Re: RC: What is NH (Natural Horsemanship)

[sweety@nni.com]

You're missing my point - I am not quibbling regarding techniques - just
semantics...it can be misleading for the newcomer to hear of 'natural'
horsemanship...why bother? why can't it just be 'horsemanship'? The term was
coined originally as sales propaganda, and should {in my opinion} be left as
such  in order to promote effective, clear communication between PEOPLE -
experienced and newbies alike...oftentimes the more experienced folk in ANY
field of interest will use all sorts of fancy lingo and jargon to promote
their own knowledge - but end up confusing the newcomer who only wishes to
learn...it is the horses that suffer from a newbies inexperience and
inability to learn, so I say instead of using fancy names, call it what it
is - horsemanship....promote you're knowledge by speaking clearly. 'natural'
horsemanship is, semantically speaking, an oxymoron and confusing for the
average newcomer...just because a fancy trainer coined it doesn't mean we
should overlook our english and grammatical skills and incorporate it into
our working vocabulary.

And yes, there are other terms that are confusing but none quite as clearly
incorrect and intentionally blurry as this, in my opinion.





At 10:27 AM 5/10/99 -0600, you wrote:
>To tell you the truth, Natural Horsemanship is just one way of saying
>Good Horsemanship, Humane Horsemanship, Thinking Horsemanship.  It has
>nothing to do with the issue of whether or not what we ask the horse to
>do is natural for a wild horse, but everything to do with trying to use
>what comes naturally to a horse to help it learn what we need it to
>learn.
>
>Natural horsemanship is about the human's part in a horse/human
>relationship.
>
>It's not a specific technique, it's an attitude.  While everyone will
>have their own take on what that attitude is, I can tell you that to me
>it involves respect for the horse and a desire to train without invoking
>fear in the horse.  It does not involve using force, fear, exhaustion,
>devices, etc. to "teach".  It's about giving a horse the freedom to
>decide to do what is asked on its own.  Cooperation and partnership, in
>other words.
>
>An obvious example of this is the old method of "bucking a horse out" vs
>"gentling" the horse.  While perhaps few to no Ridecampers would buck a
>horse out, here in NM where we live, it's common.  However, before
>anyone reading this congratulates themselves on being a "natural
>horseman" ask yourself this:  Have you ever used a whip or a rope to
>force your horse in the trailer?  Have you ever hit your horse for not
>obeying?  Have you ever solved pulling or running away or other problems
>with equipment rather than training?  The answers to these questions, to
>my mind, define the fine line between Natural Horsemanship and not.  Lif
>
>--
>                                    ____________
>Lif & Paul Strand   STRAND ENTERPRISES   http://www.fasterhorses.com
>          Arabian Horses (BUY A HORSE FROM US TODAY!)
>         Nutrition for People & Critters * WebArt
>                     Quemado, NM  USA
>
>
>
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
>Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
>



~Shere
			    



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=