I encountered a performer that said that if your horse seeks to bite you while you are saddling him you should give him cookies. The performer went on to say that the problem was that the horse "hates you." And ascribed the action to fear on the horse's part.
This is part of a doctrine. This is part of a philosophy. This is part of an ideology. This is not natural horsemanship. Pat Parelli does a good job of describing natural horsemanship as using body language and forms of communication that a horse instinctively (naturally) understands. That is natural horsemanship. Every training technique that does not fit into that model cannot be called natural horsemanship. Doing so hurts legitimate natural horsemanship.
As soon as I see Comet offer a cookie to a herd member that bites him I will follow suit. Until then I will not pretend to believe that there is any virtue in such a practice.
1 comment:
Found your website by accident from far away England.....
.....finally someone who offers/asks/suggests friendship and does not force it or disguises negative reinforcement as friendship......wish I could come visit. Well done, what a lovely place Mill Swamp sounds. x
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