"This Show Is Morally Good."

That is what A.P. Carter often had printed on the bottom of ads for upcoming performances of the Carter Family. Every clinic, demonstration, program, article, or post that promotes a particular school of natural horsemanship should be able to honestly say the same thing.

Those that promote the teaching of how a horse communicates through body language and work to give a true understanding of both the workings of a horse's mind and the potential for a close horse/human relationship can do that. Those that find a niche market that they can drain by telling their customers what they want to hear, while constantly coming up with a new stunt or trick to teach a horse cannot do so.

The first test of whether a particular school of training has merit is whether it makes the student a better person. It is impossible to properly practice natural horsemanship without becoming a gentler,braver, kinder, more compassionate and empathetic person. When properly practiced natural horsemanship provides confidence,not arrogance. When properly practiced the emphasis is on communication with the horse, not the purchase of a series of magic devices that the clinician has to market. When properly practiced natural horsemanship creates a mature sense of satisfaction in the trainer instead of the constant insecurity of needing to "progress" to the next step.

I have also come to realize that there is a second test of the merit of a particular school of training--cost. There is absolutely no reason for it to be expensive to learn how to effectively train, learn with, and, yes, even become a part of one's horse's world.

The simple reality is that this is not complicated. It is basic. It is simple. (Simple and easy are not the same thing). Natural horsemanship depends on  the recognition that horses are not  humans, do not have the same motivations as humans, do not communicates as humans and are incapable of learning to do so. Instead, it is up to the trainer to learn what motivates a horse, how a horse communicates and to become capable of thinking as a horse does.

Few people get past the first point--that a horse is not human. Humans long for autonomy. Horses long for security. A horse feel secure when he is in the presence of a leader, his physical and emotional needs are met, and he receives a great deal of physical contact.

It is that basic. It is that simple.

Samantha is a first rate young trainer because she has both the intelligence and the empathy to see a horse as a horse. She is shown here mounting a young formerly wild Corolla who was removed from the wild because of a crippling hoof condition. (He is now fully recovered.) Yesterday I watched her with another horse. A very nervous formerly wild Corolla mare who was removed from the wild because of a vicious internal infection had driven her to the brink of death.

There was no fanfare. There was no showmanship. I never once heard her utter the lingo of any particular clinician that would give away which one she "follows." That is because she "follows" none of them. Instead she  "follows" every horse that she touches.

It was a beautiful session to watch. At the conclusion the ball of nerves that had once been the mare had become a relaxed, happy horse trotting around the round pen with a relaxed happy rider.

Samantha did not have to seek the approval of a training guru. She did not have to have a high paid mentor tell her that she was doing great and now needed to purchase the following equipment....

She only needed the approval of that mare. She got it. She earned it. She earned that approval by giving the horse the control that it needed and the affection that it deserved.

She gave the horse security. From security comes trust. From trust comes a relationship that for many people is better than any of their human relationships.

It is that basic. It is that simple.

Samantha was training a horse yesterday. She was not putting on a show. But if she had been doing so the play bill could have honestly been stamped with A.P. Carter's assurance.

This show was, indeed, "morally good."