Natural Horsemanship for the Eventer

[mythical84]

Are there any eventers here that also practice natural horsemanship with their horses? To make a long story short, my beloved “tall horse” started to run into some confidence issues this year, and in an effort to help him feel like superman again I’m trying to go down the natural horsemanship path.

But I’m struggling a bit to see how working over obstacles on the line is going to help my horse jump around a big course again with me on his back. To be fair, I’ve only done one Tik Maynard clinic (I organized, so I watched 3 full days of lessons and absorbed so much info that I thought my brain was going to burst!), and one session with a local natural horsemanship trainer. I’m taking my horse back there next week for a xc session, so I want to see where this goes, but it’s a little bit of trying to see the forest through the trees for me right now.

Anyone here integrate natural horsemanship into their training programs for their eventers? Help me make the connection!

[Lusoluv]

Look up Elisa Wallace on YouTube. She is an upper level eventer with tons of vlogs utilizing NH work on her eventing horses and mustang projects.

[MsRidiculous]

I like to pony or lunge my young horses over a wide variety of fences before I ever do it on their backs, especially if they tend to be a bit more timid. It gives them a lot more confidence in themselves, to look at a question and figure it out on their own, without you up there giving them input (be it for better or for worse). If you take away all the distractions that a rider brings, it comes down to just the horse and what’s in front of them - once they know they can do it on their own, the confidence tends to blossom, and that carries forward.

[mvp]

Great question!

In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to an Extreme Mountain Trail clinic with my mare. This is an obstacle course on steroids. I have done a tad of that and seen her go from “run away first, ask questions later” to “hmm… interesting” to “Imma make that pile of logs and boulders my bitch! I’m going!”

But I don’t officially know what I’m doing. (But I’m not an idiot, either— I can teach horses to load in trailers whether they are babies or horses with PTSD about it). I do believe that setting up situations where you send a horse through something on his own (you on his back, or him ahead of you on a lead), and you being “right there” to help him (not chase him or whathaveyou) is confidence-building for them. In other words, they gain the experience of having some intimidating obstacle and you and success all together. I think you can re-frame your role as helpful, trustworthy leader in your horse’s mind with the right kind of obstacle-based experience.

I’m going to this clinic because I want someone who trains for this sport all the time to direct how I ride my horse in this situation. I think I know how to read her and to help her make brave, thoughtful decisions. But I’m wondering if they do an even better job.

I’ll let you know if I learn anything that pertains to your question.

[Gardenhorse]

Not to directly answer your question, but I know that Michael Jung longes horses over XC obstacles. There was a video on EN of him longeing a younger horse over a water obstacle. If it works for MJ…

http://eventingnation.com/special-water-training-with-michael-jung/

[Foxtrot_s]

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend some of his clinics when he has been around the local scene. He has remarkable insight, based on science, not woo woo, and it is easy to call it NH, but I don’t think he would consider himself a NH practitioner. Totally agree with Fanfayre - he is the real deal having ridden and competed to a high level, too.

[Bensmom]

To be fair, to call my horse an “event” horse at this point is more than a bit of a stretch, but from when I got her as a yearling, that has always been our goal. She’s developed some fear issues, some weird – she is terrified to canter on a 20 m circle for instance (and yes, she’s had stifle surgery for OCD lesions in the past, and been recently thoroughly vetted by her surgeon to make sure it isn’t discomfort issues. She really seems terrified), and some fears that are more common, such as cows, donkeys and the neighbors new pigs. Sigh.

We did our first clinic with Tik a couple of weeks ago, and will work with him again in two weeks. He thinks we can help her, and so my goal is to see if he can help me create a program to take apart her fears and help her move past them. I have my fingers crossed that we can do this! Because I don’t want to do Intro level dressage forever!

He did tell me that he thinks it can help so many horses, but that frequently riders don’t want to take a step back and take the time to fix their holes in their riding and the horse’s development, but when you do, you can see amazing partnerships develop.

We shall see what we can get done!

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Working a horse in hand is not “natural horsemanship”…its called horsemanship and people have been doing it for basically as long as they have been riding horses. Free schooling over jumps or jumping them on a line is a VERY classical way of teaching any horse how to jump. It takes the rider out of the equation and lets the horse solve the problem with out a monkey on their back mucking things up. It is very good for building confidence. BUT it does’t solve everything…and if the goal is to eventually ride the horse over those fences, then of course you need to do more.

