Horsemanship
What exactly is Horsemanship?
A lot of contraversy surrounds the term 'natural horsemanship'. The contraversy has been fuelled by films such as 'The Horse Whisperer' where horsemanship is interpreted as something magical. In reality this is not the case.
The great horsemen such as Buck Brannaman, Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt appear to have magical powers over their equine partners purely because they are such amazing horsemen. Horses are unique creatures who are always looking for an existance with as little 'pressure' as possible (i.e. no lions eating them!). These horsemen can communicate with horses by body language to such an extent that it appears the horse can read their thoughts. The ordinary man in the street cannot see this body language and this has resulted in the birth of the magical 'Horse Whisperer' legend.
However, even if the legend is not true, there is no reason to disrespect these amazing horsemen. If the average person can never communicate like these greats, we can still learn a great deal from them so we can build an excellent relationship with our equine friends.
Horsemanship Clinics
There are now a large number of clinicians who practise the training techniques of great horsemen. These guys travel the world teaching people like you and me how to be better horsemen. Here is a list of some great people who hold clinics in New Zealand.
Buck Brannaman: visited NZ in January 2008, next planned visit in 2010 (Possibly in Auckland)
Mark Rashid: Sat 29 Nov - Tues 2 Dec (Cassie's Farm, Cambridge),Sat 6 Dec - Tues 9 Dec (Woodhill Sands, Helensville),Fri 12 Dec - Sun 14 Dec (Cassie's Farm, Cambridge) - organised by Trisha Wren
Steve Brady: 2 day clinic at Hawera Indoor arena in Taranaki on 22nd and 23rd October 08. Contact course coordinator marionlrivers@paradise.net.nz
He is also doing other clinics in other centres
In addition to these amazing people, there are also local people in New Zealand who hold clincs. They may practise different 'flavours' of horsemanship but ultimately their mission is the same - to make us all better horsepeople. These include:
Jenny Paterson: Travels the country holding regular clinics in NZ. Visit Jenny's HorsemanshipNZ website
Chip Johnson: Holds regular clinics
Russell Higgins: Holds regular clinics
Dr Deb: Holds regular clinics in NZ
Dave Stuart: Next clinic is in March 2008 - Whangarei
Mr Taukiri Te Whata from Kaikohe: He trained many years ago with Merv Kildy in Australia who in turn learnt his skills from the great Tom Dorrence. Taukiri is a quiet, and an extremely knowlegable horseman who travels the length of the country working with every type of horse and every problem imaginable from pony's , to Grandprix, Western , rodeo, horse drawn carriage - the lot. Checkout www.summerstone.co.nz for more information
If you know of any other good clinics in NZ, please email the details to
michelle@out-west.co.nz