Don’t Lose the Wisdom

By Michelle Dempsey

Sometimes it is easy for us, as young people, to think that the latest is the best. We may forget that what came before provided the foundation for what exists now.

If you look at trainer’s ads these days you will see “Natural Horsemanship” as the big seller. It doesn’t seem to matter which method it is as long as it’s “Natural”. If one looks closely at the methods, they are fairly similar, just called by different names. I’m not knocking the methods, because they do seem to work well, but they aren’t always new methods - just rediscovered ones. Horse training, like many other things in life, follow trends and fads. What’s hot today may be hard to sell in five years. Twenty-five years ago, Western pleasure horses, for example, had a natural head carriage. Then they went to “peanut rollers”, now they are back to a level line. Forgotten knowledge often becomes the next big “new” method. If we just kept handy the knowledge already learned, tried, and proven, we could apply it where it is best suited. The same method may not work for all horses or for all people. It may just need to be adjusted for different situations.

Talk to an old timer about how it was done in his day. I’ll bet you would be surprised. It wasn’t all whip and spur. Plus, many of the horses bred today are better suited to the training methods now used. It’s a lot easier to start a horse with a willing attitude than an outlaw.  Granted we see very few outlaw horses these days but they are out there and some of the methods used to train them in the past are all but forgotten. How many horses today are trained to ground tie? Not many. Training aids such as Running W’s, War Bridles, and simple cotton hobbles are rarely used, if ever. These are not needed for a good gentle horse, but the knowledge could come in handy if someone gets that rare bad one.

It is important for us to be able to look at the methods, decide which will work, and then use them, so we can benefit from the “old wisdom”. But remember that many of the old methods should be used only by a professional and some, maybe not by anyone. We really need to find a way to categorize and file the methods we run across so that we don’t get caught off guard, thinking that someone has come up with a “new” method.

 Name The Mascot Contest

Now is your chance to help name the new youth mascots. If your mascot name is chosen you will win a one year subscription to the NWHS and one of the following prizes: A certificate for $250 of Nutrena Products, or a Parelli Educational experience.

Rules

1.       Participants must be 18 years or younger.

2.       One entry per mascot per participant.

3.       Please no famous horse names (Example: Seattle Slew, Doc O Lena, etc.)

4.       Entries must be postmarked no later than November 25, 2003

5.       Winners will be notified by December 5, 2003

6.       Winning names will become the property of NWHS Magazine

7.       Entries must include participant’s name, parents’ name, address, phone # and mascot name

8.       Submit entries via email to youth@nwhorsesource.com or mail entries to NWHS, PO box 717, Blaine, WA 98231.