"Circus Tricks"

[HollyWoozle]

I have a question/debate and I am not aiming to cause trouble at all, just curious to read people's opinions (having looked at some of the replies to the Parelli thread) and to see if I am just clueless.

People often seem to say that Parelli is 'circus tricks' and that people that JF Pignon are just performing tricks etc. (I don't know if what he does is Parelli or something else?) I haven't see that much of this sort of thing but I partially agree, though I have enjoyed watching a few clips of Pignon on Youtube. My main question is why is it that these things get labelled as circus tricks but lots of other things do not? I can't really see why what Pignon does with his horses is any different to what we do in dressage or many other disciplines, training horses to do something which is arguably not all that natural to them.

Basically, I just wondered why people label one thing as tricks yet teaching a horse to do a dressage movement, to jump a course, to drive etc. is considered impressive?

Just to be clear, this is not intended as any kind of negative post towards Parelli, dressage and whatever else. I just wondered if maybe I was missing the point as to why these things are considered so different. Please not lets turn it into an argument, though I know that differing opinions will be posted. Thank you.

*dishes out the chocolate brownie cake*

 

[eva]

I totally agree with you, I feel uneasy when people label what you teach your horse as "trick". I have been riding for 14 years at a state athletics school in Latvia and despite all the WB type horses I've ridden I have always dreamt of a clever proud Andalusian, but whenever I got talking about it with fellow sports students somebody would label Andalusians as "circus horses". Now I finally got one and am happier than ever! IMHO they only use them in the circus because they are clever enough to learn "tricks"! Besides, teaching "tricks" only enriches your horse's life

 

[cbmcts]

I have no problem with teaching an animal tricks.....but IMHO the danger is when the "tricks" become the be all and end all and don't serve any useful, safe purpose. When people speak badly of parelli tricks i.e standing on a barrell it's that they don't actually incorporate anything that anyone might use in a day to day situation with their horse......

I don't know about anyone else but my horses neck rein (because I tend to ride one handed) pick up and hold up their feet on a word command and in the same order (because I've a bad back and am a creature of habit) will move sideways around a gate or obstacle on a word command (I often bring 3 in at once on my own) - all tricks, if you like but make day to day life easier for me.......

 

[baymareb]

Agree with cbmcts. Dressage serves a purpose in that the movements make the horse more functional as a whole. Standing on a barrel serves no real purpose I can see and seems more like a "trick" designed to do no more than impress others. To that end, it seems to me to be somewhat unfair to the horse since as you point out, we already train them to do so much that is alien to their natures.

Some tricks are downright dangerous. I'm always appalled at people who teach a horse to rear. Why in the world would you want to encourage such a thing? Or shake hands - which can result in someone getting clocked with a hoof. While I can see that having a horse that lies down might come in handy in the event of an emergency, the chance of that kind of emergency happening seems pretty slim and an experienced person can lay a horse down anyway most of the time.

As for that last, I knew a girl who taught her horse to lie down and it backfired on her when the horse decided it was a good way to avoid work and would flop down at the oddest times.