Parelli....

S

SnowPhony

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 March 2009
Messages
2,673
Location
Not where I should be!
Visit site
Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad with Parelli methods? I'm just curious as having recently met some parelli people I'm interested as to other peoples views.

One of the horses I have been working with went on loan to some people who wanted to do parelli with her, and within a month the owners took her back because she had become a complete nightmare and verging on dangerous. These people thought it was funny and justified it all by saying 'But she does step on to a tyre on command'....

Wondered if this is what parelli does or if these people were just complete clowns because now she is home she if back to her old self
 
smile.gif
Just do a search for Parelli on here. Opinions vary.
 
I see lots of negative comments about Parelli and know someone in France who has a problem horse trained with Parelli methods. However, I suspect that possibly those doing the training may lack competence.

I have found Monty Roberts 'join up' works. In fact I hope (if we have the video loaded this weekend) to show my young stallion coming into our yard without a lead rope he follows me and comes when called..even when there are mares around.

My trainer in France spent several months with John Lyons (you can google that) but he is a very cool and kind person with horses.

Friends and I have lots of chats about learning and gift Personally I think you need a bit of both and some people will NEVER be able to use Parelli or Roberts methods of training.
 
My issue is not the basis of the method.. but the actually comerciallity of it.. its just for money nowt else..

Oh and cause I watched a demo, and Pat wacked a horse up the side of its face with a whip..

Lou x
 
Commercial? I don't know anyone trying to earn a living from horses - trainer, breeder, competitor etc. who is not commercial.

If folk are willing to pay then something is being done right even if you don't approve.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My issue is not the basis of the method.. but the actually comerciallity of it.. its just for money nowt else..

Oh and cause I watched a demo, and Pat wacked a horse up the side of its face with a whip..

Lou x

[/ QUOTE ]


GRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr I now have "oops up side ya head" stuck in my brain!!!!
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
To me its over priced nonsense for people with no common or horse sense!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto this. I think it tends to be inexperienced owners who are drawn to it and I don't think it is wise to encourage such owners to ride bareback in halters etc.
 
The reason why Parelli, and other horsemanship techniques, can be so open to mis-interpretation is because it is a whole approach, so the intention you have behind everything you do from bringing your horse in from the field to riding flying changes to picking out the horse's feet to hacking out in company is ALL relevant. You cannot mix and match, but it is only by putting it into practice and learning from genuine devotees in whatever form that takes, and not from people who flit from one approach to another, that you can open your mind. What you see is coloured by your experience, it may not be what is happening, you have to learn to read the horse.
Can you guess? I think Parelli is brilliant.
 
after being at the trailbazers final and realising there was a parelli center there we watched whilst enjoying the wine! a man with a very big hat try and load a horse...after an hour they gave up...what i saw was a big stick hitting the horse everywhere inc its head, them trying to load it on the wonk so it was bashing into gates..no reward or praise and finally them give up... i cant believe they gave up did make good watching tho its definatly a cult had i have had morw wine i would have offered to load the horse for them...

editted to say due to broken collar bone typing with left hand is very hard!
 
[ QUOTE ]
after being at the trailbazers final and realising there was a parelli center there we watched whilst enjoying the wine! a man with a very big hat try and load a horse...after an hour they gave up...what i saw was a big stick hitting the horse everywhere inc its head, them trying to load it on the wonk so it was bashing into gates..no reward or praise and finally them give up... i cant believe they gave up did make good watching tho its definatly a cult had i have had morw wine i would have offered to load the horse for them...

editted to say due to broken collar bone typing with left hand is very hard!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm curious as in all the time I have followed Parelli I have never seen a licensed Instructor do anything like this.

The problem with Parelli is not the method itself but the people who think they are professionals and abuse it much to the horses misfortune.

Too many newbies to Parelli and I dare say some who have followed the program for a while over use the CS or use it inappropriately as with the phases and understanding of the lines.

I myself am often amazed at the way some poeple play with their horse using PNH, totally confusing their horses, wrong body language, no release or reward. Bad timing, wrong use of phases and often seen frustration taken out on the horse.

However I have also seen unmanageable horses deemed dangerous become calm and responsive and lead good lives.

Any trainer can spoiil or make a horse no matter what the discipline, its not the method or tools to blame but how they are used.
 
Ok fair enough, like anything, people who don't know what they are doing can misinterpret the teachings of parelli. However, the people who had the horse I am talking about had a parelli trainer at the yard the day the owners went to visit and the previous day and also thought the change in the horses behaviour was not just acceptable, but an improvement!
 
