Natural Horsemanship - Criticism

Criticism

The natural horsemanship movement has been criticized from a number of angles. The first criticism is that claims of natural horsemanship being something new and different are wholly unfounded, that similar methods have been around for a very long time. Some practitioners, particularly in classical dressage and other English riding disciplines, consider much of the movement to simply be the application of humane methods of classical horsemanship that have been practiced for centuries.

Another common concern is that the movement has been promoted with too much hype and marketing. In particular, there are concerns that promises of near-miraculous results can mislead some people to believe that they can accomplish miracles with their horses with little effort, education, or experience in horse training, which is simply not true. A related concern is that practitioners rename common pieces of horse equipment and then sell their versions for inflated prices. In this vein, some trainers view the use of particular brands or styles of common equipment as having more to do with personal preference than anything else. Others view certain tools as unneeded or prone to misuse.

In particular, the characterization of "traditional" methods of training as "inhumane" rings false to trainers who use time-honored humane training methods. Though some critics acknowledge that some historical techniques were not always gentle, they point out that gentle techniques have always existed as well. Others express concern that natural horsemanship fails as a complete method of horse training.

Other trainers point out that the very act of catching and training horses is not "natural" at all, that everything people do with horses is not actually "natural" to the horse, although other authors such as Scanlon indicate that "Domestication was a natural consequence... for those.. who were more curious, less territorial, less aggressive, more dependant better able to deflect human aggression through submission". These individuals note the need for humane training of horses, but attempt to downplay the romanticism and marketing that characterize much of the movement.

Overuse of negative reinforcement to increase rates of desired behaviors can produce anxiety and stress in the horse until the aversive stimulus or "pressure" is released. Failure of the horse to emit the desired behavior, or failure of the trainer to relieve the pressure after a correct performance, will only prolong this stress.