Natural Horse Training Building BlocksOur definition of natural horse training is based upon examining all facets including environmental, physical, emotional and scientific approaches to enable us to view a horse’s life through their eyes.
By choosing thoughts that represent a horse’s perspective while curving the human’s thoughts of conditioned understanding we can eliminate the use of forceful and painful techniques. Defining Natural Horse Training & LeadershipThink of someone that you would consider to be a great leader, then answer the following questions. Patience, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Consistency, You feel safe when you are with them, Confidence, Fairness, Understanding, Awareness, Kindness, Purposeful…. Untrustworthy, Dishonest, Inconsistent, You do not feel safe with them, Disrespectful, Unconfident, Unfair, Lack of patience and understanding, Dominant! Forceful, Overbearing, Rude, Unaware, Dictatorship, Poor decision maker, Unfocused…… Physical needs: We both need food, water, shelter. (Although the horses need for shelter differs from humans where the horse prefers on open shelter from weather conditions not an enclosed space separated from others. Humans are the cave dwellers not horses.) Shared Emotions & Abilities: We share these kinds of emotions with horses: Love, Pain, Fear, Sadness, Anxiety, Frustration, Loneliness (social order), Trust, Respect, Preferences (likes & dislikes), Friendships, Forgiveness, Confidence, Instinctual Need for Survival and probably many more. The Human Ego: Horses do not have this “EGO”. They do not live by such things as Jealousy, Pride, Resentment, Guilt, Judgments, Prejudices, Acceptance from peers, Insults, Shame, Grudges, Approval from others, Hate, or have the need to Win. Humans can have mixed emotions but horses do not. For example: We can like and dislike or love and hate at the same time for one person. Horses are not concerned about how they look or how others see them. Their instinctual needs consisting of primary elements of survival is what they are only concerned with. As humans we do not consider being “eaten” or even going hungry during the day. Could you imagine what that would be like?Horses live in “the moment” or in the “Now”, however humans spend much more time living in the “past” or planning for the future. Anthropomorphizing: When we use human characteristics to explain animal behavior or justify how they feel by assuming if we feel a certain way, then so do they. For example: My horse is feeling guilty or ashamed because he knows he shouldn’t bite. My horse likes to hug me. When my horse sees a trailer he knows he is going somewhere. My horse likes his stall at night. My horse prefers this bit to that one. My horse knows when he is being bad. My horse gets jealous if I don’t pet him.
Natural Horse Training CommunicationI approach natural horse training by considering all of the above information first. Then I go even deeper imagining I am in a foreign land unable to speak the language of the occupants. Where would I start and how would I communicate? Since horses communicate more with each other through the use of body language than voice I become extremely aware of all my movements. And since they are also very sight specific, every hand, finger, foot gesture means something to them. Voice always becomes second and usually used to regain a horse’s focus first before combining sounds or words with movements. This natural horse training tip came by recognizing that some horses really love to be scratched where they cannot reach. My goal here is to gain trust and have my horse consider me as useful too!
Natural Horse Training Principles to Live By!#1: THINK LIKE A HORSE! #2: THINK LIKE A HORSE! #3: IF SOMETHING IS STILL NOT WORKING: THINK LIKE A HORSE!
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