Alexander the Great and Bucephalus

Regarding NH

No one person "invented" NH and no one trainer can claim that it is something that is exclusively theirs.

One of the earliest examples of NH is in the famous story of Alexander the Great and Bucephalus.

No one could tame or ride the big black horse and he was fated for a short life. But young Alexander could see something that escaped the notice of the finest trainers of the day. The horse was afraid of his own shadow. So facing the horse into the sun he quickly mounted and rode the horse.He named the horse Bucephalus and if followed Alexanders throughout his life.

The point of the story is that this is what NH is. Not gagets or one person saying their method is better or worse than anothers.....just simple observation and acting in a logical maner to understand why a horse acts in a certain manner.

I always liked this story =)
Good point.

That is so true!
I have learned so much by watching my horses act around each other (they're turned out together) as well as the other horses at the barn.

Really interesting to watch.

this is a very cool story.
it would be interesting to have a trainer from back then, to see what they would say. :P

Be careful which trainer from back then you ask for. Eventually Alexander the great named Bucephalus his chief priest and advisor, executing most of the human ones. Power can drive one a bit nuts, of course I the horse probably loved the attention.

I like that story, too. that is true about NH.

The horse was probably more trustworthy. LOL. I have often wondered what a horseman from back in the early days would say about horses now and how they are used. I agree with all of you, you don't have to worship a well known NH trainer to use NH methods. It is all just observation and common sense.

i know this is off subject Ancient German troopers said a saddle was femalist. And if you want to know read a good copy of "On Horsemanship by Xenophon"

Bucephalus was 30 when he died and with Alexander was an example of a great bond between horse and horseman. The Roman cavalry did similar Natural Horsemanship things that are being done today. Without all the gadgets.

I think the trainers back then would have laughed. Because back then it was common sense and listening to the horse. Not games and DVD's. Xenophon is a great read.

According to Ann Hyland's book Training Roman Cavalry, modern western style riding envolved from a how Roman cavalry riding, andmodern English envolved from the ancient German riders