Is Parelli bad for the brain?

Storminateacup said:
Yeah, that was over a week ago, and my youngster only arrived from Ireland 8 weeks ago in a terrible state and almost unhandled.
I freely admit I got it wrong and put him under too much pressure that day, maybe even frightened him, at least I know and accept that it was my fault. Now he will back up with me if when I am leading him I stop and step back against him gently, he can do it all the time when I gently ask. Just because I didnt get perfection first time doesn't mean I am not moving in the right direction.
At least I am willing to try a different approach, and have an open mind, thats more than can be said for some people on this forum who are a lot younger than me!.
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is he going to be about 20 before you 'ask' to get on and get chased out of the round pen? or do some tail pulling?
 
Hubbie keeps asking me what I'm cackling about, and yes, I have just snorted tea onto my very old and delicate laptop.. :D

I really don't know what to say about all this NH starting stuff - maybe my pony was just a fluke ? Or maybe it's the breed that's so fab ?

Unhandled - check,
ungelded so stallionish even now gelded - check,
feet picked up on second day, now picks each one up in order - check,
rubbed all over with plastic bags, umbrella put up over head, week 2 - 5 - check
walking out with me and hubs in a bridle, near roads, week two - check
sat on and a few steps week 3 - check
walking out in traffic with us week 4 - check
knackered from hard work - CHECK !
after 8 months, can't believe what I have done, completely gobsmacked - check

we have so much trust in each other I lean on his back or sit between his hooves when he's lying down in the field... and this is a very proud stallionish gelding. He often does "babyish" things, and I get it wrong, and have got dragged and stuff, cos he is a baby. Things do go wrong of course, I tend to stand back and realise a lot of the time it was me, but other times he is taking the piss out of my kind nature. But he is learning :D

I used common sense, love, my aromatherapy, and discipline ( body language and voice -) and never needed a round pen, a carrot stick or a DVD. I just used my instincts - but isn't that what horse-people should do ? To have to spend vast sums of money , or use weird training devices to achieve a happy started horse seems like a cop out to me, sorry.

sm x
 
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brighteyes said:
QR

Aww c'mon ladies and gentlemen, we are having a laugh and a dig at PP and his outrageously expensive, over-hyped re-invention of the wheel.

And some of us use NH (AKA common sense methods based on Horse-Sense) to get through to our horses and ponies. I'd sooner have obedience through respect, not fear and I think SIAT's unhandled youngster probably did feel threatened in a round pen on that occasion. You don't know if he had a flashback to some previous frightening occasion from which he couldn't run and, in the roundpen where he was confined, was forced to do what they do when they can't run/are cornered.

Dear me. SIAT isn't (from memory) a high-handed sort who regularly ponitifcates rubbish from an Ivory Tower. The horse is OK now, please move on.

We have progressed from using ignorant force and expecting horses to comply with our muddled instructions, to much more sympathetic methods, based on using what makes horses tick to overcome the language barrier. We should also be able to recognise a remadial horse from an A* pupil and I don't think ability always implies quick intelligence in a horse! So, can we get back to insulting PP devotees, rather than one of our more enlightened own?
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Thank again , Bright eyes, for your support, I think you know where I am coming from, its seems I am often misunderstood on this forum, But I ve always been unconventional and rocked the boat!
Yes, and it wasn't the headcollar that caused my problem that day but a number of factors involved, including cows in next field and me "pushing" him to hard in the round pen to get "join up" when in fact he had already stopped trotting a couple of times and indicated that he wanted to come in, I missed it and sent him away too sharply and he responded with fear. Thats how I see it anyway.
I am having no problems with him now(atm) , but I do realise he is a sensitive horse and needs gentle handling. Maybe thats his personality. I would never use ignorant force on any horses , Ive seen it used and sometimes it works, but its not for me. I do not buy into the whole Parelli package or buy the equipment, I too think its a hype, and acknowledge that many western/auzzie trainers have used these methods for decades. PP just packaged it for the media and made his millions, whats so wrong in that? Many NH practitioners praise PP for introducing the methods to the masses, and it has carved a pathway for others. I ve never been to a clinic either just watch NH videos on internet.
My young horse has taken a long time settling in as he had never been seperated from his herd before. He was also in poor condition.
He has now been desensitised to plastic bags, tarpaulin, canvas bags (over his head even),fly mask, numnah on, and hopefully will get a rug on this weekend with as little fuss as possible.
I am only planning on taking him as far as ground handling as he is going to be proffesional back in May with NH trainer. I had every intention of having him professionally backed when I bought him. I only bought a youngster as I was sick and tired of buying, horses that had major problems (soundness and psychological issues- despite vetting).
That way I was pretty sure I would get something that was not broken already.
 
