Compassionate Horsemanship

Compassionate Horsemanship vs. Natural Horsemanship

I was interviewing for a job recently as an equine coordinator at a local barn. She asked me, “Do you use natural horsemanship?” To which I replied with an affirmative, “Yes!” I wanted to convey without so many words that I put the horse first. That I group myself with those that also claim the same thing.

Recently, though, I noticed holes in my training with Poncho. I was frustrated with him, but then I watched some compassionate horsemanship videos by Mustang Maddy, and I was immediately convicted by the principles she was teaching.

My eyes were opened to a new way of looking at horse training. That natural isn’t always going to yield the positive results I am looking for. Think of it this way. Do you notice the word ‘natural’ is used to describe something good? I’ve noticed this with marketing. I’ll pick up a box of food and the front says, “all natural.” But that doesn’t actually mean it’s healthy.

I’ve noticed the same thing in horsemanship. I’m not putting down anyone or naming any names, but it’s something I’ve noticed.

What I’m really trying to convey here is that what works for one horse isn’t going to necessarily work for another. And just because one horse gets over something easily when flooded with a stimuli doesn’t mean another horse will.

The Problem with Models or Methods

I like to think of it as this. Consider a school full of kids. The school system uses one model to teach all the kids. This makes it cohesive and uniform. This works for say 80% or more of the kids, but the other 20% are barely getting by. And some are failing. That’s because we learn in different ways. Therefore, that model of education isn’t working for that child very well.

Those kids may be labeled disruptive or having a learning disability. When that isn’t actually the case for every child that falls behind.

We put these labels on horses as well. Some are deemed stubborn, disrespectful, or maybe even dumb. When actually that model isn’t working for the horse. The problem is, it’s the only model the human knows!

My Experience

Back to my story with Poncho. With all this new information from the Mustang Maddy videos, I quickly realized my horsemanship was lacking compassion. Was I mean to my horse? No! But I was not validating the fears he was expressing. Which was manifesting in frustration and a lack of patience with him on my part.

Let me give you an example. I wanted to be able to spray him with fly spray without catching him every day. Therefore, he needed him to stand at liberty while I did this. Well, he’d been desensitized to the fly spray. And he stood perfectly still while I sprayed him if he had the halter on. If he didn’t have the halter on and he saw me with the bottle, he would walk away.

Even my recent wild horse Mathias would stand after I worked with him on this after only a few times, completely at liberty. Why couldn’t Poncho do it? I would get frustrated and say, “We’ve done this a hundred times. Why can’t you stand still?” Not in a mean way, but from a perspective of not understanding how this could continue to be scary for him.

So, we worked on it, and he got better. I saw improvements, but I still noticed tension and stepping away. Not walking away, mind you, but a side step, a head raise, a breath hold, etc. He was exhibiting signs of fear! Subtle signs.

Well, after watching Mustang Maddy, I realized I hadn’t taken the time to validate Poncho’s fear of the fly spray. How do you do that? You might be asking. You go back to the basics. I’ll let you watch the video I made. It will be at the bottom of this post.

This was a pivotal moment for me in my horsemanship journey because I realized the problem was me. The problem was I lacked compassion, empathy, understanding, and patience. That was a HUGE pill for me to swallow.

self-awareness and goals

There is a quote that says, “Frustration begins where knowledge ends.” But I felt I had the knowledge and expertise to train him. So, why I was I so frustrated? My conclusion is at least when it comes to horses, “frustration begins where awareness ends.”

I was lacking the self-awareness to see that I was the problem. In fact, I saw the tightness in his muscles and I ignored it. After all, it was so subtle it was easy to ignore. Holding his breath was even more subtle. And that much harder to recognize. I believe the fault still lies on me.

I had the goal for him to stand still while I fly sprayed him. Not the goal of him having total trust and relaxation in every single stage and moment of it.

Horses Are Never Wrong

I think Tom Dorrance said something to the effect that, “Horses are never wrong. They are just horses.” I struggled with this statement. But the more I grow, the more I understand it. I’m not there yet. I think I’m only seeing the tip of the ice-berg with horsemanship even after 30-plus years being around them.

I am not putting down natural horsemanship, but I am realizing you can group yourself and your techniques with that and assume they are good, right, and true. Furthermore, it seems if the technique or method yields a compliant horse, then it’s deemed good as well. But I want a willing horse. I want to put the relationship first.

Again, natural horsemanship isn’t bad, but don’t put your horsemanship in a box. Because there is no one method that works for every horse. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be the horses that are deemed ‘untrainable. Also, remember that each horse is different and unique and they react out of fear.

If you are having trouble in an area, considering asking yourself these two questions. Could I be the problem? How could I approach this differently? When we make a change for the better, I believe our horses will too!

Thanks for being here! Please leave a comment telling me how you feel about compassionate horsemanship.

Also, if you have time, check out the Mystic Experiment with Mustang Maddy on YouTube. I really learned a lot from those videos.