The imperceptible connection between Icelandic Horse and rider is the key to natural horsemanship. You are a horseman if you have two-way communication with your horse, without bits, nosebands, whips.
Any type of training that uses severe bits, severe nosebands, whips, weights, etc., is not horsemanship.
How much pressure on the reins... how much muscle... how many pounds of pull... how much weight... on the reins, does it take to make the Icelandic Horse gait?
How did it ever get to this point, where the riders use such severe bits (jointed mouthpiece with long shanks), combined with tight nosebands, and strong contact to get the Icelandic Horse to gait??
Isn't the goal of "horsemanship" to be as light as possible, with as little as possible?
TWH and Trail Skills
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Tennessee Walker: Here's a very nice video showing a Tennessee Walking
Horse practicing a trail skill.
The horse is TWH Chief's Fancy Blue Eyes and rider i...
Parelli Level 3 Horse Having Fun
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The owners learn "horsemanship" by going through the levels of PNH (Parelli
Natural Horsemanship) and build good relationships and two-way
communication ...
Bits or Bitless?
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"In the hands of a master horseman who has learned to ride with seat and
legs and who hardly uses the reins when riding a fully trained horse, the
most sev...