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I think that a lot of people here just assume that most people who do NH just play with their horses on the ground and take forever to start them.
Well, maybe some people feel that there is more important things than sitting on your horse's back. I tend to take a good while to start a horse under saddle, which is why i dont start horses for other people. They want it done NOW. Im not saying that starting a horse in 6 weeks is bad, just that some people like to take a little longer. Thats also not just us NH people, or whatever you want to call it.
If i think that a horse will benefit from taking things slowly then i will. Just because i dont just get on a horse quickly doesnt mean that i never will. Some horses need more time, as do there owners. Not everyone has nerves of steel to just get on a nervous horse and hope for the best.
Like i said, there is much more to just riding your horse.
 
Fumanchu, I think he may be a witty, patient ponio, who is taking the piss out of me - tonight he will have reverted to a beastie. I put it down to living on a bridleway where he was fed lots of suspicious sarnies and god knows what else by walkers. :D

I agree Jenny, it has to be done at the horse's pace. And riding is not the only thing that matters - we still go out a lot on a lead rein. For me it was the total trust that we had built up that he let me get on his back that was the main thing, the thing I was most worried about. That was not about riding at all. Totally about trust - pic on my sig is that day, and I was crying my eyes out.

I think my pony may have been a fluke, and I am totally gobsmacked at what he's done. He is now started (he absolutely loves going out and about for his ten minute hacks ), but he's now being rested as he's having a growth spurt.

All that said, i'm sure it's cos the boy is a gypsy cob, and they are steady and quite fearless in the first place. Have come off quite a few times tho :D

I bet loads of peeps here have done stuff like this thru intuition ??
 
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Jennyharvey said:
I think that a lot of people here just assume that most people who do NH just play with their horses on the ground and take forever to start them.
Well, maybe some people feel that there is more important things than sitting on your horse's back. I tend to take a good while to start a horse under saddle, which is why i dont start horses for other people. They want it done NOW. Im not saying that starting a horse in 6 weeks is bad, just that some people like to take a little longer. Thats also not just us NH people, or whatever you want to call it.
If i think that a horse will benefit from taking things slowly then i will. Just because i dont just get on a horse quickly doesnt mean that i never will. Some horses need more time, as do there owners. Not everyone has nerves of steel to just get on a nervous horse and hope for the best.
Like i said, there is much more to just riding your horse.
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Agree with you Jennyharvey, my youngster is a lot sharper than my old cob ever was, I ve helped friends in the past to back youngsters that were a complete doddle, as they were so laid back. Most were heavy gypsy cobs, that we just jumped on within a few days and were hacking out easily. Another 16.hh hanovarian/cob mare was backed in a few afternoons and I was one of the first on her in the school and out hacking within days, and lead horse too. Some horses are not as easy as other we all know this. Hurrying the early stages are not a great idea to my mind, I believe you need to go at the right pace for the horse.
I certainly do not have nerves of steel to just get on a nervous horse and go for it either.
 
I don't play "games" with my horses, I bought them to do things whilst I was on top of them, and as much as I enjoy them on the ground, we don't play games no, nothing more "fun" than finding carrots in my pockets- how boring am I?
As for standing behind your horse and pulling its tail, well, stupidity speak volumes here, and I promise you if I followed your very odd advice, I would be booted from here to kingdom come by my coloured horse, I just don't DO things like that with him, for one I just cannot see what pulling my horse's tail is possibly going to do to make either of our lives more pleasurable.
The coloured was boffed around the head a lot before he came over here, some woman from the feed merchants told me to parelli him back into confidence on the ground.
I've done fine with just me and my polos- and think of the money I saved along the way ;)
Our horses do whatever is asked of them. Mounted or on foot the biggest thing I've ever had to do is elbow Joseph for being a bolshy git, and I'm guessing he wouldn't respect me tickling him with my carrot stick...
 
