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Natural Horse - Volume 9, Issue 4 - In Training

The bottom line of Natural Horsemanship is that the relationship with the horse comes first, and whatever goal we are trying to achieve with the horse comes second. Photo by Diana Morse

TITLE: Normal Versus Natural
By Peter D. Fuller

It is truly understandable why so many humans relate to their horses in an unnatural fashion. Unfortunately this is the case in humans because of a built-in genetic code which is predatory. No matter how much we love our horses or not, we can’t help ourselves from using a “direct line” approach to our horses without even considering horse’s point of view. Whatever goal a person wants to accomplish with a horse is done so with tunnel vision by simply getting the job done usually at the expense of the horse. This is the approach in the “normal” world of horses. The humans who approach horses in a “normal” way usually don’t ask the question, “What’s in it for the horse?” By truly asking this question, the partnership concept of “natural” horsemanship immediately begins to form.

Therein lies the key difference between “natural” horsemanship and “normal”. The natural horseman observes that the horse has something to say. They see the individual horse, with a “horsenality”, as Pat Parelli would say. The true natural horseman or woman realizes the goal of accomplishing something with their horse is less important than maintaining the principle of building the relationship through trust. They take each horse where they are considering the horse’s fears, his unconfidence or their dominance or pushiness, and develop a union with guidance and discipline which leads eventually to a partnership.

Historically the divergence between natural horsemanship and normal happened hundreds of years ago. The first known record of an enlightened horseman was Simon of Athens who apparently wrote a book called “Gentling Approach to Horses”; then came the famous Xenophon, another Greek horseman in 400 BC who is considered the original father of natural horsemanship, whose book is still in print today, in which he speaks about cooperating with horses. Then hundreds of years later, AD, a person named Graconi taught that a horse should be dominated and ruled. This approach of course made sense to humans as it appealed to their predatory genetic code and was consistent with their nature. Thus it was easy to see why the normal horse world evolved from Graconi’s thinking into how most people relate to their horses today. It is natural for people to act unnatural with their equids.

Luckily there were some perceptive horsemen through history who preserved natural horsemanship. These were the “classical” dressage horsemen such as Francois Baucher who could canter a horse backwards, and more recently Nuno Olivera and still-living Walter Zettl and Bettina Drummond. These people share a regard for the horse, achieving lightness in their riding, seeing things from the horse’s point of view. Then of course there were the Dorrances, and finally Pat Parelli who coined the term “natural horsemanship” twenty years ago.

Unfortunately a phrase, natural horsemanship, cannot capture the depth of its meaning. The bottom line of Natural Horsemanship, that Pat Parelli in particular stresses, is that principle is more important than the purpose, i.e. the relationship with the horse comes first, and whatever goal we are trying to achieve with the horse comes second. By maintaining this cardinal principle we can actually achieve more with any horse because of the trust that is built with him and because of the positive role of leadership, not coercion, which is offered to the horse. It is a lot about building confidence in the horse, so the desire to perform comes from the horse naturally.

While I respect a lot of trainers who are representative of what many call “good horsemanship” because they can ride well and get a horse to perform or show well, I can’t ever consider what many of them do as good horsemanship because in the world of horse showing, many horses are sacrificed for the end result of performance and notoriety for the humans. Getting the job done, at the expense of the horse, while looking good, is not pursuing a higher level of communication or human consciousness. These horses “used” by trainers and their students seem to be “broke” and light in some cases, but they are basically turned into slaves that tolerate their humans and just try to survive. For every horse that makes it in a training program, there are many more that don’t make “the grade” and often end up emotionally, mentally and physically abused. We especially see this type of abuse in the horse racing field and the world of pushing horses to participate in futurities. Some of these animals may appear to be “fine”, but to a keen observer and a true horseman, they can see the horse’s dignity has been stripped away as well as their confidence in some cases.

I know this to be true because I have had to personally bring these horses back to life when they are brought to me for help. While horses need to be obedient, their exuberance must be maintained, which is often bled out of them through some training regimes. (By the way, I am involved in cutting, team roping and ranch versatility, so I am not saying there is anything wrong with competition.) While we can learn from the “normal horsemanship” world, (i.e. some things of value and some things of not what to do), these two worlds of normal and natural are necessarily separated because of the effort to maintain principles as priorities in Natural Horsemanship. To quote Dr. Robert M. Miller, “What has often been missing in traditional (normal) horsemanship…is a commitment to seeing the world through the horse’s eyes, to understanding what motivates him and to making him a partner rather than a servant.”

