Witheford Equine Natural Horsemanship

Natural Horsemanship

Establishing call-up (the bonding of the horse to a leader) is the ultimate aim of natural horsemanship. Once this is achieved, then further work can be completed on the basis that if the owner has no problem with whatever hazard is encountered in the stable or out on a ride, then the horse shouldn't have either.

The majority of the work at Westcourt Stables is centred around starting (in more traditional methods called breaking in) of young horses and remedial programmes, which have been individually planned for horses with behavioural problems. These problems can include anything from refusing to load into horse boxes, bolting, bucking, rearing, napping, physically attacking other horses and people, or show jumpers who have lost all interest in jumping even the smallest of fences.

In the case of a starter having established 'call up', the horse will then have enough trust in its handler to accept the constraints of a saddle and bridle and then finally, the weight of a rider. This in itself is an incredible feat as the trust in the handler has to overcome the horse's natural resistance to any weight on its back or around its belly, which in the wild would mean that a predator had struck.

This trust and leadership is achieved by controlling the horse's movements in much the same way as a lead mare would do in a herd. With a leader to follow (imitating the instinct of herd-living animals) the horse actively seeks to work with its trainer rather than resist the trainer. 'Call-up' is best seen when Gary works a horse in the round pen, although most enclosed areas can be used.

The horse is first sent away from Gary to move around the perimeter of the pen. This mimics the exclusion of the horse from a herd by a lead mare and, in this situation, the horse feels vulnerable and begins to look for leadership.

A mixture of body movement, eye contact and the 'kissing' sound is used to keep the horse moving forward. The horse is then asked to change direction at 4 points around the edge of the round pen.

Mouthing of the horse 'licking and chewing' shows that the horse is becoming passive and wishes to accept leadership from Gary. Once this is established Gary will attempt to 'call-up' the horse by a combination of body movements, which mimics the pressure/release method.

At this stage the horse will either choose to look towards Gary and make a move forward, in which case a simple rub on the face is enough to encourage the horse to follow him, or challenge Gary by moving away.

These stages are usually worked through over a number of sessions in the round pen and the rate of progress depends entirely on the horse's response. Successful 'call-up' cannot be rushed, however Gary has publicly demonstrated that it is possible to gain the trust of a completely untouched horse and, within the space of half an hour, have it moving fluently under both saddle and rider.

The significance of Natural Horsemanship and the 'call-up' is that it is based on the observation of how horses interact. It seeks to work with the horse's natural psychology rather than force the horse to change natural behavioural patterns and work through fear as some more traditional methods have done.

The ultimate aim is for the owner to successfully work with their horse forming a bond of trust, through 'call up', that benefits both horse and rider, whether enjoyment comes from hacking around the lanes or competing at National level.

Please see our News Update regarding remedial bookings which should now be made by referral from your Instructor or Riding Establishment.