Jennyharvey said:
I think that a lot of people here just assume that most people who do NH just play with their horses on the ground and take forever to start them.
Well, maybe some people feel that there is more important things than sitting on your horse's back. I tend to take a good while to start a horse under saddle, which is why i dont start horses for other people. They want it done NOW. Im not saying that starting a horse in 6 weeks is bad, just that some people like to take a little longer. Thats also not just us NH people, or whatever you want to call it.
If i think that a horse will benefit from taking things slowly then i will. Just because i dont just get on a horse quickly doesnt mean that i never will. Some horses need more time, as do there owners. Not everyone has nerves of steel to just get on a nervous horse and hope for the best.
Like i said, there is much more to just riding your horse.
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Jenny, good well rounded post.

We have a gentlemen locally who starts horses under saddle and he will never consider putting a rider up until the horse is capable of self carriage. His strong feeling is that if a horse is struggling to hold itself upright why on earth would you add 70 kilos of human to the equation.

Some horses are started and backed in 6 - 8 weeks some take longer he will only take on clients for backing that are not going to be jumping up and down screaming for the job to be done quickly, he has a waiting list and all the horses coming away from him are calm and happily ready to continue their education .
 
but a lot of horses aren't easy, right ? So that is where Parelli gets the money coming in - almost making peeps feel that they simply HAVE to spend the money on her stuff or it'll all go horribly wrong or wronger . Almost like bribery or mind games for owners, or is that the wrong word ?

Then she gets caught with her pants down, and people realise she's talking some sense and some tosh.
 
Ok I don't follow the Parelli methods and I've no particular interest in doing so.

However.

What on earth is this obsession about Parelli and his money making.

So what if he charges hundreds of $$$$ for his courses / dvd's etc etc.

a) you don't have to buy any of it

b) what business is it of anybody else's.

Jesus has anybody called bloody dynorod recently? Or had a mechanic look at your car? I get ripped off on a daily basis by people who do so because they know I need their services which to me is a hundred times worse. I think its smacks of envy when people keep running to the old 'look how much he charges' nipple.

And for that matter - how much do you think Sheikh Mactoum or the Aga Khan makes from racing their horses for poor sods at the track. But whose bitching about the millions they walk away with in their pockets.

Get over it. This is a man out there whose got the right to earn a living - and at least he's not a single parent screwing the benefit system which is the usual poor sod to be vilified on this site.
 
Minxie said:
Ok I don't follow the Parelli methods and I've no particular interest in doing so.

However.

What on earth is this obsession about Parelli and his money making.

So what if he charges hundreds of $$$$ for his courses / dvd's etc etc.

a) you don't have to buy any of it

b) what business is it of anybody else's.

Jesus has anybody called bloody dynorod recently? Or had a mechanic look at your car? I get ripped off on a daily basis by people who do so because they know I need their services which to me is a hundred times worse. I think its smacks of envy when people keep running to the old 'look how much he charges' nipple.

And for that matter - how much do you think Sheikh Mactoum or the Aga Khan makes from racing their horses for poor sods at the track. But whose bitching about the millions they walk away with in their pockets.

Get over it. This is a man out there whose got the right to earn a living - and at least he's not a single parent screwing the benefit system which is the usual poor sod to be vilified on this site.
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Brilliant!
 
Minxie said:
Ok I don't follow the Parelli methods and I've no particular interest in doing so.

However.

What on earth is this obsession about Parelli and his money making.

So what if he charges hundreds of $$$$ for his courses / dvd's etc etc.

a) you don't have to buy any of it

b) what business is it of anybody else's.

Jesus has anybody called bloody dynorod recently? Or had a mechanic look at your car? I get ripped off on a daily basis by people who do so because they know I need their services which to me is a hundred times worse. I think its smacks of envy when people keep running to the old 'look how much he charges' nipple.

