What do you think about Parelli?

[chestnut cob]

[ QUOTE ]
why not just use a stick then?
Theres plenty in my garden

[/ QUOTE ]

Have only just found this thread....am LMFAO at the quote above!! Brilliant!!

It's just clever marketing aimed at novice and nervous riders. I agree they're probably great horsemen but it's just common sense and most importantly, experience..... there's no magic to it.

 

[Weezy]

[ QUOTE ]


From the e-news:
An announcement of our evolving presence and commitment to the growth of natural horsemanship in the UK—interestingly it says that Pat will be teaching clinics at Stoneleigh himself....which is news to us!! How interesting—but it never hurts to put it out there! What is exciting, they are asking for YOUR opinion on WHAT you think about Parelli? So please post your views on www.horseandhound.co.uk/parelli

So far the poll is only two hours live and there are 136 postings....lets show how much WE CARE about increasing knowledge around horse human relationships! Thanks for sharing the journey with us all!

[/ QUOTE ]

That has made me PMSL! Obv there are no inside Parelli people contributing to that forum - seeing that Pat himself has quoted about being so happy to be based at Stoneleigh

 

[Rainbo_horse]

I am one of those 'middle aged women' mentioned in another post but am not frightened to ride my horse although he can be a handful! I have ridden since I was 6 and have a wealth of experience.

I was also a cynic for a long time regarding Parelli until I realised that it could help me to improve my horse's dressage. Since that time (about 4 years ago) I have found a wonderful way to spend hours of pleasure playing with horsea and to have them playing with me.

There are many top riders who now use the Parelli method - please don't knock it until you understand it. Unfortunately common sense is sadly uncommon, but Parelli is much more than this. You also learn a lot about yourself on the journey you start - but you must be prepared to accept the journey never ends.

Many of my horsey friends now understand much more just by seeing me work with horses using Parelli and are amazed at what can be achieved by learning to read horses and to approach everything using a language that they understand and without force (or whips).

Sure it's expensive - but it's worth it.

 

[TheBlackMoth]

I wasn't far wrong then!!!!!

 

[Blizzard]

[ QUOTE ]
It's all here! Everything you need to get started on your Parelli Natural Horsemanship Journey!

Our getting started kit includes the Level 1 Home Study Program; All your Basic kit items including, Savvy String, Carrot Stick, 12' Professional Line & choice of Natural Halter PLUS a great Parelli bag to keep all your kit together!

[/ QUOTE ]

WTF is a Savvy String?

I might cash in too, anyone want my kit for £260?

 

[Rachel_M]

PMSL, what just £260?

Haha.

 

[magicmoose]

Do HHO realise the irony of pinning this thread next to the one about defamatory posts?

OR is it a gentle reminder for us all to treat each others choices, whether an individal's horsemanship, or a company's pricing, with some respect.

I've read all of the posts here and both 'sides' could bear reminding!

 

[Rachel_M]

We have our right to say our opinions, hence the title name?

 

[Tina33]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


From the e-news:
An announcement of our evolving presence and commitment to the growth of natural horsemanship in the UK—interestingly it says that Pat will be teaching clinics at Stoneleigh himself....which is news to us!! How interesting—but it never hurts to put it out there! What is exciting, they are asking for YOUR opinion on WHAT you think about Parelli? So please post your views on www.horseandhound.co.uk/parelli

So far the poll is only two hours live and there are 136 postings....lets show how much WE CARE about increasing knowledge around horse human relationships! Thanks for sharing the journey with us all!

[/ QUOTE ]

That has made me PMSL! Obv there are no inside Parelli people contributing to that forum - seeing that Pat himself has quoted about being so happy to be based at Stoneleigh

[/ QUOTE ]

That didn't come from a forum. It is from the official Parelli e-news that is sent weekly from their headquarters. You can view it if you visit Parelli.com and click e-news.

