Natural Horsemanship

What do you think of when you hear someone say "Natural Horsemanship"? I admit I was skeptical about it at first. But as I read more and more on the subject, the more I realized it isn't a crazy training method that some hippie dude thought up. It is a logical training method that helps you build a lifelong relationship with your horse. Which isn't that what you want out of your horse? A lifelong relationship?

I just finished reading a book my friend let me borrow Natural Horse●Man●Ship by Pat Parelli (published by Western Horseman). I really loved the book. If you are looking for a tell-me-all-your-horse-training-secrets-horse-training-book this is not your book. It does have tons of valuable information, but not the last educational resource you would buy. I'll tell you what I loved about this book. Parelli constantly reiterates his points. He says the same key points over and over again, so you actually retain what he wants you to retain.
I liked the book was divided into three sections – an Overview, On the Ground and In the Saddle. Each section had the same subsections – Attitude, Knowledge, Tools, Techniques, Time and Imagination. I learned that attitude – both mine and my horses are very important both of us have to have a "want to" attitude otherwise we can't make any progress. I also loved that the tools used in training were detailed out. I never quite understood the different kinds of bits, whether a nylon flat halter or a rope halter was better, or the different types or reins. Thanks to this book I'm beginning to understand!

Pat Parelli makes many valuable points throughout his book. The ones that stuck with me the most are "if you take the time it takes, it takes less time", "ask…tell…promise", "I've got one rule. There are no rules", "do it for the horse, not to him", and I don't remember how exactly it was worded but something to the effect of "don't work your horse, play with him and work on yourself."

I think one of my favorite parts of the book was the subsection on Imagination in the In The Saddle section. Pat Parelli talked about using your imagination to recreate events you would like to do with your horse such as cutting, reining, dressage, barrel racing, pole bend and whatever other horsey activities you and your horse can do without actually having the real equipment. Use your imagination! Be a kid again! Remember playing Survivor in the backyard or lava monster on the playground? Do that again with your horse, imagine there are cattle out there to rope when you're playing, or there are barrels out there to run around. Create the situation in your mind and act it out. In other words PLAY! Have FUN! And who doesn't want to have fun?

Since I read this book I'm extremely interested in Pat Parelli's training methods and am in search of any Parelli educational materials I can get my hands on. I have spent many hours in the past few weeks on Pat Parelli's website http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/ and on http://www.youtube.com/ learning all I can about Parelli Natural Horse Training. I will probably buy Pat Parelli's entire training kits but until I have a horse of my own and money to invest in that I shall have to be patient.

I highly recommend investing in this book Natural Horse●Man●Ship by Pat Parelli. It was one of the best horse training books I have read. I also recommend check out Pat Parelli's website http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/ and also if you get RDF-TV check out his tv show "The Horseman's Apprentice" and it can also be watched on http://www.thehorsemansapprentice.com/.
Until next time! God Bless!