[From the February 2011 Sho Times:Shannon Dueck is a contributing writer to the
Sho Clothes Sho News monthly newsletter]
by Shannon Dueck
(Photo of Shannon Dueck by Sue Stickle)
Natural Horsemanship Vs. Dressage (or..... Can we do both??)
There is often discord between so called aficionados of “Natural Horsemanship” (NH from now on) and those who love to ride dressage and love these big warmbloods. I think this is an unfortunate state of affairs, and in my opinion many people in all equestrian disciplines can learn a ton from the top trainers of NH. I am talking about John Lyons, Pat Parelli, Monty Roberts and Ray Hunt, just to name a few of the really good ones.
Now, I don’t think trainers who specialize in NH can necessarily tell you about the finer points of dressage training, but boy are they good at teaching good horsemanship. To me good horsemanship is all about communicating with your horse effectively and humanely. It means we have the ability to think like a horse does, and how to read their body language in minute detail, and quickly. It means we can use our body language to communicate our desires to our horses in a way that makes sense to them.
It means we teach our horses to respect our body language. In my experience, most people are hooked by the beauty and harmony that good dressage epitomizes. That’s fabulous! But, many of these same people love horses like their pets, and their horses do not respect them enough. This lack of respect has an effect on every communication between horse and person, including when training dressage. More troubling is that horses are big powerful animals with iron shod hooves, which can be a lethal combination if the horse does not respect the human as the herd leader.
To be a good horseman, you must be able to sensitively read a horse’s instinctual reactions, and then use these to your advantage. You must be able to immediately determine if a horse is frightened or belligerent, hurting or angry, unable or unwilling. A great horseman can do this, and then instantly tailor his or her demands and rewards to get the desired reaction from the horse. Some people have a great deal of natural talent and feel for this two way communication, and the rest of us need to learn it. NH teaches these things to people who have not grown up with horses or have less innate understanding of horses.
I was lucky to have grown up with horses, and also lucky to have a mother who was a great horsewoman. She had grown up with horses in the prairies and had done everything from rodeo to cutting to saddle seat and settled on bringing dressage to the masses of the wild west. She taught me how to be the alpha member of the pair, and how to safely train horses humanely from the day they are first born.
Here's a partial list of some of the things your dressage horse should be able to do:
1. Lead at your shoulder without pulling, lagging behind, or jumping on you. Stop when you stop, without you pulling. Back up when you walk towards him. Turn when you turn. If you back up, they come towards you. Until you stop backing up. They do not run you over.
2. Follow you on to a trailer. They trust you to not endanger them, and they respect you enough to follow.
3. Lunge without trying to kick your lights out, even when fresh. Galloping off and kicking back at you is a very pointed lack of respect.
4. Turn towards you and come to you when you approach in a stall or paddock. They do not turn their tail end to you and threaten, ever. They know that you will always be welcoming when they face you, and never welcoming when they present their rump.
5. Stand well in safe cross ties - without pawing incessantly (which is very bad for their front feet and legs, by the way). Move over when you request. Stand for the farrier and veterinarian. They do not stomp on your feet on purpose! (Yes, they do know where their feet are).
6. Stand while being mounted and dismounted. These are the most vulnerable and dangerous times of your riding.
These good ground manners can be taught to all horses, but it is easier if you have a thorough understanding of how to relate to horses on their level as prey animals. Some are easy, and other horses will require a high level of expertise and intuition, and are best suited to very experienced horsemen and women.
Unexpected things happen when you are working with and riding your horses every day. If you and your horse have established a high level of respect, trust and communication on the ground, you will be safer and more successful in all your work together. Combine great horsemanship with good dressage training - and the sky’s the limit!
International Grand Prix trainer and competitor Shannon Dueck is a Pan Am Games Individual Silver Medalist, and has competed at both WEG and the World Cup Final. She has trained with Bert Rutten of the Netherlands, Kathy Connelly, Lars Peterson, Hubertus Schmidt, Robert Dover, and most recently, Wolfram Wittig while in Germany this past summer.
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