We practice natural horsemanship not merely because it creates better horses, but because it creates better people. In order to become a better person one must recognize the most important change that the round pen can make in a person.
Properly conducted natural horsemanship will lead one to absolutely loose all desire to control the behavior of other people. Natural horsemanship allows one to understand that lasting power comes from leadership that does not seek that power. One learns that control is not power.
The older I get the more I pity those who love policy, procedure, rules, order, and straight lines. I recognize each of those things for what they are--tools of coercive control that assure the unhappiness both of those who are controlled and those who seek to control others.
"Just as I would be not a slave, neither would I be a slave owner."--Abraham Lincoln
That does not mean that we teach anarchy. The round pen teaches one that leadership is best demonstrated from the front, not the rear. There is a reason that it is not called "pushership." The round pen teaches one to encourage, support, and inspire others.
The round pen gives one the confidence to teach others to be confident.
And it does so in the simplest of ways. Force does not work in the round pen. The simple reality is that the 200 pound man can only "control" 800 pound horse by letting the horse know that it is safe in his presence.
When it is all said and done the only control that truly creates power is self control. The only confidence that is contagious is self confidence.
Selfishness creates the illusion of power. Selflessness shatters that illusion.
The round pen can a place of spiritual awakening. The round pen, and all of natural horsemanship,is nothing but a teaching ground for unconditional love.
Ad if you are not taking advantage o everything that the round pen has to offer, you are letting your horse down. You are letting yourself down.
And you are letting every person in our life down.
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