Would you buy a horse that had been parelli trained?

Magicmillbrook

Magicmillbrook

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We have stated to look at whats on the market and have seen a nice looking young horse that ticked all the boxes - apart from the fact that it has been parelli trained - the photos only show one poor shot of the horse ridden conventionaly. I dont realy want to see how well it goes round a pen with no bridle and a rope neck strap.

Presuming a horse had been parelli trained beacause of the owners whim and not because it was a 'remedial' would it put you off?
 
I would much prefer not to ;) If the horse seemed perfect in every way I would be tempted to have a look though, I think most 'problems' can be overcome :)
 
Nope, wouldn't put me off. If the horse is lovely with a good temperament then it wouldn't put me off. I don't do Parelli and never have but I can't see how it would ruin a horse or make it less desirable tbh...
 
In a nutshell, no! This isn't a parelli bashing its just sense. the training and riding methods are so different, to try and work traditionally with a horse that had been trained this way would be opening a big can of worms. It would confuse and distress the horse, and you would have to have a proper understanding of Parelli to be able to retrain/ untrain a horse from these methods or to be able to continue with them. If you wanted just a happy hacker then, perhaps, but frankly its not my cup of tea and It can lead to a confused and dangerous horse.

What you may find is that the seller will not sell this horse to a rider who does not follow parelli, this is often the case, sometimes because they look down their noses at those who don't and other times because they recognise that it would be unfair to the horses. Chances are that if you are an honest purchaser and admit that parelli is not your thing, you won't be allowed to buy the horse anyway
 
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who knows how to train a horse will NOT use 'Parelli'. They will use common sense, amongst which will be methods that Parelli has claimed to have invented, but that have been in existence for ages. Perhaps they will call it natural horsemanship but the adherence to just he one method, or one that is pitched to the nervous/inexperienced owner is a negative for me.
 
PapaFrita said:
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who knows how to train a horse will NOT use 'Parelli'. They will use common sense, amongst which will be methods that Parelli has claimed to have invented, but that have been in existence for ages. Perhaps they will call it natural horsemanship but the adherence to just he one method, or one that is pitched to the nervous/inexperienced owner is a negative for me.
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Exactly.
Every parelli owner I've met has been over-faced, due to either inexperience or confidence issues and is grasping at straws to avoid riding or desperately hoping for a miracle cure.
 
If it really ticked all the boxes I might look but with extreme caution.
My experiance ( based I admit on a small sample ) is that everyone I meet who does parelli is either scared or nuts or both.So that would make me wary.
And the first parelli clips I saw where that Catwalk thing and I was genuinely horrified and would worry about what the horse I was seeing thad been though behind the scenes.
 
PapaFrita said:
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who knows how to train a horse will NOT use 'Parelli'. They will use common sense, amongst which will be methods that Parelli has claimed to have invented, but that have been in existence for ages. Perhaps they will call it natural horsemanship but the adherence to just he one method, or one that is pitched to the nervous/inexperienced owner is a negative for me.
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Wise words,
I did buy a parelli 'started' 3yo arab x, lovely natured animal but he could only go backwards unless someone was leading him. He had not even been taught to pick his feet up but would spend hours in the field climbing in and out of the water trough(!). He was very spoilt and bolshy and prone to dangerous tantums if he didn't get his own way (over petted?)
He had to be started again from the begining but as he was young he did come right. I think the previous owners were fairly incompetent so didn't manage to teach him anything that couldn't be undone.
He did make a great horse though and I heard down the grapevine that he later competed at Ponies UK and HOYS.
**Mr Binks **Blue/black & white 14.2hh if anyone knows him - would be great to get an update.
 
Yes, no problem. If it's been trained up to the right ridden level then I'd expect the horse to respond very nicely to the way I ride. If it hadn't then I know how to get it there.
Finished "Parelli horses" should be no different to deal with than any others (as long as you bother to understand how they are a bit different to lunge). What I found with my Parelli trained horses (in the old days when I was a Parelli student) was that friends riding them often started out riding them as they would more conventionally trained horses. They might take too firm a hold on them, use too much leg etc, and not realise how little was needed for them to respond. Once they got the hang of that people tended to love riding them.
However... this is a bit like someone saying their horse has been started and trained the BHS way. That statement doesn't tell you how much experience the person who trained the horse had in the "BHS way", or how good they were at applying it.
Buying a Parelli horse is no different to buying any other horse really. When you go to see a new horse surely the best approach it to make no assumptions? For example you watch it handled, you handle it yourself, you ask the owner if there is anything you need to know about how it's been handled and ridden, you watch them ride and then if you like all of that you get on and have a go yourself. At any time in that process you might decide the horse had been badly handled or badly ridden, however someone claims to have trained it.
I wouldn't want to miss out on any horse I liked the look of based on assumptions made because of a label that was attached to it.
 
