse tradition was from the mid-1800's. I have found that, just as in music, good horsemanship is just good horsemanship, whatever the tack or lack thereof. And some pieces of tack have no business in the hands of most people! Since the basics of good horsemanship do not vary, I saw all these great horse folks as basically saying the same thing as Xenophon. You simply cannot have a beautiful relationship with your horse without communicating in a way he can understand, and since I had been taught that your horse should be cued mostly with your thought and maybe your knees, I knew this could not be accomplished with the methods I had observed. What I noticed immediately about the Numunu herd was that the horses were small mustangs, purchased from the Paiute Nation. The young stallions were separated and halters with short drag ropes were attached. People would move quietly through the herd and someone would step on a drag rope, the horse would turn to them, and they would release. The horses were comfortable in their herd, but completely untouched. This method was a quiet way to get a wild horse's attention, and then reward them immediately. Because I have the advantage of using horses we breed, I can begin our relationship at birth, and before, as the kids talk to the foal inside the mom, and they repeat the same words when the foal is born. The baby turns toward the voice and is already used to our voice. And that's how we begin. We have to start with where the horse is at emotionally and physically. So I believe that every person who has something good to offer horses is using the same basic principles when working with horses - Native or non-Native. The reason Comanche people became so great is because they had to not only catch and train wild horses, but you could not have status in your community without being able to hunt and fight. You HAD to be able to train your horse to work at speed, be super brave, and trust you implicitly, to bring honor to your family. So of course you would spend virtually all your time with your most important horse. Horses enjoy games and jobs and if you spend a lot of time around animals and your cultural survival depends on your relationships with your horses, you will of course have a community of excellent horse people. Anything you would do to damage the relationship would result in hunger or death, ultimately. So we became great in a short period of time.
Now we can choose our relationship with our horse, and I believe most folks would choose a trusting and respectful relationship, if they knew how to do it.
So, I guess I believe that all good horsemanship is fundamentally the same, because horses are fundamentally the same. Another thing I've noticed is that women in domestic Violence situations respond really positively to the herd. They notice how the stallion is unfailingly polite, and that the mares have swift and furious punishment if he crosses their boundaries or the boundaries they have for their foals. My horses have made me a better mom, grandma, and human being!

Additional notes from Lynne:

I used to do lots of shows with the great Taj Mahal. He used to say "It's folk music, cuz folks like it!"
It's like that with good horsemanship-
"It's good horsemanship cuz horses like it!" that's how you can tell. I dislike how everyone and their brother use round pens- they seem to misuse them so often. I like my horses to be able to get away from me, in case I'm making a mistake in my training. I also begin the emergency brake training at birth.

“Thank you so much Lynne for sharing your incredible experiences with us all! And WOW what a view you have!” Elaine