 

[Tina33]

This is a link to the site.
http://www.parelli.com/enews/enews.html

 

[CowgirlACH]

I have to admit, I actually own the Level 1 and 2 kits. A girl at my riding lessons introduced Parelli to me, and I thought it looked pretty good, so I bought it. However, since I do not own my own horse, I have never used any of the concepts on any horse before. In fact, after reading this forum I totally agree with some of the posters about it being a bit dangerous(I have heard of people being seriously injured using the one rein stop) and I think that some of the methods are extreme. I have always taken traditional riding lessons and never had a problem with them. I also agree that Parelli can be expensive, although it is much cheaper here in the United States.
I understand that most of you ride English, but I ride western and was greatly offended when someone stated that western riders ride with a chair set. I have never ridden in a chair seat nor do I plan to.

 

[Skhosu]

I still haven't got a picture of a happy, alert horse doing parelli?

 

[DebbieJ]

There is NOTHING like it, not even close. Pat and Linda are the only people driven by their love and passion for horses who have enough guts to put horse/human training into a logical step by step program that works WITHOUT FAIL if you follow it to the letter. The only people who fail at this program are those who don't purchase it, those who purchase it but skip steps, <font color="red"> </font> and those who refuse to take a good look at themselves and are unwilling to change. The Parelli's have gotten to the horses' hearts; it's getting to the humans' hearts that's the tough part. Horse training is a piece of cake once you train the human and that's what Parelli is all about. Although I don't know Pat and Linda personally, they saved my life and the life of the horse that got me into their program after 40+ years of traditional riding.

 

[DebbieJ]

How sad that you have not been able to experience happy horses. Someone must be doing something wrong. My own horses literally stand and the fence and stare at the house just waiting for one of us to come out. They get excited to see me and run to me always. They will even stop to say hi when coming in for their dinner because I'm momentarily more important than food. How awesome is that! On the contrary... just attend a few horse shows, or just take a stroll through your average boarding barn if you want to see sad horses with assorted displaced behaviors.

 

[Gills]

What is becoming obvious from this forum is the massive support that Parelli has in this country. Every time I start to write my post, another Parelli student has written something similar and I have to start again with another account of the fantastic time I have had since starting Parelli.

Emotional fitness (handling situations without getting angry or upset) is something Parelli promotes and helps with as it is so important in every day life, but especially around horses. The calm, passively persistent way the Parelli students have handled themselves on this forum is typical and a credit to Parelli and themselves.

After 30 something years of riding, I can’t believe how much I have learned from Parelli about horse behaviour. Subtle, yet ground-breaking! Important ‘attitudes’ I have gained in myself have been ‘accepting a lot and expecting a little’ and ‘putting principles before goals.’ I could not believe how difficult it was for me to REALLY achieve these changes in attitude. I am also amazed at the profound difference it made to my relationship with my horse in general handling, competition, out hacking etc. This is typical Parelli, on the surface it may look common sense, but only by studying the programme in depth do you truly make changes and realise the impact it can have.

There are many roads to Rome and I don’t think any programme is the be all and end all. But Parelli comes very close and I am so glad I chose to learn from this programme. I am really looking forward to the opportunities that will arise from having the Parelli office at Stoneleigh.

 

[pennypony]

Parelli is an amazing opportunity to make your horse happy. Parelli is about having a friendship with your horse. Not bullying it to do what you want it to do. Your probably only arguing that you think its rubbish because you have never even tried it. I for one think parelli rocks! Oh and if your a BHS instructor, your only saying its stupid cause you want to save your job.

 

[pennypony]

I have had my pony, Penny for four years. The first 3 and a half Penny never put her ears forward. It was like she had no soul. But since i have started parelli, Penny is more happy. She greets me when i enter the field. When i did BHS (because penny is a dartmoor x new forest. Very Strong) i had to ride in a kimberwick. Now i can just ride in a string halter. Parelli has given me confidence with horses and has helped Penny enjoy doing stuff with me. I am very grateful!

 

[Folara]

[ QUOTE ]
Parelli is an amazing opportunity to make your horse happy. Parelli is about having a friendship with your horse. Not bullying it to do what you want it to do. Your probably only arguing that you think its rubbish because you have never even tried it. I for one think parelli rocks! Oh and if your a BHS instructor, your only saying its stupid cause you want to save your job.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh PLEEEEEEASE...

My horse is perfectly happy and I have NEVER bullied him to do anything. I doubt VERY much that BHS instructors feel threatened in ANY way by Parelli.

