I am mulling over the fact that there seems to be some cross-over between the natural horsemanship movement and dressage but not terribly much. And I am asking why. What seems clear to me is that there are a lot of parallels especially if you consider the natural horsemen of the baroque times – be it Pluvinel, the Duke of Newcastle or Gueriniere. A lot of the “golden rules” of natural horsemanship make sense, e.g.
Be as gentle as possible and as firm as necessary
Do less to get more
Take the time it takes
Notice the smallest change and the slightest try, and reward him
As a matter of fact the last one sound much like this one “You must reward the slightest concession as if it was a full submission, because it will certainly lead directly to that. (Alexandre Guerin, 1817-1884).
So all these horsemen want to train to lightness, no resistance and overall balance.
I believe however that western riding- which is where the modern natural horsemanship has its roots- does not require the discipline and precision that we require in dressage. And here is the big question: Can we achieve this precision without ever using coercion? And looking at some of the “natural” training methods there are also moments of coercion in there – granted a lot less though than we find in modern competitive dressage which seems to be reduced to almost exclusively coercion and little else.
