Has anyone heard of Richard Winters the naturalist? What do you think of him and/or naturalists in general? Just interested in getting some opinions.
A naturist? I thought a naturalist was someone who hugged trees, and cataloged flora and fauna while backpacking down trails and drinking creek water from a bio-filtered reusable container.
Actually, I thought I was a naturalist. 
Or…am I missing something here…
Hahaha i thought that’s what a naturalist was too! I don’t know…if you google “richard winters” the search results say he’s a “natural horsemanship instructor”, referring to the WAY he deals with horses, not just natural talent. Or at least that’s how I understood it. Well, whatever you call what he does, I’m interested in opinions
Have watched him ride and the horses are soft, correct, willing, look relaxed and happy to be out there. Like many others he apparently believes in setting up a horse for success… breaking things down into very small parts that the horse can manage and then making doing those little steps very easy while making other possible responses harder for the horse. Horses tend to be conservative when it comes to putting out effort and expending energy so it doesn’t take them long to figure out what is easiest…they make the choice so it stays with them. I’ve watched some of his programs on RFD and like what I see…horses that are interested and not stressed, that seem to be calm and accepting and responding well to what is presented to them. His hands look soft, he has a good seat and he seems quiet around both horses and people.
I think using a horse’s instinctive behavior and inborn ways of responding to things to make what you are asking a horse to do makes it easier for the horse to understand and to make those decisions …no one can MAKE a horse do much of anything if he really objects…giving them options to choose from and setting up those options so that the one that makes most sense to the horse is also the one you are looking for seems to me to be the basis for the “natural” training systems. I don’t think this is exclusive to the “natural” training movement but is something that is percieved as different from the “old” cowboy or the “uppity” traditional (largely English) styles. Good horsemen and horsewomen in all styles are using “natural” methods of training if they are any good at all.
Unfortunately the word “Natural” has been utilized by one person (unnamed here) and the negatives from that have been associated with the entire style.
Watch him and how his horses react to him, then make your decision–the word ‘natural’ really shouldn’t have any reflection on whether he’s good or not.
I saw him at Road to the Horse several years ago. He was very low key, gentle, did a great job of gentling his horse without letting ego get involved. He is more well known in Western circles.
Richard Winters is one of my all-time favorites. He’s a true California Reinsman (vaquero/buckaroo) along the lines of Buck Brannaman - my other favorite. Also similar to Ray Berta, Harry Whitney, Peter Campbell, Dennis Reis.
I’ve watched Richard AND I’ve participated/ridden in one of his Clinics in Salinas, CA.
As you can tell…I really really really like him/his philosphies/training, etc.
Here’s a photo of him doing some groundwork w/ my mare, Fancy That:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/RW_Fancy_small.jpg
His daughter dabbled in eventing and is quite a rider, she “helped” at the clinic and rode my mare, too (since that is what I’m geared towards: Hunting & Eventing)
LOVE LOVE Richard WInters. I also saw him at the Road to the horse a few years back and was instantly impressed. He never forced the horse to do anything. Im so sad he’s on the west coast tho and Im on the east. There are hardly no Vaquero style horsemanship trainers out here 
RIchard Winters is a big YES YES and he is also a very sweet man personaly as well, very sincere and passionate about teaching!
Wonderful family man and excellent old fashioned horse trainer. Very good.
Don’t entangle him in the NH snare. He’s just a horseman.
I’ve always liked Richard Winters. Problem is… Im east coast. He’s west coast. I dont see much of him.
[QUOTE=Fancy That;5572327]
Richard Winters is one of my all-time favorites. He’s a true California Reinsman (vaquero/buckaroo) along the lines of Buck Brannaman - my other favorite. Also similar to Ray Berta, Harry Whitney, Peter Campbell, Dennis Reis.
I’ve watched Richard AND I’ve participated/ridden in one of his Clinics in Salinas, CA.
As you can tell…I really really really like him/his philosphies/training, etc.
Here’s a photo of him doing some groundwork w/ my mare, Fancy That:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/RW_Fancy_small.jpg
His daughter dabbled in eventing and is quite a rider, she “helped” at the clinic and rode my mare, too (since that is what I’m geared towards: Hunting & Eventing)[/QUOTE]
Wow, your mare is beautiful, Fancy That! Thanks for the responses everyone I stumbled across his youtube channels the other day and was seriously impressed. I was curious to see if anyone on here knew of him and could tell me if he’s actually too good to be true! He seems like a very interesting man. Like some of you, I live on the east coast too, so it looks like Mr. Winters and I will only be able to get acquainted through his informationalk DVDs :lol:
