Natural horsemanship offers alternatives to training
Posted on Sunday, May 28, 2006
BENTONVILLE — The small crowd sighed in awe as Tony Vaught led a horse he’d never encountered before into a calm state — without any force or harsh noises.
Vaught and his wife, Jennifer, worked with a number of horses as part of a difficult and challenging horse demonstration at local veterinarian Andy Devlin’s horse barn Saturday.
Although the term has been popularized as "horse whispering" in television and film, Jennifer Vaught said the preferred term is "natural horsemanship." "The term ‘horse whisperer’ makes it sound kind of mystic," Jennifer Vaught said. "This is something anyone can do."
Jennifer has worked with horses since the age of 8, when her parents gave her a few weeks of riding lessons. As she grew into her love for horses, she began searching for new, innovative ways to train horses.
That’s when she met Pat Parelli, a world-renowned horse trainer who has used the Kung Fu principles of discipline, body control and mind-body mastery to turn even the wildest horses into tame ones.
It’s a more effective way than the harsh methods some trainers use to whip their horses into shape, Jennifer Vaught said.
Meanwhile, Tony Vaught stood in the arena, cupping his hand and stroking the horse. "I want him to know how much I like him," Tony Vaught said to the quiet audience.
He then gently tied a rope around the horse’s frontleft leg and led the horse in a circle around the arena. Wistfully, the horse pranced in the circle until Tony Vaught gave a gentle tug, quietly stopping the horse in its tracks.
For more information on natural horsemanship, visit the Parelli method website at www. parelli. com.
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