Horsemanship

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Horsemanship (English, from Horseman "horse man") describes the general art of riding and fair handling of the horse. In a broader sense, the term horsemanship also includes species-appropriate husbandry and fair treatment of fellow riders.

Some equestrian sports - competitions , such as the Hestadagar the Horsemanship, so the handling of the rider with the horse during the test will be.

Today a distinction is made between general horsemanship and natural horsemanship .

Natural horsemaship

Natural Horsemaship, in turn, is the term for all types of combination of pressure (positive punishment) and yielding (negative reinforcement) ( operant conditioning ) in horse training. Formative trainers of this type of training are for example Pat Parelli and Monty Roberts .

The Seven Games

The "Seven Games" form the basis for building exercises. They are carried out “On Line” at the beginning of the training and later “At Liberty”.

  • Friendly Game: This game is often played between other games to get the horse's attention and build confidence. The horse is put into an unfamiliar situation that could frighten it. Ideally, the animal remains calm, calm and alert. The game should stay in rhythm. For example, if you started jumping around the horse and then throwing yourself onto its back, you must do this in the same order for a later repetition. This serves to avoid overwhelming the horse with unfamiliar situations.
One criticism of this game is that it can lead to learned helplessness. No trust is built up, as the horse simply learns to accept and ignore the aversive stimulus.
  • Porcupine Game: In this game you exert unpleasant pressure on any part of the horse's body. The pressure disappears immediately when the horse gives way to it. The horse is then petted and praised at this point. The horse should give way to the pressure with the forehand and the hind hand.
  • Give way to signs (driving game): If the horse gives way to the pressure of the porcupine game without problems, you can replace the pressure with signs. For example, hand signals are given such as waving (giving way backwards), pointing to the horse's eye (giving way with the forehand) and waving the hand towards the hindquarters (giving way with the hindquarters).
  • Jo Jo (Yoyo Game): The horse is sent back and forth with the help of the rope. Pulling in the rope bit by bit and a little vigorously means to step the horse forward, stronger waving of the rope directs it backwards. As soon as the horse shows the correct reaction, stop moving the rope.
  • Circling Game: As in lunging , the horse runs circles around the person on a rope. The animal is sent off in the desired gait. You can change your pace after about two laps at the earliest. If the horse changes its pace without being asked, you bring it back in and send it off again. As long as the horse is following the instructions, there is no action on the horse.
  • Sideways Game: At a signal the horse goes sideways. At the beginning you put the horse against a fence so that it cannot move forward. Then you send the forehand, then the hindquarters sideways.
  • Bottleneck (Squeeze Game): The horse should go through a bottleneck behind the person without faltering. It should be started at several meters and gradually reduced. This is a preliminary exercise for loading.

Literature and Sources

  • Heinz Welz: Horsemanship - what is it? In: Pegasus - Leisure in the saddle. Issue 10, Singhofen, October 2008.
  • Pat Parelli, Karen Parelli, Ulrike Gieseke (transl.): Natural horsemanship. Wipperfürth 1995, ISBN 3-89118-093-4 .
  • equitationscience.com