Still learning!

by Katherine Prickett
(South Carolina, USA)

I have been doing some sort of natural horsemanship for about 20 years, committed barefooter for at least ten. Lately I've begun to be bothered by the 'run em around the round pen' stuff - it just seemed too easy to be aggressive toward the horses, and get them so bothered that they either got mad and fought back, or totally tuned me out and ignored my body language.

It seemed we were working more on intimidation than true partnership and respect. I had done a little clicker training and was pleased with the results. Then someone told me about Carolyn Resnick and her Waterhole Rituals. Although I have found them to be somewhat frustrating, and way too full of subtleties that I've probably missed, unless you have someone coaching you - her message is what really got to me - to develop Trust from your horse, MUTUAL respect - meaning you respect his wishes as much as you want him to respect yours, and a lot of other stuff which in the end results in what she calls a 'magical connection' - everything is done slowly and patiently, so like Elaine said, the horse never gets bothered and upset, so he can learn more easily. She does everything at liberty, so the horse is free to leave - hopefully if you've done things right, he'll come back. But he never feels trapped, so you don't ever get into a fight with him.

I think the clicker training just gives him a more positive reinforcement, and more incentive to work with you. Sounds like Elaine is doing a mix of all these things, which really reinforced what I've settled into.

I'm in the process of selling my 'traditional' saddle so I can buy a Barefoot treeless, and I'm bitless. It only makes sense to make your horse as comfortable as possible - physically and emotionally - to keep everyone safe and happy.

I'm working now with a guy who was shown a good bit - nice quiet horse, but after I gave him some time off to fix his horrible feet - he said 'hell no, I won't go' - the result of forceful training and riding, with no one giving him respect - he's making progress with the other methods - that will be another story...

Katherine