The Equestrianist

Carolyn Resnick discovered a way to teach her horses through music and dance. Her book NAKED LIBERTY gives a beautiful insights into her philosophy. The book is a captivating memoir of Carolyn Resnick's detailed account of how she gained a magnetic connection with horses. Carolyn reveals her struggle to be accepted into a herd of wild horses, beginning at the bottom of the pecking order, working to gain higher rank and ultimately riding on the back of a lead mare from a bonded trust. This book goes beyond "horse whispering" and will inspire readers to seek a higher level of communication with their horses. "I learned that dominant horses must fight for their position and lead horses do not. From these waterhole rituals I discovered the secret society of wild horses, and that the spirit of the bond has its own language," says Carolyn.

www.markrashid.com/

Mark Rashid is an American horse trainer and clinician from Colorado. Practicing within the western riding tradition, Rashid's philosophy involves understanding the horse’s point of view and solving difficult problems with communication rather than force. His methodology emphasizes the relationship between horse and rider as a partnership, in which the horse willingly takes direction from the rider, rather than a dominant rider directing a submissive horse.

While Rashid is grouped as a practitioner within the field of natural horsemanship, he personally tends to avoid that classification and has publicly expressed discomfort with the term when applied to himself and to horsemanship in general.

He has written a number of books on his philosophy, including Big Horses, Good Dogs, & Straight Fences, Horsemanship Through Life, Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse, Horses Never Lie, A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color, Considering the Horse, and Nature in Horsemanship: Discovering Harmony Through Principles of Aikido.

A unique aspect of Rashid's work is that he is also a practitioner of Yoshinkan aikido and applies its principles to the art of riding.

Alexander Glebovich Nevzorov is a former Russian and Soviet TV journalist, a film director and a former member of the Russian parliament. He is the founder of a horsemanship school, Nevzorov Haute Ecole. He is an increadible horseman who works with his horses without any tools or use of forse. To learn more about his technics please click here.

Hunt was widely regarded as one of the original proponents of what became known as natural horsemanship. His views about horse-human relations were embraced by inspirational writers about human relations. Lance Secretan wrote that "We may respect a leader, but the ones we love are servant-leaders."In the beginning, Hunt said,"I was working in the mind of a lot of people who didnt want to believe the horse had a mind. Get a bigger bit. Get a bigger stick. That was their approach." Ray Hunt is said to be Tom Dorrance's best-known student. They met around 1960, at a fair in Elko, Nevada. While Dorrance avoided media attention and clinics, by the mid 1970s Hunt was giving clinics far and wide. Ray Hunt is famous for starting each clinic with the statement "I'm here for the horse, to help him get a better deal." He also liked to say "make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy." His philosophy has been interpreted as "If you get bucked off or kicked or bitten, you obviously did something wrong . . . The horse, on the other hand, is never wrong".

Klaus Hempflingis a specialist in communication and human movement best known for his unorthodox approach to training and working with horses. Hempfling first rose to prominence when he released the book Dancing with Horses in the early 1990s. In it he advocated horsemanship based on precise communication with the horse through body language rather than through more coercive methods.

He currently lives and operates in Denmark.

Stacy is famous for her bridle-less winning ride in 2003 at the National Reining Horse Association Freestyle Class. When I say bridle-less, I mean nothing on the horses’ head, not even a neck rope! In 2006 she turned more heads and won top honors for a bareback and bridle-less ride during the American Quarter Horse Congress. Stacy offers training DVD’s with topics ranging from “Teaching Your Horse to Bow”, a form of trick training to “Bridle-less Riding” as well as clinics. She currently does not have any certified natural horsemanship trainers available under the Westfall method but is looking to do so in the future.

Dennis Reis has been teaching his Universal Horsemanship natural training method for 15 years now. He has studied under several trainers and has his own club, The “No Dust” club. He also goes on tour as the “No Dust” tour nationwide. Dennis offers clinics, official clinicians and a four course home study package.

