My husband was half Lakota, so our children are 1/4 Lakota. We have lived on two reservations. One child still living on one.

There really is no one "Native American Horsemanship" any more than there is one European Horsemanship or South American... you get the idea. If you like that Pony Boy guy's was of doing things, give it a shot. But no one person can claim a style for many nations and people. Marketing, that's all it is.

I take the "Native American Horsemanship" concept about as seriously as I would if someone said they were Irish and did a "Celtic Horsemanship" method - which consisted of twirling stuff in horses' faces while the Riverdance soundtrack played in the background.

It's a gimmick, that's all it is. Just another "angle" for marketing basic horsemanship to an audience that wants it to be easy to follow.

The ironic thing is, so many people I've met who follow book/DVD programs are so anxious about whether or not they're doing things the way their chosen guru's program says to do them, they're not even paying attention to the way their own horse is responding.

They'd be much better off taking riding lessons with a qualified trainer, or finding a mentor in the area who can watch THEM work with THEIR horse and offer suggestions based on what they see happening.

The key word here is horsemanship. Everthing else is marketing to get you to buy that specific horsemanship style. I've watched alot of different stuff and short of the names and some of the different tools(handy stick, llounge whip,flag,lariat) all used for the same thing, they are all pretty much the same. They rely on timing and experience to get what you desire from a horse.

Maybe I should start the Firemans Horsemanship style. My catch phrase could be "don't burn out your horse, burn out your competion". Who here has some marketing experience? We need to run with this!!! :)

What Ponyboy does is decent training but it has absolutely nothing to do with any Native American heritage. He learned it from present day trainers, but puts some stereotyped "mystical" Native American spin on it. It bugs me when people trade on their heritage simply as a way to sell their ideas.

…and no Native American man with any self-respect that I know of would ever choose "boy" as part of their name.

The key word here is horsemanship. Everthing else is marketing to get you to buy that specific horsemanship style. I've watched alot of different stuff and short of the names and some of the different tools(handy stick, llounge whip,flag,lariat) all used for the same thing, they are all pretty much the same. They rely on timing and experience to get what you desire from a horse.

Maybe I should start the Firemans Horsemanship style. My catch phrase could be "don't burn out your horse, burn out your competion". Who here has some marketing experience? We need to run with this!!! :)

Thanks for giving me my first laugh of the day!
Now where can I buy your DVD and book collection? OOh, and a fire engine red halter would be nice too!

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