Natural Horsemanship Masters

I’m a big fan of the “natural horsemanship” school of horse training. That can be a pretty fuzzy definition these days but I basically view it as the approach that recognizes the horse’s inherent nature and psychology, and works with that in training to foster a willing partnership between horse and human.

As a perpetual student of horsemanship, I’ve studied many of the prominent natural horsemen of this era, including Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt, the two who are most responsible for the natural horsemanship phenomenon. There are many, many good horseman working today who have a lot to teach us.

I think they’re all worth checking out. Some are better communicators than horsemen. Some are better horsemen than communicators. Some are showmen. Some you may disagree with. But I find I always take away at least one tidbit from every exposure to these talented men and women.

I thought I’d share my list of the major natural horsemen (and women) and a link to their websites. With the cold winter months ahead, now is a good time to spend some time with these masters and expand your knowledge. All of them have websites. Some have shows on RFDTV. Many have books. Most have a schedule of clinics. This is far from an all-inclusive list, but it’s my list, and that’s one of the benefits of having your own web site. You get to pick who’s on the list.

So, in alphabetical order, here is my list:

Anderson, Clinton

Black, Martin

Brannaman, Buck

Cameron, Craig

Campbell, Peter

Cox, Chris

Desmond, Leslie

Dorrance, Tom

Goodnight, Julie

Hunt, Ray

Lyons, John

Lyons, Josh

McNabb, Ken

Neubert, Bryan

Palm, Lynn

Parelli, Pat

Pate, Curt

Rashid, Mark

Reis, Dennis

Shrake, Richard

Swift, Sally

Tellington-Jones, Linda

Westfall, Stacey

Wolter, Joe