Most people think of Natural Horsemanship as a relatively new phenomenon, when in fact the philosophy of Natural Horsemanship can be traced back to ancient Greece.
The theory of Natural Horsemanship is derived from observing the herd mentality among wild horses. Instead of a master/animal relation between horse and human, natural horsemen strive to build a relationship much like the horses have amongst themselves in the herd.
The Theory
A common old school belief among horse trainers was that a horse should be broken through pain and submission into an animal that would do whatever, whenever simply out of fear of the consequence of what would happen if it didn’t do as told. The horse was never supposed to hesitate but blindly follow his master's orders. A horse was bucked out the first time the rider got on it and the cowboy would ride the bronc until it was too tired to keep going. This type of colt starting is in sharp contrast to the main philosophy of Natural Horsemanship, which builds on a partnership between trainer and horse. The horse is trained at a more natural speed to make it completely comfortable before it is mounted. Rather than forcing the horse to perform a certain act, the Natural Horseman guides a horse, but lets it try to figure out things on its own and instead of suppressing the will of the horse, it is encouraged.
The History
The philosophy of Natural Horsemanship is believed to have roots all the way back to ancient Greece when Xenophon (444bc-357bc) in his book, De Re Equestri, explains how horse trainers can utilize the natural behavior of a horse in their training, instead of using force.
In modern horsemanship history brothers Bill and Tom Dorrance are believed to be some of the earliest influences and developers of the theory of Natural Horsemanship.
Tom Dorrance (1910-2003) developed the theory of True Unity and Willing Communication in which the trainer guides a horse in an exercise and gives the horse time to try on its own without using force. Dorrance studied horses both in herds in the wild, and by themselves as domesticated animals to learn as much about their behavior as he possibly could.
“What I know about the horse, I have learned from the horse.”-Tom Dorrance
Dorrance’s work inspired trainer Ray Hunt, who throughout his life has built on the work Dorrance started and continues to train horses by the motto:
"I'm here for the horse - to help him get a better deal." –Ray Hunt
Ray Hunt encourages riders to take time to listen and observe the horse making sure the horse has accepted a step of the training before continuing to the next step.
Some of today’s greatest natural horsemen credit Dorrance and Hunt as their inspiration for how they train and work with horses.
