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Once more there is a how does IH differ from Parelli thread on the IHDG. Quite apart from the fact that Parelli DOES involve violence to horses through the use of the clip, the rope and the stick on the face and body of the horse, there is a qualitative difference to the body language/ cues that are used on the horse. Ironically, for something that calls itself 'Natural Horsemanship', Parelli uses the most non-natural cues of all; they came from the circus. The same can be said of the proponents of whip tapping which include Andrew McLean. The cues used stand in isolation from the body language of the horse and the body language of the human, unless you are someone who goes around pointing fingers or swinging ropes around other people! The only way we can get as near as we can to being natural is to use gestures and movements that are as close to that of the horse as possible and match closely our intent and energy. Just because we have a better understanding of the psychology of the horse and employ concepts such as pressure and release in the work that we do, it doesn't make what we actually do 'natural'. That's why I am ambivalent about the term 'natural' and prefer the word 'intelligent' or 'logical'.
When you are seduced by the word natural, you may expect the horse to do it naturally and it is him that pays if he does not. The above chart is a Monday morning musing and it struck me that the further away we get from instinctive/ natural and the more we rely on artificial cues, the more we have to rely on 'incentives' to ask the horse to do what we want him to do. The choice then is whether those incentives are positive or negative/punishing, i.e. whether we turn to the carrot or the stick or a combination of the two. Using food can feel time consuming and binary and, unless you are completely committed and disciplined it can seem very hard to do. Using a stick seems to used far more readily (and that is a psychology project in itself) to humans and stems from a feeling that the horse ought to know what we are asking it to do and is is being deliberately stubborn.
The ideal then would be to ask the horse only to do what is instinctive? Well, that involves biting, kicking, bucking, rearing and fighting over food. In fact, we are always asking horses to not be horses. However, it would seem that the best way to ask is to use body language that can be easily interpreted and is logical to the horse. If we want the horse to understand more complex cues, that are not natural, we need to teach them slowly and patiently -incrementally!
Let's take the example of lunging. In traditional horsemanship, the handler stands opposite the horses girth, facing the ribs with the line out to the horse's head and a lunging whip behind. Is this the body language of Equus? Well no, because the direction of the intent is at the horse's ribs which he can only move outwards to a limited extent. The handler's body is not telling the horse to move forwards because it is not facing the horse's head and shoulders or driving from behind. Accordingly the handler has to rely on the movement of the whip and possibly a tap from behind to ask the horse to go forward which may be coupled with the voice command for the pace that he wants. The poor horse has conflicting advice!
Shift that then to 'single line' work, not a euphemism for lunging because the work becomes entirely different. If the handler uses appropriate body language, i.e. steps out at 45 degrees, turns and looks the horse in the eye and uses the hand to ask the horse not to come in, then the horse will move off far more readily. The handler can control the speed by dropping his eyes down the horse's body, lowering his energy and intent. Far more natural and more easily interpreted by the horse. The handler continues to move with the horse.
However, in some 'natural horsemanship' systems, the horse is expected to continue moving at the same gait, at the same speed and in the same direction with no further communication with the handler until he is told otherwise. This to me is the equivalent of putting the phone down on someone. The horse learns to switch off and go on to automatic pilot and in fact communication has ended.
I think I shall get on my bike and go and see my horses....
