>>> It's not so much about teaching the horse, it helps the owner learn more about horsemanship, how a horse moves, how to communicate, how to receive communication from the horse.
That's what's so exciting to me about NH in general - the true kinds - there are plenty of NH-wannabes around these days. If you study it carefully, you actually start to learn the body language of the horse, how to read him/her AND how to speak to him/her. Those light-bulb moments are priceless, be that when you see the light-bulb turn on for the horse, or when the light bulb turns on for ME. It's a universal horse language too. You may need to spend a tiny bit of time "teaching" the horse some basics...but to be honest, it's probably more accurate to say that I may need a little time to refine what I'm saying to the horse. At any rate, the "words" are so subtle sometimes that it's just amazing - a slight tilt of the head, a lift of one or both shoulders and you can ask a horse to come to you, turn to face you or give you a little more room. I've been TRYING to learn this for about 16-17 years now, and I admit I was probably pretty dense the first few years. Now, it surprises me how many horses I encounter that I can "ask" certain things - even when I don't know the horse, and the horse doesn't know me. I've tried to add a little clicker training into my methods, and I do use it occasionally, for certain things. But, I find it a little frustrating, because it's basically a one-word language, and because I've honed my NH skills over the years. Sure, you can string the c/t cues together to make more complicated requests, but I have had several rehabs now, and none have come to me knowing the "clicker language." Every horse I've ever met however seems born understanding the "horse language." I can begin to communicate with my horses (and others) immediately with NH, but c/t has to be taught. I don't see it as an either/or choice: c/t or Natural Horsemanship. But if you ever need to work with a scared or panicked horse that not yours, or one you just got, or help a neighbor catch his horses who've gotten out of the pasture in the middle of the night, odds are the horse isn't going to know clicker-training. In contrast, I was able to quietly and gently "talk" to Angie as soon as she stepped off the trailer when she arrived here as a virtually unhanded project mare...via the universal "horse" language. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.5/1279 - Release Date: 2/14/2008 6:35 PM