I like to think I follow common sense and the more Classical approach to horsemanship, having learnt a lot from Heather Moffetts principles. I dont need some ridiculously over-priced set of toys to know good horse husbandry and neither do many many other people.

Personally after seeing the In a Whisper DVD I would say the Parellis need to go away and practice what they preach.

Sheeesh!!!!!!!!

 

[pennypony]

Blah Blah Blah. ou don't know what you are talking about! You all just don't understand about parelli do you. You DON'T give it a chance. BHS is RUBBISH! I couldn't even control my pony when i did BHS. And guess what, I can control my pony now that iv started parelli. If you are a BHS instructor, you are probably only saying those things about parelli as your scared of losing your jobs. Do you know what BHS stands for?

Big Horrible and Stupid. Thats my motto!

 

[Folara]

[ QUOTE ]
Blah Blah Blah. ou don't know what you are talking about! You all just don't understand about parelli do you. You DON'T give it a chance. BHS is RUBBISH! I couldn't even control my pony when i did BHS. And guess what, I can control my pony now that iv started parelli. If you are a BHS instructor, you are probably only saying those things about parelli as your scared of losing your jobs. Do you know what BHS stands for?

Big Horrible and Stupid. Thats my motto!

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.... and you wonder WHY people snub Parelli? You are certainly not a very good ambassador for it are you? Have you seen the In a Whisper DVD?

 

[pennypony]

[ QUOTE ]
Exactly - Prancing around bareback is really showing off

[/ QUOTE ]

Your just jealous! At least WE listen to horses. Oh and if you don't listen to the horse it will start playing up as they will hate you and don't want to be with you!

 

[Evil_Cookie]

I'm not going to comment, would just like to say how disapointed I am at HHO admin starting this thread, arguments usually ensue when this subject or others like barefoot are brought up. If you wanted some idea of the forum goers opinions on the subject you could have easily found 50 old threads. Why restart the argument?
Its one of those subjects where nobody is wrong, both sides have valid points, but at the end of the day Parelli is a training method, just like BHS and EE so it's down to the individual owner/rider to choose what works best for them.

 

[karenx999]

I am quite amazed by the comments from people a about Parelli, its quite clear alot of you are unsure what Parelli is about. I have studied the Parelli methods, along with reading Ray Hunt, Tom Dorrance, Mark Rashid, Ken Faulkner and any other natural horseman type books, video etc. I seen them all at their clinics and they all have something to offer. If your mind is OPEN and you listen. I have seen Carl Hester teach and ride and believe he is what I would call a Natural Horseman, he takes what the horse offers him and helps to mold it, softly and with communication.

Most peoples first misconception is Parelli is a training programme for horses. 1st mistake, it is NOT, it is a training programme for the HUMAN. The people who have tried Parelli and failed have missed this fact. But this takes alot from the HUMAN, they are asked to truly look at themselves and it's not a pretty picture most of the time, it's hard to break through this, to recognize all your weeknesses and faults and still live with them but also learn how to control them. Learning all this stuff is a jouney of self reflection, self reflection is something most people struggle with.
This ability is what all GREAT HORSEMEN have, you know the ones. Those who can get a horse to do anything in a quiet way without losing their temper or blaming the horse.

I believe that Parelli is expensive, but he is running a business too, Alot of the equipment can be bought cheaper but his education packs can't but in my opinion they are worth it, (only my opinion guys!)

Don't close your mind to anything, don't take someones opinions as your own, question, research, test, LEARN.

 

[Kate_13]

Lottie, you need to make you arguments more balanced if you want people to respect your posts. Read earlier posts.

We are not jealous of bareback riding as we could and do,do it if we wanted.

We do have good relationships with our horses and they don't hate us, that is your opinion.

Not all of us are BHS trained and I doubt very much anyone is in fear of losing their jobs!!!!

As far as it being enlightenment for the human, what a load of twoddle!

I am happy with me, my horse and my pets, I don't need a journey of self discovery! For me personally if people need a journey of self insight, then they aren't very secure to begin with. I feel it is a shame that people have to self discover and bring their poor pony into it!

