"In this paper, I examine how Natural Horsemanship participants perceive the human-horse relationship. This is based on a survey of 154 respondents in the United States aged 18-70, 82% women and 18% men. The responses centered on two major themes of human-horse relationships: leadership/partnership and the influence of gender. These themes are representative of the shifting relationships between humans and horses due to the Natural Horsemanship movement's focus on specific aspects of working with horses, such as attention to ground work, viewing the horse as an individual, and maintaining established routines. I find that these interactions place a premium on the horses' agency within the human-horse relationship and that the practitioner's belief in the horse's agency informs the human's sense-of-self beyond their interactions with horses."--Abstract.
Read