Natural horsemanship trainer Craig Cameron has a long history in ranching and studied natural horsemanship principles under master horseman Ray Hunt. He is known as the “Cowboy’s Clinician.” He has written the Western Horseman Book “Ride Smart” as well as “Living Western.” His DVD’s include “Ride Smart, What Knot to Do, and Back to Basics.” He also offers a full line of equipment including his own saddles.

Karen Rohlf combines the art of dressage with natural horsemanship methods. She has studied natural horsemanship directly under Pat and Linda Parelli. Karen has 20 years of experience training dressage studying under “O” certified trainer Anne Gribbons. She has passed her USDF “L” judge with distinction, and was accepted into the “r” program. Beyond that though, I have personally audited one of her clinics and she has a wonderful sense of humor and a thorough, effective, yet very pleasant teaching style.

“Physical training is not the only thing necessary to do dressage, or any sport. The partnership, the mental and emotional connection between human and horse, is absolutely necessary in order to maximize the physical potential. Of course, if we train well, we improve them physically as we improve them emotionally and vice versa.”

Monty Roberts learned the body language of the horse by observing wild mustangs in Nevada as a boy. He later went on to call this the language of “equus.” Roberts has run Flag is Up Farms, a Thoroughbred Facility since 1966. Known as “The Man Who Listens to Horses” Monty Roberts’ “Join-Up” method was put in the limelight after the publishing of his first horse training book “The Man Who Listens to Horses” in 1996. Who encouraged him to write this book? None other than Queen Elizabeth II of England, an avid horsewoman who was so impressed with his demonstration she formally endorsed him and urged him to publish his work. Monty offers learning opportunities at his farm, and courses such as long lining and horsemanship 101. He offers Willing Partner horses which are trained according to his principles.

Chris Cox is a horse trainer who’s interests in competition are mainly colt starting and western horse riding events such as team roping and cutting. His horsemanship program however, is suited for all ages and abilities of riders and will apply to any discipline.

Clinton Anderson is an Australian native with a reining background who now lives in the USA. Clinton tours the country on his Walkabout Tour, and has a members’ group called the No Worries Club. He also offers certified horses trained by his apprentices as well as home study training DVD’s. He also offers certification in his method for natural horsemanship trainers.

Buck may be the most well-known of trainers now for the new movie featuring his personal life and his training methods. In Buck, a winner at the Sundance Film Festival, he touts that more often than not, he is “helping horses with people problems.” Buck tours the country giving 4 day clinics ranging from the basics to cow working. He also has DVD’s such as “The Making of a Bridle Horse” and “Colt Breaking.” Buck has a quiet, gentle spirit.

John Lyons is a pioneer in the way horse clinics have been delivered. His son Josh is following in his dad’s footsteps. John has been running clinics since 1980. His son Josh has a whole line of educational DVD’s from educating your equine in the round pen to rollbacks and sliding stops. This father and son duo offer the Lyons Legacy Certification program. There are 3 levels of certification for natural horsemanship trainers. The Certification Course is the first level, Accredited Trainer Course, and then the highest is the Master Trainers Course.

Pat Parelli has been teaching clinics worldwide since 1981. Pat has learned from master natural horseman and trainers such as Ronny Willis, Ray Hunt, and Tom Dorrance. He and his wife Linda currently study with the German classical dressage trainer Walter Zettl and are passing that information on to their students that ride in all disciplines. Parelli has also offered spectator seminars on colt-starting and gentling wild mustangs. Parelli Natural Horsemanship has the Parelli Savvy Club for members, courses at the Parelli Center (now including horse driving training courses), training DVD’s, equipment and Parelli saddles. They have many certified instructors offering natural horsemanship courses and clinics worldwide. Certification for natural trainers using Parelli start as 1 star trainee’s (who can teach groundwork training only) and go all the way up to 6 star master instructors. Pat also wrote the Western Horseman natural horsemanship book “Natural Horse-Man-Ship.”