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[RC] de spooking/trainers/Parelli, et al... - WRSINOSKY"sure didn't take me 30 years to learn common sense horse handling! Gosh, my sister and I, = ages 14 and 16 basically? reformed a somewhat wild and spooky mare into a useful horse without =any "Parelli Package", by? combinations of good doses of COMMON SENSE and reading every horse =book in library....gee, we put this together in a year or so...."STOP!!! Might I remind ya'll out there....there is no such thing as COMMON SENSE anymore. Or, if there is, it is very limited. You did mention "reading every horse book in library". Well, one could also say that Parelli, Lyons, Anderson, etc., are also in the library. What I'm trying to get across is the fact you can benefit from these trainers. I've read articles from several of these guys, even gone to a few seminars, shows, or whatevers; and can appreciate what they are doing. You gotta have a gimmick in order to sell your product. That much I understand. But what I appreciate most about all of these men is they are not thumping on the horses. Isn't that the bottom line? Back in the day, it was fairly common to abuse a horse to make it do what you wanted. I'm talking way before the 1980's. It was perfectly acceptable to hurt an animal to get your point across. Having been away from horses for 25 years, you cannot imagine my relief when I discovered trainers leaning toward the more "natural" way of training. IMO people over use the round pen. Personally, I've been to a seminar and read one of Monte Roberts books and don't care for him. I do like Parelli and John Lyons...alot. But that isn't to say that I haven't taken some of what Roberts has taught and used it. Nor have I taken everything Lyons or Parelli says and considered it the word of God. I took Sebastian the Neurotic (my severely abused horse) to a few Parelli classes. The Level 3 instructor told me I really had my work cut out for me with this horse because he's extremely unstable due to all the pain he's experienced in his past. After working with Sebastian over 7 years, I know he will never be "safe" for just any person to ride. He has oodles of quirks and suffers panic attacks. Will they ever go away? Not completely. But he has mellowed over the years and tries very hard to please. Doimas? Well, he's just a beastie. Plain and simple. Oh, he knows the games, but prefers to play his own. And he is also one of those horses that will take the "carrot stick" and probably bop you over the head with it and think it's funny. I believe you can learn from these men. The most important products they sell are the gifts of learning to control your temper and seek better, kinder ways of training your horse. But I'm just an old lady who will always be a "newbie" at heart. There will never be a time when I know everything, far from it. I will always be a student, eager to learn, ready to admit my mistakes and ask for input from others far knowledgeable than myself. Cindy Edwards Buckeye, AZ
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