He really doesn't help himself, does he? Pat Parelli.

SPURS?? what are they? oh those metal things one puts on one's boots,

never occured to me to use them in the whole of my riding life, never felt the need, does that make me natural, or hang on maybe i qualify for biological status.
honestly can't understand the need for them.
 
Naturally said:
. . .and at the end of the day the bloke pooh-poos traditions such as getting on from the left because of your sword getting in the way,
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Is he saying that's not the reason English riders traditionally get on from the left? To be fair, since we're being argumentative ;), that's only a tradition in a very small segment of the various schools of horsemanship and mainly military ones. (Another contributing factor was riding in formation - it would be a mess if riders were getting on and off on whichever sides suited them.) People who train horses for ranch work, for example, put a great premium on mounting from both sides right from the start of the horse's ridden career, as there might be situations where it's essential to be able to get on or off quickly and easily from a particular side.

b) his system I thought was supposed to be about refinement of aids, therefore surely the pupil's ultimate aim should be not to need spurs, but for their horse to respond to a light touch of the heel
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Although traditional dressage training would actually agree with him and that is also supposed to be about refining the aids to an extreme degree. In most dressage schools the spur is used to produce a more refined, specific aid (theoretically, of course) with less movement required on the rider's part, and, as such, is not suitable initially but should be essential later. Hence spurs and double bridles being required above a certain level in traditional rules.

I do agree people shouldn't be punishing horses with spurs but then everyone agrees with that, surely?

Of course, it's not a case of everyone who rides in Parelli being wonderful and everyone who doesn't being hopeless but then what else would he say? And there are LOTS of riders in other disciplines who express condescending opinions of people who ride in other schools. Look at all the bickering in dressage and even the lingering "you're doing it wrong" opinions being meted out between Continental, English and American jumping styles.

"Natural Horsemanship" has become bit of a misnomer. It's pretty much now a school, just like any other. No one thinks everyone who rides in the German Competitive school is wonderful (although there are French Light people who think they're all awful ;) ) or even German, for that matter. :) "Natural" isn't really about what horses do naturally (which would really mean not riding them at all) it's just a word to describe not being in one of the more "traditional" schools. In fact it's really a pretty traditional western school (amongst others) but if you'd said "cowboy riding" here 20 years ago I don't think it would have been everyone's first conclusion.
 
I'm sure we can find similar examples of common sense about some aspect of horsemanship that has been wrapped up in a load of twaddle from other "equine experts". Pat P isn't alone in writing this sort of thing, another I can think of straight off is Monty Roberts. If you listened to him you'd believe that all horse training in the UK was in the dark ages before he came along in the mid 90's to enlighten us. Normally I think people look past this sort of rubbish to the meat of what is being said.
Spurs is one of those topics that always sets people off on "Oh, I'd never dream of using spurs... work of the devil..." etc etc. As with everything, it's a matter of skill and expertise I think. Some people constantly nag their horses with heels, or boot harder if the horse doesn't "listen" - to me that's worse than a good rider rolling the wheel on a rowel spur softly on a horse's side to reinforce the lightest of leg aids. Not that I use them actually, I don't consider my legs to be sufficiently under control, even though I've been told many times that they are. When I see them used correctly though, I can certainly appreciate why they might have a place.
 
The spurs Monty used are called "Bumper Spurs" - commonly used for barrel racing. They have no points - just a line across the heel. Like most Western spurs they are worn low on the heel, so it takes a concious effort to apply them (assuming you are not a habitual kicker).

Like the earlier post I am more concerned at the number of people who seem to have the habit of frequent kicking (sometimes every stride). In Western I was taught you apply the aid once, then expect the horse to continue at that pace without further prompting.

There is a very good article called "the problem kicker" by Intelligent Horsemanship RA Adam Goodfellow, it starts:

"Kicking is considered one of the worst vices a horse can have, particularly if it’s habitual. ......Yet fortunately, being kicked by a horse is really rather rare, and usually only happens when we shut down their other options. The same is not true of the horse’s chances of being kicked by a human."

See:

http://www.whisperingback.mistral.co.uk/downloads/How to deal with a problem kicker.doc
 
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