Finding Horsaii

I'm not done with my NH conversation, mainly because, mugwump that I am, I see another side, a positive one, to what these folks bring to the table.

It's pretty clear to me I have a problem with the term Natural Horseman.

I might qualify as one, if you factor in forgetting to shave my legs until I'm forced to expose my lily white legs to the public, but other than that, no.

The NH moniker was created as a commercial promotion. It's become a catch all phrase for anybody in a cowboy hat, baseball cap or chinks with an eager group of check writing followers, a round pen and a theory on training through communication with a horse, usually based on the training of Ray Hunt and the Dorrance brothers.

While I don't reject Ray Hunt or Tom Dorrance, I do reject the NH label. So that's that.

BUT!

There's a terrible situation out in the equine world.

There are still many horse hungry people ready to enter the horse world.
There are lots of available horses.
What there isn't is a steady supply of solidly trained, rider friendly horses, or access to free/inexpensive advice that is actually usable.

Because my experience is all based out here in the west, I can only go by that. I don't know how those in the other parts of the country fare, but I'd like to learn, so please, jump in with your experiences.

When I was a kid there was always a horse-savvy adult around somewhere to help me along the way. My shoer took me aside and explained how I could get weight on Mort with more hay and less grain.

The guy at the tack store showed me the mechanics of various bits, hackamores etc. and knew from experience how they worked.

The judges at my little horse shows were breeders and ranchers who knew their stuff.

My riding club was stuffed chock full of people who had owned horses for generations.

Knowledge and support were there for the taking. While it wasn't always good information, it wasn't from ignorance, it came from tradition and experience.

Help was available to me.

Broke horses were readily available. They turned left and right, stopped, went down the trail and had enough manners to not kill us.

Horses that bit, kicked or weren't safe to ride were sent down the road. Yes, they probably ended up on the slaughter truck. But there weren't that many, because there were still plenty of ranches, breeders etc. who wouldn't dream of selling horses that weren't properly started. It reflected on their sales if they did.

There were still a lot of people who had horses as a way of life. So information was readily available.

It just isn't like that anymore.

Now there are many horses, not started, poorly started etc. and many people new to the horse world are a generation or two from people with long term horse experience.

We have lots of new people without a grandpa who kept horses who find themselves with green or wish they were green horses. Or broke horses with crazy stupid vices.

What are they supposed to do?

Yes, there are riding lessons. This doesn't help you learn who horses are. And, much of the instruction nowadays come from people who are first generation horsemen themselves. Nothing wrong with it, but it's going to lead to misinformation and mistakes.

It's easy to say, "You need to ride a 12-year-old been there, done that gelding."

Good luck finding that one.

This is where clinicians come in.

John Lyons taught me to break things down to the smallest step and build.
Monty Roberts taught me to watch herd behavior and adapt it to my training methods.
Pat Parelli taught me I'm a total geek when it comes to using long lines.
Lyn Palm taught me to study dressage and become a better western rider.
Ray Hunt gave me feet and feel.

See where I'm going here?

I'm sure there are plenty of stories out there slamming each and every one of these folk. It really doesn't matter to me. Each and every one of them gave me something I needed in order to climb the ladder to becoming Horsaii.

Sometimes only one sentence, sometimes whole chapters, but I was able to get information from these people I wouldn't have had access to unless they were travelling around the country, spreading the word and making a little dough at the same time

It was never a waste of my time or money.

Through clinics I gained enough of an understanding of what made a horse tick to head into the world of the cow horse and remain a thinking, caring trainer. I understood what as taught to me even if I had to watch and figure things out over having technique explained.

Through clinicians I learned to really study the horses mind, to become patient, to not take short cuts. I learned anger has no place in my relationship with a horse and that has leaked out into how I handle my present life.

The deep well of patience I've developed is saving my sanity these days.

Maybe it's because I have never had the money to follow one trainer, it certainly taught me to pick and choose what I use.

But there is information out there for everyone and a lot of it comes from these travelling trainers. Some bad, some good, just like I got from the locals when I was a kid, but it's out there.

I kinda sorta think there's a lot of horses and new owners out there who would be screwed without them.