The Natural Horsemanship Trade Show was a fun success!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157633949583864/
The forecast was 50% thundershowers and rain all day – so I
was delighted to wake up to no rain and not one storm cloud in sight. The trade
show got under way with delicious food and baked goods for sale, and several
vendors set up with excellent displays including Kim Lowes Photography with
amazing prints of horses and beautiful unique wood frames; Equine Original Art
by Laura Boyle who was hand carving wooden horse art; Pegasus with a large
booth of unique horse products for sale, Horses Help Canada with their
information, and many more. 
The demonstrations got under way with Nancy McHardy in the
round pen using Chris Irwin methods. She focused her demonstration on getting a
horse to soften and listen while at liberty. Then Cathy Foyston from Equine
Assisted Learning gave a very interesting presentation using volunteers from
the crowd to participate in learning games with a horse – it was really a
fascinating approach to discovering how you think, feel, and act.
Next was Tom Shields, a Chris Irwin specialist, who worked
with a rescue horse named Laramie. He showed us how to shape the horse’s body
and practice bend so that Laramie could relax and after only a few minutes of
working with him, Laramie lowered his head and started to relax.
I then did a demonstration with my horse Thetis about ground
games – what they are, some ideas of things to do, and some fun tricks. It was
a chance to see many ways to test your communication and partnership.
DJ Murtagh did a fantastic demonstration with his Clyde X
performing various movements, riding the teeter tauter and table that his horse
had never seen before. Then he used his horse in the round pen to work a young
horse which was really interesting to see how he moved the horse around.
Over lunch there were wellness presentations including
Shelley from Contented Equine who showed people how to take a horse’s vital
signs, listen to a heartbeat, and look at body scoring a horse. Dr. Elana
Silverman did some equine chiropractor and massage demonstrations, while Anne
Riddell talked about natural barefoot trims and trimmed a few horses. Jim Ward
gave us a detailed looked at saddle fitting and went through 12 different
saddles on a horse to show us why or why not they fit.
The rest of the day held some more demonstrations including
getting a previously wild mustang to stand for a hoof trim – and all 4 hooves
were trimmed calmly! We enjoyed the day and it didn’t start to rain until after
4pm!
What was interesting for me was to see the similarities and
differences between the different natural horsemen and women at the show. From
the glimpse that I got to see, Chris Irwin specialists are very focused on the
horse’s body language and shaping the horse rather than teaching specific
cues. DJ Murtagh encouraged calm
leadership and having good control and communication to move the horse and gain
leadership. Myself with a large Parelli background focused on moving through
patterns and obstacles with my horse to gain trust and confidence through
positive experiences and understanding a common language.
We were all different, and yet the same – everything we do
is to benefit the horse – to help the horse feel calm, trusting, and understand
us so we can work in harmony. It was fascinating to see the different ways you
can do this.
The next steps for the Natural Horsemanship Association will
be to set up some workshops for the rest of the year, so stay tuned for future
dates and get your membership if you haven’t already!
Learn more about the Natural Horsemanship Association at
www.NHAssociation.ca