I just get annoyed when people act like “natural horsemenship” is something different. Most of it is just classic working livestock. Understanding how they think and using your body language to develop trust and understanding. There are good trainers…and bad. Someone with good horsemanship and horse sense is often a good trainer regardless of a “natural horsemanship” label.

[vineyridge]

Everyone should learn to and teach their horses to ground drive. JMO

[devvie_continued]

@bornfreenowexpensive

Working a horse in hand is not “natural horsemanship”…its called horsemanship and people have been doing it for basically as long as they have been riding horses. .

That’s what I came here to say!

But yes, I do groundwork with the horse I ride, and carry some of the concepts with me in the saddle.

[J-Lu]

@mythical84

Are there any eventers here that also practice natural horsemanship with their horses? To make a long story short, my beloved “tall horse” started to run into some confidence issues this year, and in an effort to help him feel like superman again I’m trying to go down the natural horsemanship path.

But I’m struggling a bit to see how working over obstacles on the line is going to help my horse jump around a big course again with me on his back. To be fair, I’ve only done one Tik Maynard clinic (I organized, so I watched 3 full days of lessons and absorbed so much info that I thought my brain was going to burst!), and one session with a local natural horsemanship trainer. I’m taking my horse back there next week for a xc session, so I want to see where this goes, but it’s a little bit of trying to see the forest through the trees for me right now.

“Groundwork” isn’t “Groundwork”, IME. Someone trained in it is looking for something very different than someone “training the horses to go through the moved”. A good NH person is using the obstacles to build confidence.

A good NH person is like a good event trainer. A good NH trainer teaches the horse the right set of ground cues first, so the horse and s/he can communicate. You probably wouldn’t have a western rider flat your horse unless that rider could give English cues or your horse knew western cues. They’ll want your horse to learn your body cues so you can have him walk forward, back up, turn left or right, etc. While standing 6+ feet away. Next, a good NH trainer will introduce obstacles on the ground, like, say, a see-saw or a suspended bridge. Your horse may not understand the obstacle at first, but he learns to approach it as a question that he CAN figure out. He may have to try a few different things, but he CAN figure it out and get the right answer. Then, the trainer may then have your horse put the one leg on, then two legs, then back off…or stand with 4 legs on, etc. This teaches the horse that although he’s in the middle of navigating something, he still has to listen to you because you might change what he thinks he’s supposed to be doing. The NH person might teach the horse to drag an item from the saddle, etc. It’s a totally foreign concept to most horses but it still follows all of the rules of learning to navigate through a perceived problem. How to navigate a totally foreign concept (like learning to separate a cow) is all the same idea of learning to confidently work through a problem. All of this works to build your horse’s confidence and know that a) you won’t put him in a bad situation and more importantly that b) he can think through any situation/puzzle and get himself through it. He’s not going to get maimed or die! That last part is what a good NH trainer can help build in your horse (esp if he’s insecure due to a bad experience), and that last characteristic is essential in a good eventer.

Good luck!

[mythical84]

Thanks for all the thoughts and insights. I took Stilts back last week for his first xc session and was really fascinated by the whole process. I have to admit though, I see immense value in bringing him to someone who specializes in this type of groundwork (whether you consider it natural horsemanship or just plain 'ol horsemanship). He is much faster with his reactions that I am, and has really helped me clue in to cues from my horse that I was clearly missing out on.

Going back today for another session and then may try to school him a bit “in the saddle” next week and see what we have. I’ve been taking notes after each session and plan on writing something up after I wrap my brain around it all.

[betonbill]

I’ve recently gotten more interested in doing groundwork training with my OTTB (22 years old), especially after watching the TB makeover and Elisa Wallace’s videos about her current mustang. My horse has always been on the reactive side (totally my fault, BTW) and we recently had an incident where the tongue of the buckle on the reins broke and when I went to pick them up (just starting our ride) they were dangling beneath the bit. My horse took off, I went off on the first stride, got plenty of bruises and a broken thumb. We are both far too old for this sort of nonsense.

I’ve rewatched the Buck video. Maybe somebody has some suggestions about other YouTube videos or books that might help me out. I have a general idea of what it’s about, and what little messing around with it has been positive between my horse and me. I can still hack around some, but I would really like to at least get “whoa” down pat. Although it didn’t really enter my mind at the time.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I think this would be good for the two of us.