Good horsemanship or what I'll call “normal” horsemanship is simply getting the job done at any cost, which is at the expense of the horse, who is regarded simply as a commodity. I know oftentimes the normal horse world’s viewpoint of natural horsemanship is that it is irrelevant. What's interesting, however, is how the world of natural horsemanship has slowly been influencing the normal horse world simply because the natural horsemanship approach is much more effective across-the-board because it individualizes the horse instead of fitting him into a mold of a particular training program, i.e. fitting a round peg in a square hole in some cases. Not individualizing a horse makes for an emotionally and physically betrayed horse. Thanks to the real founders of natural horsemanship - the Dorrances and their disciples like Pat Parelli, Joe Wolter and many others - the individuality of the horse is recognized, which is really the essence of natural horsemanship.

It's amazing the potential that horses have if more time is taken to help and work with them, or if one takes the time to figure them out. By working in a different creative way, to get our point across, and to hear what they have to say, makes all the difference.

In the olden days horses were a necessity for doing work and were required for survival. Whatever was necessary to preserve the horse to help people get the job done was upheld. During those times the horse had a purpose. No doubt these horses were beasts of burden and had a hard life, but there was a dignity to their effort, a nobleness and a usefulness.

As the use of horses for work declined in the United States and Europe, their use became more recreational, except on ranches when they were used for cattle work. (Ironically this is where the roots of natural horsemanship were born, i.e. out of the Vaquero tradition. The father of this movement, Tom Dorrance, resided in the state of California where it was concentrated.)

In horse’s work on many of today's cattle ranches, there is a dignified purpose which is still upheld for the horse, especially thanks to the influence of people like Ray Hunt, one of Tom Dorrance’s students. Because of this influence, many cowboys see their horses through different eyes today. However, in the recreational horse show world, the purpose for the horse can be shallow much of the time and showing is more for the aggrandizement of the human, his self-indulgence and need for praise and recognition, at the expense of the horse and his dignity, driven by money in many cases.

The purpose of this article is not to criticize the normal horse world but to point out the distinction between the two worlds of normal and natural, which is obvious to many folks, but not to others. This is being written in the hope that people will consider changing their position with their horses by adhering to principles before purpose. Pat Parelli once told me never to hurt a horse's confidence or ruin his dignity. What he meant was never sacrifice or compromise the horse for the accomplishment of the goal.

Whether one is cow working or reining or jumping or whatever, if a horse has purpose with dignity, there is value for the human and for the horse. Even when our trusty steeds carry us on a purposeful trail ride in which a horse and rider can enjoy each other, there is validation for the relationship between human and animal. There can be great validation in the show arena if in fact one's principles are to uphold our relationship with the horse and not compromise the horse in order to win the event. If a horse becomes a mere slave or drone and principles are not maintained, it destroys the dignity of both man and horse. Things need to be done in steps of an educational process, without scaring or hurting the horse but by building the horse’s confidence and making the “right thing easy, and the wrong thing difficult.”

In conclusion, if we show horses or not, or are “schooling” our horse preparing him for an event or simply riding him for fun or doing some task, we must keep in mind that the relationship with the horse is paramount. We have to realize we have a predetermined genetic code which makes us very predatory, just as the genetic code of the horse is to take flight as a prey animal. Somehow by better understanding the horse’s point of view and our nature, we can begin to change our predatory, goal-oriented direct line thinking process so common in normal horsemanship and learn to take a different approach to preserve our relationship with this wonderfully dignified animal, through natural horsemanship.

Caption: Peter Fuller on Chic

About the author:
Peter Fuller, owner and operator of Willow Brook Farms Natural Horsemanship Center in Catasauqua, PA, has achieved Level III in Parelli Natural Horsemanship and is currently working on Level IV. He has also studied under Buck Brannaman, Joe Wolter, Bryan Neubert and Greg Eliel. Through years of tutelage and years of listening to horses, Peter has learned to be patient and empathetic toward them, especially “problem” horses. His methods are those of horsemanship from “The Horse’s Point of View”. Peter performs demonstrations and clinics at Willow Brook Farms as well as in parts of the United States and US Virgin Islands. www.willowbrookdev.com

Last Updated May 09, 2006