Natural horsemanship/or not - brain is about to explode!

[Bonkey]

I have a very clever horse on my hands and I would love to get into some sort of training with him to both build up our bond and keep him entertained and work varied.

A few years ago I was in awe of Parelli, then I went down the Monty Roberts road and not long ago I fancied some clicker training. Now I have no idea.

What would you recommend? Or have you tried? Any vids online to watch?Books to read etc?

BonkeyTB is clever but can be quite sensitive and errr 'bouncy' - I wonder about something that is based on 'pressure and release' may not suit him? Thoughts?

Have you thought of Le Trec? I know nothing about it, but I'm sure if you Google something will come up - sounds varied and interesting from what I've heard.

I had a go at Le Trec once and really enjoyed it but it's not really a groundwork thing if that's what you're thinking of. How about horse agility? That looks great fun.

A bit more info here. Sounds ideal for a brainy horse .

Never heard of Le Trec - will google!

Horse agility looks amazing, saw a vid not long ago of it - would certainly help with de spooking .
Going to research a bit - see what kind of things you could use...

Have a look at equi-sci website - loads of equitation science info based on Andrew McCleans teaching. She does workshops around the uk and is very focused on reward but not pressure/release.

Pressure and release is the foundation of good horsemanship and is based on how horses communicate with one another. Ignore it at your peril!!!

Never said I was ignoring pressure and release ,I said I wasn't sure it would suit my boy as a training method.

I have dabbled in a few things with him to see what may be best to stick to and he responds alot better to other things hence why I would like to try and find something else.

Every horse is different and what one responds to instantly may not very the right method for another... exactly the same as teaching people.

Just looking at options and will take it from there.

My horse was very smart (luso) and I clicker trained him. He took to it right away

If you want something dressage-y that will make your horse (and you :) ) think, I can recommend straightness training. I haven't paid for the e-course as it's bit pricy, but the free online e-book and YouTube videos are a good place to start. It's something great to do when you don't have much time or its wet and can't be bothered to groom and tack up!
I have had a groundwork and ridden lesson with the only qualified instructor in the UK. Both lessons gave me loads to think about and lots of things to work on.

The best place to start is here: straightnesstraining.com/where-to-start/

A good friend and accomplished horsewoman once said to me to think of individual methods as tools in a tool shop. When you select your tools you choose those that fit comfortably in your hand and are fit for the purpose you require. Not to heavy or too light for the task. And above all you must be confident and competent in their use. Those tools you like you keep in your toolbox and those you don't you leave behind in the shelf. As your skills grow the tools in your toolbox will change and just like you would throw out an outdated knackered tool be free to discard outdated methods and replace them with more updated ones.

Fjalladis - perfect description! You can get so much out of using a variety of methods, but a well-rounded, balanced approach to life is not gained by following just one method.

Horse agililty is good fun. I do this with a very clever pony and it keeps his brain occupied.
You can make a lot of the things you need for it out of old feed bags and baler string :)