Re: RC: Please explain NH to me.

[SandyDSA@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/27/00 5:18:45 AM Pacific Daylight Time, tracey@tbt.co.za 
writes:

<< That's entirely possible: my statement stemmed from limited experience with
 Natural Horsemanship, largely reading, watching videos, attending clinics
 and surfing the net.  If I've got it all wrong, then I'd be grateful if you
 could explain it to me : just why do these guys spend so much time in the
 round pen, and why do they chase the horses round it? >>

Tracey,

I ask myself that very question. There are too many clinic junkies - they go 
to every clinic offered but never put any of it into real world practice. To 
us, all of this stuff is plain common animal sense, and we have been 
imprinting and implementing NH for at LEAST 2 decades BEFORE they had titles 
or books about them. 

People ask, why imprint train? Because I would RATHER tussle gently with a 
baby who accedes readily by NATURE than wrestle LATER with an 800 pound 3 
year old who now has OPINIONS. Why do we use NH? Because in the natural 
world, SOMEONE is alpha horse - in OUR world, that has to be me, for simple 
safety reasons. The horses understand this and everything from body position 
to an approach signals something to each horse - and generally something 
slightly different to each, as appropriate to their 'station'. 
The bottom line for us is that, if these horses were to spend their lives in 
the word, we would not TOUCH them. But they will be living in our 'tent' and 
so a meeting of the minds must occur. 

By the time we climb on our horses' backs as young horses - or old! - they 
have a sense of partnership and trust that would not exist otherwise. As to 
why some people rarely if ever leave the round pen after years of this 
training, I personally think it is fear. I think many junkies have learned 
one thing - the round pen - and are afraid to go outside of it and learn 
something 'new'. One woman I know well after 3 YEARS won't venture our of the 
ring with her now 10 year old mare. hmm.
san