What is ‘good horsemanship’?
Good horsemanship is being ‘at one’ and working in partnership with your horse, where you respect each other in a relaxed and responsive manner. You as the rider or handler are aware of your horses emotions and should respond accordingly in all situations that come your way, no matter how challenging they may be.
Key ideologies: Remain calm, stay relaxed, be responsive and aware.
What are horsemanship skills?
Horsemanship skills start with the basics, such as being aware of where your horse is, both physically and mentally. Identifying the best action to be taken alongside each challenge, at any given time and having a good step by step plan in mind on how to respond proactively. Anything you do with your horse is horsemanship, from leading them to and from the field, feeding, ground work, trailering or riding, they can all be classed as horsemanship.
What is natural horsemanship training and is there a difference with just horsemanship?
Personally I believe that the term horsemanship and natural horsemanship are one and the same, with emphasis on communication and understanding between horse and human. Good horsemanship can be identified in all disciplines, it’s not all about the stick and string, flag or cowboy hat.
What do I need for horsemanship training?
Flag, stick and string, lunge whip, halter etc…
First of all, the most important thing is safety, assess yours and your horses mental connectivity and spacial awareness. You can start your training journey with any equipment that is of good quality.
What is a flag stick and do I need one?
Flag sticks are a really useful communication tool, when you know how to use them effectively. You should be able to use them very subtlety to gain the horses attention or ask them to move. Key things to remember is that you do not want the horse to become afraid of the movement of the flag and at the same time you do not want your horse to become complacent and ignore the flag. It is all about balance and monitoring your horse.
Which is better a halter or head collar?
All in all it is not important which type of equipment you choose to use as long as it is in good condition. Your training shouldn’t need the use of the ‘extra leverage’ of a halter – calm and relaxed – that’s what you are aiming for! Your budget, horse or level of training, may determine what you decide to use.
Images: GS Equestrian
How do I learn horsemanship?
There are a lot of options for you including, YouTube, online subscriptions, virtual lessons, one to one training sessions, clinics, books or podcasts. Most importantly we can learn an incredible amount from horses, simply by observing their behaviours in the field, stable, whilst training and also responses to situations and challenges caused by us, their companions or the environment they are in.
Good horsemanship is about making these observations and assessments and then seeking ways to either help or teach things with an approach that is very much based on seeing the world form their perspective, as much as possible and figuring out ways to teach, introduce new things or help with situations and challenges – always trying to think about things from their perspective.
What happens at a horsemanship clinic?
A horsemanship clinic is an event offered by one or more horsemanship trainers that people attend with their horse, with the aim of learning or further advancing their skills, knowledge, communication and connection with their horse. A clinic can be held over one or more days, the benefits of attending are great, you can gain experience from one or more knowledgable horsemanship trainers, seeing and hearing other peoples horses, stories, situations etc. A lot can be benefited from seeing and relating to a number of scenarios and watching how others act, respond and learn from the horse.
Article written in partnership with Ross Nickless Horsemanship.