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What is
"Horsemanship"?
To be a horseman or a
horsewoman is to be more than a mere horseback rider. A horseman or
horsewoman knows horses inside and out, cares about them,
understands them, and respects them. Horses know, understand and
respect the true horseman or horsewoman.
That's why our
facility is not called a "riding school." If you come here expecting
to find your horse tacked up and ready to ride, and to ride around
on his back for an hour, then get off, hand the reins to
someone else, and leave, you will be disappointed.
Or, perhaps, you will
get a happy surprise! You will get to KNOW these large animals that
have served humanity for thousands of years. You'll understand why
they should be cared for, ridden, and treated in certain ways,
because of their very nature -- how they were created. You'll learn
what God says about them.
You'll learn how to
keep horses healthy in body, mind and soul. And because of that,
you'll have a much better experience with horses than a mere "rider"
would!
What is Natural Horsemanship?
For most of recorded history, humans have been using horses. In the
beginning, it seems they only used them for food. Then they figured
out how to use them to pull things, so that the humans wouldn't have
to carry such heavy loads. Some civilizations began actually
riding them sooner than others. We don't know, at this time, how
those earliest riders treated their horses.
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What we do know is that long ago, a
Greek philosopher named Xenophon said that people should treat their
horses better than they then did. Not everyone heard what he had
said, though, and not everyone believed him. For most of
recorded history, most horses were treated very roughly, almost as
though they were humanity's enemies that must be defeated and
enslaved.
Some training and riding schools in
Europe, Africa and Asia taught kinder methods, which they claimed produced
better long-term results. Some of these ideas were brought to
America. But often, especially in the wildest, frontier parts of
America, horses were raised practically wild, in herds, with no
human contact except perhaps to be chased from one area to another.
Then at
a certain age they were caught and "broken" to human use. Some of
the ways in which this was done should not even be printed.
The followers of the kinder ways kept
using them, but many people did not have access to the formal horse
training by which they were passed down. So, some learned
other ways. Many of them made up their own ways; often they
were short-cuts, because time was a rare luxury. Some of those
ways were crueler, some kinder.
Successful horse trainers often kept their
ways secret, so that they could demand money for using them. Some
pretended, or were thought, to use magic words whispered in the
horse's ear; they were called "horse whisperers". Some did teach
their "tricks" to others; some wrote books about them. When trainers
who had been using the common, rough ways found out about these
methods, they thought they were amazing.
Some studied horses in their more
natural, herd state - including wild herds -- and applied some ideas they got from that. They
called themselves "natural" horsemen.
"In Him we live, and move, and have
our being" and "we are His offspring", as ancient Greek poets and
the apostle Paul said (Acts 17:28). So, we went to the Maker of horses, to
see what He says about them. We believe in a God who created the
heavens and the Earth. We believe that we can read His actual words
in the Bible. We have proved it in many areas of life, and found it
to be exactly what it claims to be - God's Word. We have an ancient, inspired,
"horse training guide" !
The Bible says, in the book of Job,
that war horses are fearless and powerful. God Himself said these
words to Job:
"Hast thou
given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Canst thou make him afraid as a
grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He
paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to
meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear,
and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
The quiver rattleth against him, the
glittering spear and the shield. He
swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he
that it is the sound of the trumpet. He
saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar
off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." (Job
chapter 39, verses 19 through 25.)
In the book of Proverbs, King
Solomon, the wisest (and richest!) man who ever lived, says this
about horses:
"A whip for
the horse, a bridle for the burro, and a rod for the fool’s back."
( Proverbs, chapter 26, verse 3.)
And the apostle James says:
"Behold, we
put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn
about their whole body." (James, chapter 3, verse 3)
The Bible mentions horses many,
many times. It, and common sense, tell us that we are not horses,
and horses would not expect us to be like them. Perhaps it even
confuses them if we try to act like them!
So, if we look at how successful the kinder, formal
training methods of the past hundreds of years have been; and then
if we take God Himself into account, we come up with something
even better than "natural horsemanship" :
SUPER-Natural Horsemanship!
For a more in-depth explanation, please contact Pastor Barb or
Pastor Joe (Kostelnik) directly. We're both ordained,
non-denominational, Spirit-filled ministers of the Gospel, as well
as "Super-Natural" horse trainers and riders.
Pastor Barb:
bakostelnik@gmail.com
or you can text me at: 513-356-2817
Pastor Joe:
drkostelnik@gtm.org Pastor Joe's church office:
513-662-6220
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