Natural Horsemanship
There is a revolution going on in how we want to treat and ride our horses. We no longer ‘break’ them to harness or saddle; we invite the horse to join us in a herd of two in which we are the leader. We listen to what it tells us, so the horse becomes our equal partner. Natural horsemanship is a natural and foremost practical way to interact with horses, in which mutual understanding and respect are central.
Havana Horses welcomes guest trainers adept in natural horsemanship. We and our horses are more than happy that Cecile Devaux, internationally experienced horse trainer and instructor from France, now frequently works with our horses. She achieves wonderful results with especially the young horses, by giving them the trust and confidence that they need. A patient, always smiling trainer and super-balanced rider, she takes the young horses on their first trail ride, reassures the horse with lack of confidence and pokes the too cool horse into great achievements.
We train our horses mainly at liberty, i.e. in total freedom, without tack and without force. Forming a little herd of two, we make the horse feel comfortable and eager to follow us by taking up the role of confident and friendly leader. The way we interact with and train our horses is greatly inspired by the work of Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling (see Library). By using the body language that horses use themselves and therefore understand instinctively, we can communicate with our horse in a natural and subtle way. Being herd animals, all horses speak the same language. It is up to us to learn from and adapt our communication to the individual horse.
The training consists of 1. working loose, 2. groundwork, 3. riding, and 4. barriers and games.
We start the freestyle training in the round pen with working the horse loose, using body language and the lead rope, that is, by leading, driving, halt, join up and touching. In this manner you learn how to communicate with your horse from the ground – basically the same as when you ride.
With groundwork you practise a number of exercises with your horse: follow and halt; yield for pressure; follow the lead rope; stay and come; back up; indicate the way; transitions to walk, trot and halt on a circle; go sideways; flexing; and lower the head,.
Our goal of horse riding is relaxation and fun for both the horse and its handler. Not only in the way we interact with our horses, but also in a relaxed and natural riding style.
We ride our horses without bit (for more pictures see bitless bridle). Besides riding with different kinds of tack - English, treeless, Australian, Western -, you also learn to ride with bareback pad, with just a neck ring or even with nothing at all, only using your body language to communicate. In this manner you experience how you can communicate with your horse in a subtle manner. This natural style of riding is suitable for beginners and recreational riders, as well as for competitive riders.
By playing games and barriers both you and your horse become braver and you strengthen your bond, while you are having lots of fun!
