Natural Horsemanship

When I was contemplating getting a new horse of my own, I knew a woman who did what she called “natural horsemanship.” I was very ready for a new approach to working with horses, and seeing her work with her horse and talk about it got me interested in what she was doing.  I did my own explorations and came across a name I had heard of but never really knew much about.  It was called ‘Parelli,’ named for Pat Parelli, who, over many years of teaching, developed a very accessible program for people who are just starting out with horses, or who have worked with horses but wanted to learn a different way of doing so.  I was fascinated by this approach, and having such a young horse, I needed to find an approach to training her that fit with where I am in my life right now. Parelli got me going, but I’ve already discovered that what is called ‘natural horsemanship’ includes a broad spectrum of attitudes and approaches, some of which are markedly different from one another.