Indian Taming, Natural Handling, Rational Taming

The Professional · Indian Taming, Natural Handling, Rational Taming

The Indian taming is basically an alternative to train horses and it is based mainly on the application of the knowledge in a natural form and from a psychological perspective. Psychological It implies this, that as much students, trainers, teachers and horses work in the most natural atmosphere possible without ostentatious equipment or dominant tools. It also consists of taking the horse step by step in a calmed and patient form allowing him to takes confidence in his trainer. From certain point of view it is, to deal with the horse from a more spiritual angle,

I would say.

Abounding more on this topic and offering more information on the Indian taming I will say that it’s called Indian taming because its creation is adjudged to the Indians of Pampas of Argentina. According to what I have read, was for the year 1600 that these native ones discovered the horses that had proliferated in this zone, leave there by the Spaniards.

The Indian Pampas accepted the horse as part of their natural and spiritual world and developed their own way to domesticate them and to train them without the foreign influence or the one of the Argentine gauchos as it is called to the riders of that country. In the USA they call it cowboys, in Colombia chalanes, PR montadores, Mexico charros, etc. You get the point…

The method of these natives consisted of taming the horse according to its nature avoiding to cause fear and pain to him and gaining its confidence. This (data) in summary, is the origin of the India taming. However, my personal opinion is that not only these Indians of Pampas of Argentina but rather all the human beings who through the centuries have had to do with the taming of the horse know until certain point, of this form of natural taming.

I say this because nobody can domesticate a horse if not knows, have knowledge or understands at least the basic of the horse natural behavior. It is why I consider that this type of taming has its pros and their cons. Also it is my personal opinion that the taming has evolved much through of the times but in some aspects it has remained suspended. This if we see it from the point of view that still these days the horses are exposed to physical tortures, mistreated, humiliation and fear.

The Indian taming, natural handling of the horse and rational taming is basically the same. Obvious with its different approaches. It’s based on the psychology and techniques of communication. By this it is that I say that its creation cannot be only attributed to the Argentine Indians. The Egyptians in old times even though that they use their horses for wars and bloody battles, they considered the horse as part of the family and other cultures as the Arabs considered them as a gift of their gods and treated them accordingly and this were several centuries before the Indians of Pampas of Argentina.

In order to conclude my article on this subject I want to share that I had the opportunity to take a course in Gainesville, FL U.S.A. of this type of taming with John Lions who is considered like the number one cowboy in America or the favorite cowboy of America. Also, I have taken the course in videos that Pat Pirellis offers, who was a student of John Lions and they call it Psychological training, or Whispering to this style of domesticating horses,

to whisper is what it means and they call whisperers

to those who practice it.

There are many Whisperer-wannabees out there that pretentiously imitate what they have seen of others and when they see themselves not being able to deal with certain situation, they blame the horse as indomitable. Trust me, that even though that one learns very much, there are things that are unnecessary in the rational taming applicable to the paso fino horse. For example:

what’s the use of you standing up on the withers of a paso fino horse? Unless it is for giving a spectacle

or demonstrate the tameness of its horse.

This was done by the Indians of Pampas out of necessity, to see the better distance and to locate a possible prey in their hunts. Using the tameness of their horses, as a ladder to watch through the distance. I conclude by saying, as a professional trainer, that my advice is, to possess knowledge on the horse behavior before attempting any type of training for this is the base and fundament of itself.