And more to the point in this forum we are all respectable and responsible horse owners, do you really think we beat our horses into doing what we want????? It is a partnership whether you have a carrot stick or not.

 

[Blizzard]

[ QUOTE ]
PMSL, what just £260?

Haha.

[/ QUOTE ]

A bargain at twice the price!

 

[foxigypsi]

You think I am not well informed. Well I am. It just so happens that I do already know exactly when all the vertabrae have finished growing, but just because mares don't finish developing untill about nine years old, you don't see amyone wait untill then to break them in!

I know it is not a good idea to break any horse in at 2 but I was mearly stating a fact, so maybe you should forward your comments to the racing industry.

 

[Bananaman]

I don't want to get dragged further into the debate but I like to think that I keep an open mind and can take what I feel I need from different takes on horse/ human training, however it does seem to me that part of the problem with the way that Parelli is percieved by others is in the terminology used.
Imo 'carrot stick' and 'playing games' are an invitation NOT to be taken seriously by a lot of people.

 

[Grahamp]

[ QUOTE ]
Lottie, you need to make you arguments more balanced if you want people to respect your posts. Read earlier posts.

We are not jealous of bareback riding as we could and do,do it if we wanted.

We do have good relationships with our horses and they don't hate us, that is your opinion.

Not all of us are BHS trained and I doubt very much anyone is in fear of losing their jobs!!!!

As far as it being enlightenment for the human, what a load of twoddle!

I am happy with me, my horse and my pets, I don't need a journey of self discovery! For me personally if people need a journey of self insight, then they aren't very secure to begin with. I feel it is a shame that people have to self discover and bring their poor pony into it!

And more to the point in this forum we are all respectable and responsible horse owners, do you really think we beat our horses into doing what we want????? It is a partnership whether you have a carrot stick or not.

[/ QUOTE ]

Kudu, sorry don't know your name,
I agree with and accept all you said above. Some of my friends who are more traditional than me are in exactly the same situation as you are.

One point I would like to try and expand on though is the Human development aspect of Parelli.

One of the principles is for the Human not to get negatively emotional with their horse. That means don't ever get frustrated, angry, upset, frightened etc with your horse.

For me and many of my Parelli friends this is a major challenge.
If you never feel like that with your horse then that is fantastic and helps to explain why you do so well with him/her.

Graham

 

[Searcher]

I would just like to say that Pat Parelli has studied horses all his life, and just wants to teach the human to communicate with the horse with the horses own language. The language is with the body, as horses communicate this way to each other.
It's a partnership with your horse.
They are not trying to teach you to be the "dominant leader", but a "passive leader".
to teach your horse to want to be with you instead of just put up and shut up.
to be aware of your moods when you go to see your horse, if you are in a bad mood then your horse will know and wont be as responsive to you, and before long he will be in a bad mood too.
The method is "pressure and release" the knowing when to release that is when the horse learns he's doing the right thing.

S.

 

[CASP3R]

Does Parelli have all the answers ? No. Pat himself would admit he is still learning ( as we all are ).
Is Parelli the cheapest ? Again no, but as many people have already said the tools are built to last. So why do I do Parelli ?
Because, like many, I was inspired by the relationship they demonstrate between horse and human ( call it clever marketing if you want ) especially the liberty work.
Is Parelli the only way ? Clearly not.
I have seen Ray Hunt, Carl Hester, Kelly Marks, Monty Roberts, Mark Rashid, Clinton Anderson, Stacey Westfall, Chris Cox, Gawani Pony Boy, Andrea Fappani to name but a few.
There are as many good horsemen ( and women ) whose names are not well known just going about their business and connecting with their horses who we can learn from if lucky enough to meet them.
I think we are all aspiring for the same things in horsemanship. As with most walks of life there is more than one way of getting there.
The content of the Parelli packs has changed recently but what made the difference for me was having more advanced students around ( both Parelli and non Parelli ) I could ask for help.
What tells me if I am on the right track is how my horse greets me and the comments I get from other horse owners about how well mannered my horse is and how well we ride together. Parelli has been, and will continue to be, one of my tools and I for one welcome their help and presence in the UK.