It wouldn't put me off at all. Infact I got Herbie from a parelli home.
(Oh maybe he's not the best example as he was agressive and dangorous when I got him :( )
I did have to lie to the owner and tell her I would continu with the parelli :o (alot of Parelli people will insist there horse goes to another Parelli home, luckly I knew enough about the method to bluff my way through) . I felt bad lieing but I had to get the poor pony outa there ASAP.
Now he's away from Parelli and has been re trained he is a lovely little chap. I don't regret buying him for a single second.
 
It is ridiculous to tar all Parelli owners with the same brush. I am not into Parelli but my sister is, and I have to say that her horses are the most well behaved, sane and well adjusted horses you could hope to meet. They all have very strong characters and are still cheeky but very polite with it. All of them are ridden and the one that has only just been broken in now hacks alone and in company and is a horse to die for.

Personally, I strongly dislike the Parelli 'machine' as I feel it is so money grabbing and the Parellis themselves are not the most likable of people. I think some of their methods are cruel. However, if it is practiced well, as in my sisters case then you really can have the most beautiful, happy and mentally balanced horses as a result. The problem comes when the methods are practiced by people who have no natural horsemanship instincts and haven't a clue, which unfortunately is quite common. But it is a mistake to say that they are all like that.
 
I am developing a feeling that my new boy may have had some parelli done on him. I don't knew whether it will have been to fix his issues, or what caused them. Either way he now has a whole load of additional issues!

He is really strange to lead being one, will only walk behind not next to me, surely if he spooks I then run the risk of being run over? Why would you teach a horse to do this? Also when tied on the yard if I approach and want him to turn and walk with me, I have to untie, get past him (fairly limited space) then walk in front, I can't get him to turn and start walking unless I am infront. He will do all sorts on the ground but has very limited ridden knowledge and a huge temper issue once mounted. Had I thought he had been parelli'd from the advert, I would not have gone to view. Now I have him I am trying to undo all sorts of issues anyway.
 
Here goes - I disagree and would go and see exactly to what extent, and why it was done. I have seen a Parelli-rehabilitated horse become a pleasure under saddle and trouble-free to handle. I think you keep tarring all NH people with the PP brush. If they'd said NH trained would you be as disdainful?

Ye Gods, all of you. OP - why not go along and see if you could 'rescue' the poor creature :rolleyes:
 
Tinypony said:
However... this is a bit like someone saying their horse has been started and trained the BHS way. That statement doesn't tell you how much experience the person who trained the horse had in the "BHS way", or how good they were at applying it.
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But personally I have never seen 'trained the BHS way' as a selling point on any horse's advert. :confused:

To try and sell a horse purely on the basis of it's training seems mad to me, there is far more to a horse than it's training! (I know you were agreeing with this point in your post :) )

So why are there so many 'Parelli' trained adverts?
 
Spotsrock said:
I am developing a feeling that my new boy may have had some parelli done on him. I don't knew whether it will have been to fix his issues, or what caused them. Either way he now has a whole load of additional issues!

He is really strange to lead being one, will only walk behind not next to me, surely if he spooks I then run the risk of being run over? Why would you teach a horse to do this? Also when tied on the yard if I approach and want him to turn and walk with me, I have to untie, get past him (fairly limited space) then walk in front, I can't get him to turn and start walking unless I am infront. He will do all sorts on the ground but has very limited ridden knowledge and a huge temper issue once mounted. Had I thought he had been parelli'd from the advert, I would not have gone to view. Now I have him I am trying to undo all sorts of issues anyway.
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He's not been parelli'd as they teach them to walk alongside you on a loose rein, and certainly NOT behind. Sounds like he just lacks confidence as horses that are scared will often try to tuck in behind you.
 
Wagtail said:
He's not been parelli'd as they teach them to walk alongside you on a loose rein, and certainly NOT behind. Sounds like he just lacks confidence as horses that are scared will often try to tuck in behind you.
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I have seen several videos (and one live clinic) where Linda repeatedly stated that the 'safest place' to have a led horse was several paces behind... Cue flapping chicken arms if it tried to move alongside :rolleyes:
 
Wagtail said:
It is ridiculous to tar all Parelli owners with the same brush. I am not into Parelli but my sister is, and I have to say that her horses are the most well behaved, sane and well adjusted horses you could hope to meet. They all have very strong characters and are still cheeky but very polite with it. All of them are ridden and the one that has only just been broken in now hacks alone and in company and is a horse to die for.
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They're not all your sister though. And for every one like your sister, there are 20 out there who do not have a bloomin clue........
 
