Question 1: What is the one thing that you would tell someone to become a better horseman?
Answer: Buy a mule. Seriously, anyone who wants to get better working with horses should work with mules at least once in their life. If more horsemen started out by owning mules we would have a lot more horseman who are better at what they do. Or, we would have a lot less horsemen!

Question 2: What do you feel most people have trouble learning in Natural Horsemanship?
Answer: That nothing in horsemanship is natural. It is important to understand that up until a few years ago, the term “Natural Horsemanship,” didn’t exist. Before that, horsemanship boiled down to being either good horsemanship, or not so good horsemanship. It has been my experience that when people use certain words to describe their horsemanship, it can have a tendency to put the person’s work with the horse in a sort of box that they have trouble getting out of. Often there has to be a certain tool they must use, or a hat they have to wear, or certain exercises they have to do.

Whatever it is, the horse certainly doesn’t care what it’s called, how we look, or what club we belong to. None of that matters to the horse. What matters to horses is that they understand what we are trying to present. That can be done no matter what kind of tack we use, whether we shoe our horse or not, whether we ride with a saddle or not, or whether we ride in a halter or a bridle. None of it matters to horses. The question is, why does it matter so much to us?

Question 3: What can a person do to gain a better seat?
Answer: First, develop more body awareness. Understand that horse anatomy and human anatomy are virtually the same, and move the same. Second, realize that the horse’s body and the human body are designed to use the least amount of muscles to accomplish the task we are asking it to do. You wouldn’t pick up a spoon with your whole fist clenched around it. You could easily use two fingers to lift it. The reason that folks have trouble with their seat is because they’re using way more muscles than they need. Particularly in their legs and back. For every muscle the human engages, the horse must tighten a corresponding muscle. For instance if you tighten your shoulders, the horse will do the same. If you tighten your legs, the horse will tighten their hind legs. If you tighten your back, the horse tightens his back. If you tighten your jaw, the horse will also do the same. Become aware of how you use your body in your every day life, i.e. are you using more muscles than you have to use to perform simple tasks. If so, can you disengage those muscles. This will go a long way to being able to develop synchronized movement with the horse, which in turn can help lead to a better seat.

Question 4: What is the difference between Natural Horsemanship and traditional horsemanship?
Answer: There is no difference between natural horsemanship and traditional horsemanship. It is all horsemanship. There is simply a difference in the way information is presented to the horse. To me, all horsemanship boils down to being as soft as you can be. If you look at the old dressage masters, their horses are pretty soft, as are the riders. The same goes for some of the old time cowboys. Just because something is deemed “natural”, that doesn’t necessarily make it all good. Hurricane Katrina was natural, so is a tsunami, a tornado, or forest and wildfires. Natural…but not necessarily good for those in their paths.

Keep in mind that once we put a halter on the horse we are no longer natural. Once we put them in a paddock or stall, and regulate their feed, we are no longer natural. When we come right down to it, a human getting on a horse’s back isn’t all that natural, either.

Question 5: What is "Feel" and how can we get more of it?
Answer: The question itself implies that some of us have feel and some of us don’t. Many horse trainers would like you to believe the same thing. The fact of the matter is that EVERYBODY has feel. Case in point: you don’t jerk to a stop every time you put your foot on the brake in your car. You don’t rip the paper you are writing on every time you use a pen. You don’t stomp your feet when you are walking across the floor. You don’t yell every time you have a conversation. There isn’t a piece of training equipment on the planet that will improve on the human mind and body.

Now, there are some folks who spend more time working on being aware of how their bodies function and interact with the every day things around them. They then bring that awareness to the horse. That in and of itself is one of the best ways to work on your feel. Feel is nothing more than being a little more sensitive and aware. If we practice that in our day-to-day lives, doing that with our horses becomes much easier, and over time becomes a way of life.

To learn more about Mark, please visit his website at www.markrashid.com