The horsemanship debate of Classical vs Natural Horsemanship as raged on in social media for nearly two decades. For those of us without a vested interested in either side, the debate has a third answer.
Classical Horsemanship
Classical Horsemanship began in Classical Greece. The first written work of Classical Horsemanship is Xenophon’s On Horsemanship. Xenophon was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. His book On Horsemanship advocates for positive training techniques and physical conditioning to develop young horses.
Principles of classical riding flourished again in Renaissance Italy and in France during the early Modern era. Unfortunately, many often mistake harsh riding and training techniques (i.e. Rollkur, severe bits, etc.) as representative of Classical Horsemanship, because of their ties to traditional English disciplines like Dressage.
Classical Horsemanship actually focuses on humane methods of training and riding and on the slow and steady development of the horse as an athlete. The primary purpose of Classical Horsemanship is to build a partnership between horse and rider.
Natural Horsemanship
Natural Horsemanship as practiced by trainers and clinicians like Ray Hunt, Buck Branaman, and Pat Parelli arose out of a desire to train horses in using more humane techniques than traditional Western training methods. Natural Horsemanship practitioners sought to apply principles they perceived to derive from hard dynamics.
Two main problems have arisen out of the Natural Horsemanship movement. First, as the number of adult amatuer riders increased in the industry, the horse world saw a rise in inexperienced people who purchased their first horses without the guidance of an experience rider or trainer, which has subsequently increased the number of unruly horses landing in rescues and injuries among riders.
In addition, the Natural Horsemanship movement has spawned a belief among the horse world that horses can be fully trained in 30 days… Or worse, fully broke in a 3-day competition. While both are feasible, neither is good horsemanship.
Classical vs Natural Horsemanship
In my experience, the debate raging about Classical vs Natural Horsemanship distracts from more important issues in the horse world. People get caught up in defending their methodologies or criticizing other disciplines without working to improve their own disciplines.
Whether your follow classical or natural horsemanship trainers, good horsemanship will always stand out and produce the best horses. Learn to take what works and leave the rest. Learn to listen to the horse and do what’s best for your partner.
What has your experience been with natural or classical horsemanship? Drop us a comment and join the discussion!