'it aint what you do its the way that you do it
'I am suprised theres so much negative comment re Parelli training. If its a young horse and been started by N H methods, traditional methods ,or anything else, its the knowlwdge and experience of the horseman doing the work that counts. We ve started horses for many years - BHS style you might call it , and for over a decade using N H . Our horses when backed are ridden in bridles etc , and my own show cob could be ridden in a halter orwithout tack , or [ as at HOYS and rest of his shows!] in full double bridle etc.And ridden by many judges - |N H got him light and balanced] Horses can be 'bilingual' very easily. Our horses have also done aff dressage to medium level,hunted etc.
N H /Parelli does not stop at halter riding , or leading with the horse behind [which we ve never done , horse should lead wherever you want it] ,but teaches the horse to be light and go well, without force. Have to say there have been some bad shows/episodes/demos done by Mr Parelli , but theres a lot of good in the system , which he didnt invent but gleaned from many symapthetic and excellent horsemen.
So, as I said in the beginning , its who has done the work. If its been backed by a novice beware ,or if its had parelli work to counter some bad habits [ as N H is the last resort for lots of owners] beware. Otherwise, it should ride like any other mannerly horse [ tho lets face it theres few enough of those around.]
I d like to widen the discussion - why are so many horses badly broken in /started? Why do magazines have articles showing how to do this task, thereby encouraging novice riders to do their own? And why has the older methods of taking time , developing muscle and self carriage before 'on the bit' work, strengthening ligaments with slow hacks , all been lost to short cut training ? [ and lots of horses to then retrain , if they ve not been too messed up]
 
Spotsrock said:
I am developing a feeling that my new boy may have had some parelli done on him. I don't knew whether it will have been to fix his issues, or what caused them. Either way he now has a whole load of additional issues!

He is really strange to lead being one, will only walk behind not next to me, surely if he spooks I then run the risk of being run over? Why would you teach a horse to do this? Also when tied on the yard if I approach and want him to turn and walk with me, I have to untie, get past him (fairly limited space) then walk in front, I can't get him to turn and start walking unless I am infront. He will do all sorts on the ground but has very limited ridden knowledge and a huge temper issue once mounted. Had I thought he had been parelli'd from the advert, I would not have gone to view. Now I have him I am trying to undo all sorts of issues anyway.
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Perfect example of a horse that hasn't been trained well. I think it's a bit immaterial whether or not a previous owner "did Parelli" or not, we often find quirks with new horses. This wouldn't bother me at all, I'd just add to his leading skills and teach him to be led at the shoulder as well as with me in front. I can "lead" my horses from any position, in front, at the shoulder, by the girth line and walking behind them.
 
cornbrodolly said:
I d like to widen the discussion - why are so many horses badly broken in /started? Why do magazines have articles showing how to do this task, thereby encouraging novice riders to do their own? And why has the older methods of taking time , developing muscle and self carriage before 'on the bit' work, strengthening ligaments with slow hacks , all been lost to short cut training ? [ and lots of horses to then retrain , if they ve not been too messed up]
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Partly down to Parelli (and other such programmes)...

Also the seeming need to put a label on (and market) good horsemanship in its many forms.
 
rhino said:
But personally I have never seen 'trained the BHS way' as a selling point on any horse's advert. :confused:

To try and sell a horse purely on the basis of it's training seems mad to me, there is far more to a horse than it's training! (I know you were agreeing with this point in your post :) )

So why are there so many 'Parelli' trained adverts?
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However, when you enquire about a horse people might say that their horse has been trained by xyz professional who is really good, or is schooled by a BHSI or whatever. The point I'm making is that it really doesn't matter how the current owner claims a horse has been trained, when you're buying you look at the horse in front of you.
 
I would, but I would go in expecting problems.

If you remove a constant negative stimulus (i.e Parelli) horses can often rebel. Parelli trained horses (those trained true to the system created by P.P and L.P) are kept constantly under the thumb and as a result when freed from the oppression some can become absolute nightmares until the get used to being equine again, others cope better and adjust inwardly rather than outwardly.

When a horse is used to constant domination the removal of such treatment can cause temporary issues, all horses given time can and will readjust though.
 
brighteyes said:
Ye Gods, all of you. OP - why not go along and see if you could 'rescue' the poor creature :rolleyes:
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I know the OP, and they're not meaning this like that at all. Their post is literally asking if a Parelli-trained horse can adapt to a life which doesn't follow the strict principles. This just seems mildly unnecessary.

I wouldn't if the horse had properly trained using this method, simply because I would not have the time to learn their ways well and I wouldn't want to confuse and bewilder a horse who genuinely trying to do what it thinks is right. Horse would be worth ringing and asking about though- nothing to lose!
 
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