And for that matter - how much do you think Sheikh Mactoum or the Aga Khan makes from racing their horses for poor sods at the track. But whose bitching about the millions they walk away with in their pockets.

Get over it. This is a man out there whose got the right to earn a living - and at least he's not a single parent screwing the benefit system which is the usual poor sod to be vilified on this site.
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WHOA!!! Is that rather buff young man you naked on that horse!!!!

THATS what I call natural horsemanship :D:D:D
 
rema said:
if your horse will double barrel you then you do need to go back to very basic parelli and play the seven games before you are both ready to try tail pulling.the trust is very obviously not there.
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Doh! Obviously this is where I went wrong.... :rolleyes: :D
 
I pulled his tail today. As suggested by rema.

What happened was, i went in his stable and did the usual stretch routine and he thought he might go out and give Music (his girlfirend) a kiss.

Well, I pulled his tail and said "oi! no!".

Well, you won't believe it but he stopped, turned round and said "do you mind???" and proceeded forwards and kissed music despite my efforts. She wasn't that pleased tbh. I'd squeal too if a stubbly gelding tried to kiss me.

I have so much practice to do this weekend.

Have ordered glittery horse ball, hope to able to use it next week. Will let you know how it goes.
 
rema said:
Ah Puppy i would never ever take the mick out of what happened to you.That was just horrific.
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LOL! No, no, go ahead! I'm so lucky to be alive. You've got to laugh about these things :)

I'm having my next lot of surgery next month - finally, the nose job I've wanted for 20 years!! :D :D
 
One carrot stick as promised [freshly picked and organic ;)].

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Hairy, meet Mr.Carrot!
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It got eaten :(

After our carrot bonding session...

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http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._454859601752_708806752_5832327_2735127_n.jpg

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:p

In all fairness.

We did have a hell of a lot of fun earlier just 'playing' with them.




Alice also found a multi use of the carrot...it can act as a hair accessory!
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And a Hairy Accessory
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Definitely for the horse's brain-talk about confusing! *thinks* 'I must teach my boy to wiggle sideways along a log tomorrow. It will be fun and I can give him directions by pulling on his tail.'

Parelli is extremely bad for the brain if you are Linda Parelli. Imagine waking up next to that moustache on a daily basis! It would for sure scramble my brain.

Then of course, it's very bad for your brain when you fall off cos you're not wearing a hat, like Linda when she fell off on to her head a while back. Everyone say 'awww...' Oopsadaisy!

Tallyho: re
'Have ordered glittery horse ball, hope to able to use it next week. Will let you know how it goes.'

What colour? I feel it is of the highest importance that you choose your colour carefully to match your horse's aura.
 
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I'm a little soft in the brain and would never dream of doing Parelli :p

I think they have good intentions, but if they buy all the stuff, they're just being taken for a ride... Not even literally :( It seems a lot of the Parelliers are nervous around their horses...
 
Are you 100% sure that they actually LIKE cucumber ? I think I'll have to buy one on the way down to the yard tomorrow, and wave it about in his general direction..
 
ha ha this has been a fab thread.

I wouldn't dismiss all Parelli out of hand though. I have a very good friend that is really into Parelli. While I certainly wouldn't do parelli myself, some of her groundwork techniques are useful for me and I would happily use them. For example her methods of teaching shoulder in, half pass, passage etc in hand I find very interesting. I don't know how to teach them in hand from my 'traditional' dressage trainers who actually don't know either and there are not many clinics around by SRS/classical trainers who certainly would know. I agree a lot of Parelli is just remarketed stuff that most of us use without thinking about it - such as desenstisation of youngsters to scarey things etc.

I will always use what works best for each individual horse whether it is branded natural, pareli or traditional. Each to his own and as long as you and your horses are having fun then who really cares.
 
Pmsl XD

I think I did actually fall off on one from laughing so much, think it was when I tried to do full scissors on hairy! [And failed epically as I'm really not that stretchy anymore!...maybe a nice long rope to tie me on or suspend me from the tree next time?]

We have a lettuce in today. Shall I try that? :P
 
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