Some of you may know that I am really interested by natural horsemanship, however, I have always been unconvinced by Parelli. I’m not sure why, I think it is a mixture of the bad publicity they have had and some of the people I know who practice it seem to use it as an excuse to not train/discipline their horses.
I have never used Parelli for these reasons and the fact that I am unsure if it would have any benefits for me and Scottie. I find that most people who use Parelli have a ‘problem’ with their horse they want to improve. But I can’t really think of anything that could be improved by Parelli. However, saying that, if we had a stronger/different relationship, we might have less stops at new types of jump.
I have therefore decided to have a bit of an experiment. I will be going through different Parelli ideas and techniques and choosing the ones I would like to try with Scottie. I will keep you updated on our progress, results and my thoughts on it all.
Here is my initial list of things to try:
~ Scottie’s Horsenality
I will complete a parelli horsenality chart for Scottie once a week for 4 weeks and then take an over all one for the month to determine his horsenality. This will help me determine the best way to approach training and work with Scottie.
~ Matching and Mirroring
This is where you spend 10 or less minutes with your horse, prefrabley in the field where they can move freely. You stand just behind their shoulder with a hand on their withers and you copy what they do. Look where they look, walk with them where they go.
~ Think and Tell
What ever I do with Scottie I will try and think and tell him what is going to happen before it does. This could be telling him we are going to a show the day before, or really thinking about an aid before I give it while riding.
~ 10 minute scratch
This is where you give the horse a good fuss, without then expecting him to work. So it could be going over to them in the field while poopicking, or before feeding.
I will try and do a parelli post at least once every two weeks with any updates.
If you practice Parelli, are there any exercises you would suggest trying?
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
I have done Parelli and got to level 4. I did though cherry pick what I wanted and what I didn’t.
Think and Tell didn’t exist when I did it. Matching and Mirroring didn’t exist.
When I did it he had the Partnership and Harmony packs on dvd, it’s changed a lot since then. The levels were just coming out in separate boxed sets.
I dont do it anymore or any nh type stuff as my lass isn’t interested. You would call her a LBI. Playing isn’t her, that became obvious straight away.
I know pnh has things for this type but she isn’t into messing about. Groundwork has a purpose or don’t do it with me for example.
That said she likes inland walks 🙂 but I have always done that, way before Parelli suggested it.
I have looked into and played around with Parelli a little bit, but I am unsure of it too. If your a member on Parelli Connect there is an e-learning section for level 1… I really like having the checklists and goals but not sure if it is really where we should be in training. I have a couple posts on my experiences from those lessons on my blog if your interested – tagged “Parelli”. I look forward to hearing your experiences as I am still trying to decide if it is something I want to continue with or put any more effort into.
If you don’t want to commit to a program I would look into the 101 series of books. One was written by an x Parelli instructor.
A lot of the people I know got put off with the cost of equipment, but it’s how you use it that’s important. None of the items I owned were Parelli. Apart from the strings I got sent 🙂
Look into Quantum Savvy, you may find that a bit more digestible.
I’m not a massive fan of Parelli – probably for the same reasons as you. However, took part in a parelli clinic at a friend’s yard yesterday, and while there’s a lot of ideas/activities I’ll leave (like the Friendship games – my friend’s horse looked at me like I was insane when I started rubbing the stick over him), there’s some method in the madness (so to speak). We did a lot on personal space – backing up, stopping when I stop etc, – which will be great to try out on mine as he’s a bargy so and so. Going to do a write up of it in the next day or so, so if you see it, let me know if there’s any activities there that you reckon would work with Pepper!
…and when I say Pepper, I mean Scottie. D’oh!
Thank you for all your thoughts. I will keep you updated with what we decide to do and how it goes!