The ways of natural horsemanship

I once saw a seahorse and I've seen many sawhorses, but this is a first: a horse seesaw. A teeter-totter for ponies. The heavy tippy timber is one of several teaching tools at a corner of Trail's End Guest Ranch that Chris Benz likes to call the playground for her four-legged staff. Upon the plank, horses develop dexterity and confidence with balance, just as a nearby obstacle course of old tires fine-tunes the rhythm of a trot and a skeletal tunnel of soft PVC pipe anchored with elastic cord helps conquer any fear of entering a trailer or a shed. Many hours are spent here, riders teaching horses -- and horses teaching riders -- in the ways of natural horsemanship, a training philosophy that says humans must work with the instincts of the animals to build a partnership, not break down the will to subservience through harsh discipline...more