I know it's very in to hate Pat Parelli in some circles. While the massive commercialism of the Parelli enterprises is a turn off, and some of the most frustrating, badly behaved horses can be "Parelli" horses, I still see good in what he does.
This short clip on CNN is worth a watch - if you do click on it, watch to the end where he shows the rider how to drop the reins and have her horse back up (it takes him four tries to get her to drop her reins).
CNN and Parelli
The clinic I'm going to is a Mark Rashid clinic and auditors are welcome. You can click here for info - it's in Santa Fe.
More later - I'm crushed with work as I try to prepare for being gone an entire week! AHHHHHHH!
10 comments:
I am a big fan of Mark Rashid; sure wish I could go with you to that clinic! Unfortunately, he doesn't come far enough to the Southeast for us (I sure do enjoy his books though :o)
In the core of Pat Parelli is an excellent horseman, I think the problem is that he's gotten so wrapped up into making horse training into a show that sometimes he forgets about the horse.
And then there are the followers that don't really get it...
well in germany parelli is still considered cool, *lol*
i do like some of those games and think all horses should at least master a few of them!
~lytha
Have fun at the clinic!
I've only read one of Rashid's books and really enjoyed it. Someone lent us a kit with cassettes and booklets of Parelli's. I played with them all that summer and liked a lot of what he taught, even had an aha moment. Like all of them, I take what's useful and leave the rest and I wouldn't spend a lot of money for clinics with any of them. The way I rate clinicians is by their egos which I learned the hard way.
Thanks for the reminder, Winter. Pat Parelli and a few others have changed the way thousands approach working with horses and IMHO it's a beautiful and welcome change from the old "break 'em down" cowboy way. Maybe it's a few of his misinformed students who make certain horses confused and crazy. Parelli horses all seem quite happy, calm and willing. In my limited experience, every horse prefers to do things out of respect rather than force.
We're so looking forward to meeting you in Albuquerque! :D
I ahve heard of Perelli, but not Rashid...It would probably do me some good to read some of those types of books, though, and attend clinics. Hope you have a good experience at the one you are going to...
Many of the horse at Walkin N Circles Horse Ranch Rescue where I volunteer are Parelli trained, often by the Parellis themselves, who have offered their help.
I think the Parelli training is a useful tool and helps a lot of horses and humans bond and learn rom one another by their interactions.
The only things I have issues with is the commercialism, the pricey products that you "can't live without" when doing Parelli work, the expensive training and classes that you have to go through to reach all the different levels, and the across-the-board training.
Not all horses react to things the same and different approaches sometimes work better for individual horses.
But all in all, I think Parelli is a good program. You just take the good stuff, and leave behind the bad.
~Lisa
Oh! And I'm planning to audit the Mark Rashid clinic on Sunday. Will you be there the last day, too?
love him (them) or hate him (them), all these natural horsemen have things we can learn!
- The Equestrian Vagabond
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