Holistic Horse Buzz Words

A couple buzz words, that when I see on social media makes me skeptic of the poster:

• Natural Balance
• Barefoot Trim
• Parelli
• Positive Reinforcement
• Bitless
• Treeless Saddle
• Natural Horsemanship

Do I follow most of these trends in my own stable and training techniques? Yes, totally! Many of my horses are barefoot and all of them can be ridden bitless as well as play the Parelli games. But some wear shoes, some perform better with bits, and others better partake at the more traditional training routines.

Do all of those trends have merit? Yes, totally! The experts that use these techniques on specific horses in specific ways are phenomenal.

The buzz words are used to sound smarter, forward-thinking and more educated, rather than in proper context with depth of experience. Whenever I hear those buzz words, honestly what I imagine is: 

A horse plowing over it's owner and completely ruling the relationship while the human is subservient to the horse's every need. I see lots of supplements, specialty tack, and branded toys, many unnecessary. I see a barefoot lame horse that isn't ridden very often as a result. I see tricks instead of occupation. 

I understand that there are professionals and true horse people who really got this figured out. But this image is what I see from their following, have taken these ideologies out of context and more often than not latched onto with undying loyalty by novice utopian idealist animal lovers on the Internet rather than fleshed out by inquisitive and practical expert animal handlers.

A true equestrian is one who works with what they have:

• the horse's conformation
• the horse's personality
• the job description
• the footing and environment
• the horse's history

There are a MILLION tools out here to help horses. Some are more obviously extreme on both the "Holistic" side as well as the traditional side. But understanding WHY each technique is used is more important than finding the only answer. The best ways to understand a trend of thought, is to understand the negatives of what you adhere to and the positives of what you disagree with. Only then do you probably have an idea of what is the right answer for an individual animal.