Kerry uses his (natural) practical horsemanship classes
to help others develop the leadership their horse is looking
for. What Kerry strives to teach with his critique horsemanship
clinics, is how to gain control of your horse mentally, emotionally,
and physically. Reading periodicals on horse training, or
just putting a training bridle on your horse and pulling
on him is not truly controlling your horse. Often time's
humans focus solely on the physical aspect and neglect to
see the power of the mental and emotional. Learn to gain
control of all three together and you will be amazed at what
you can get from your horse.
In Kerry's beginning natural horsemanship clinics,
he focuses on the principles of building a strong training
foundation. This foundation is the backbone of the entire
training process. Developing respect and control of the feet
on the ground is the beginning step. The horse learns to
move in all directions upon your request. When working with
horses, the idea is to make use of THEIR speed and strength.
Therefore, the horse should be doing more work than the human.
At the beginning, you will see that you might have to do
more than you want to get the idea across. As the idea becomes
stronger in the horse, it should take less on your part to
get that desired response. This is why building a strong
foundation is very important. If things get worse for you
instead of better, you aren't developing the willing attitude
you are looking for. Your horse isn't getting in the habit
of saying, "yes" instead of "no!" Building
this "yes" response is the primary target in the
beginning classes. Bending the horses body laterally and
vertically are the main components in creating the horse
you are looking for at this stage.
The intermediate classes make the transition from the
ground to the horse's back. You take the control established
from the groundwork and build it even |
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 stronger
on the horse's back. To try and build respect and control
on the horses back from the start only makes things unsafe.
The responsiveness constructed on the ground allows things
to be much safer and easier from the horse's back. In intermediate
classes you will start to be more aware of what your horse
feels like underneath you. You will begin to work on placement
of your horse's feet and what you need to do with your body
in relation to what you are asking your horse to do with
his.Learning the mechanics of how a horse travels helps you
to focus on where to apply pressure on your horse to get
a certain response. Breaking your horse's body into four
parts and learning how to operate them separately helps you
with this idea. You continue to work with lots of lateral
and vertical flexion (which was started in the beginning
class) to really bring up this "soft" feel
you are after.
Advanced horsemanship classes put all the pieces back
together. You begin to operate the whole horse at one time.
Exercises and techniques become more refined than in the
beginning. This is where you really see just how little it
takes from you to get a response from your horse. You are now
able to manipulate your horse's body in any position maintaining
a "soft" feel
along the way. You become much more specific in your requests
and start to realize the importance for a smooth cadence.
Your horse's body should move in rhythm and flow through transitions.
The ultimate goal is to get your horse's entire body resistance
free. In this stage your horse feels as if he is an extension
of your body. This is when things become extremely exciting!
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