I am sorry but Parelli is not for me either. I went to a demonstration some years ago and thought most of the horses looked brainwashed - quite ghastly. A carrot stick is a whip with a fancy name. He is making a lot of money out of people who are not really "horse people" - they would be much better off spending their money elsewhere.
 
[ QUOTE ]
These people seemed like it was the only way that mattered. I have no problem with a bit of the 'natural' methods, but they just seem so religious about it, almost like a cult.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly the problem with Parelli. People get totally fixated with it and truly believe that anyone who doesn't practise Parelli *must* be cruel. The whole thing is just a clever marketing machine aimed at nervous and/or novice owners as a magic cure-all.

I do a bit of IH and have had a Kelly Marks RA out to me once in the past to help but wouldn't entertain a Parelli person anywhere near my horse. I liked the fact that the KM RA came to help with a specific problem (which she did, very successfully) and didn't try to indoctrinate me into a cult.

Ignore me, I'm just jealous that it didn't occur to me to make my millions by selling sticks branded "carrot sticks" for $100 a go to unsuspecting people..
smirk.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I see lots of negative comments about Parelli and know someone in France who has a problem horse trained with Parelli methods. However, I suspect that possibly those doing the training may lack competence.


[/ QUOTE ]
I think that's the problem; a 'competent' person will be able to make any method work with a horse and will know which is better in each particular case. Personally I think there's a lot of 'overlap' between the official 'training techniques' Trouble with Parelli is that the blurb will have us believe that anyone can work miracles with horses when the simple fact is that some people just don't have the right feeling/empathy/understanding that you need to get a horse to work for you. Others are just numpties.
And it is horrendously expensive. A 45ft Parelli lunge line costs $106!!!!! Although you can get left-handed ones as well
crazy.gif
Saddles cost upwards of $4000 and you can't possibly do Parelli without the correct kit
crazy.gif
 

yes bloke on my yard with (to his credit entirely) two very well behaved horses, one's a baby and the other an x racehorse and he's brilliant, got Tia loading within 10 minutes rather than the 2 hours it took two experienced people to do it.
smile.gif
I think used correctly it's very good.
 
I started doing parelli with my mare in april, and its brilliant fun she is like a different horse and is so smart! what i like is that we have a proper relationship and makes you really creative with ways to teach your horse! Not only that but its totally chilled ME out...i was starting to get really neurotic but everything isnt such a big deal anymore!

My mare has major issues with loading so my big achievement one day will be her loading beautifully...im in no rush tho!

Tonight im gonna take her in the big field and have a play on the ground (was meant to yesterday but weather looked like it MIGHT rain! fair weather rider and all!)
 
I like Monty Roberts methods, just because it shows you don't have to use vilolence to ask a horse to do something. Although i don't really know much about it and have only watched a few progs on tv.
 
I have mixed feelings about it to be honest.

When I first got my horse I took him on a 2 day natural horsemanship course with an ex-parelli instructor (I don't know why she left the 'cult'). It was very, very good, not concentrating really on playing faffy games but more about learning how your horse thinks and how to use your body language. For my horse it did not involve a stick as he was terrified of it (he was terrified of everything including his own shadow at the time). I used a blend of the NH methods (it was very effective at curing his fear of being mounted) and good old fashioned horsemanship. I fairly quickly gave up on the NH methods as once I had gained his trust I didn't need to use them any more.

Said horse went to his first show today, was an absolute star and was quite happy for me to carry a show cane. I am so proud of him.
grin.gif


However, there do seem to be an awful lot of numpties who are afficionados of NH methods, have horses that they can't ride or load yet look down on people who stick to conventional methods of training. Plus I am not very keen on the rampant commercialism that Parelli has taken on, especially with their marketing of rather pricey 'essential' products.
 
I'm surprised that people who slag off Parelli for commercialism are so pro Monty, as, after all, he got their first with the books and the dvds and the equipment.
smile.gif
They are all, after all, in the business of making money.

Which is not to say aren't talented horsemen or they don't have worthwhile things to say.

But like everything else, tools are only as good as the hands holding them. I've seen people make nice horses using all sorts of methods and I'd have to say the best horsemen I've met have been very open minded about other schools of thought than their own.

After all, look at how many people ride competitive dressage badly? No one blames Hinneman or Balkenhol for that, do they? The classical folks may blame them on principle, but then lots of people do classical riding badly, too.

Parelli as a camp is not my cup of tea and I actually agree it seems peculiarly inclined to throw up a cult mentality. That said, it doesn't mean every thing about it is without basis. I would agree to the comment about systems though - it's almost impossible to truly understand a system by bits and pieces out of context.
 
QR

Monty Roberts would be very upset at those of you who think he does parelli. he doesn't.

And since when have parelli 'instructors' been licensed?Licensed for what?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top