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Thanks for this, I concur. 

 

People often see me be very quick and assertive with Drako, and it does look a lot more dramatic than the usual finger-wiggling - but you correct with the same amount of intent and force that the horse is applying the wrong answer.  Some of the Parelli people would be critical of my reactions because they mostly deal with quiet QH's.  Drako is quick and dramatic to go off course, I reply with a quick and dramatic pressure.  I don't even have to touch him to apply quick and dramatic pressure.

 

I spent 20 minutes last night before he would canter to the right in the round pen.  I spent a lot of time blocking him with my body and correcting him because he was just playing me, so he got played right back.  I got 4 good canter circles to the right and called it good enough for round pen work, got on and toodled around the ranch in the dark.  It was a good night even though we did a step backwards before going back forwards.

 

Parelli didn't invent this.... but I'm glad he has the structure to teach it, believe it or not.

 

K.

On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 11:18 AM, Kristi Schaaf <iluvdez@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Rhonda wrote:
I think there are horses for whom Parelli style methods will work just fine.  And there are horses, like my strong willed mare, for whom Parelli methods are just a disaster......She decided at one point that she wouldn't lead and would race backwards instead.  She quickly learned that I could run forward faster than she could run backwards, and that I would make her continue to run backwards waaaaaay longer than she thought was fun.
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Actually, I once had a top-notch Parelli clinician do exactly that to my horse at a clinic because he didn't like my horse's pissy attitude. I had no idea my horse could back that fast or that far. That was the right answer for that horse at that time, and his attitude was 'yes maam' when he was handed back to me. But he was never in danger of being hurt, either physically or emotionally, and that's an important point to remember.

Also, I think 'Parelli methods' (or any other 'method' for that matter, since this whole thread isn't about PNH) often get inaccurately generalized by people. I've seen Pat Parelli get VERY physically assertive with a horse and I've seen Ray Hunt (as amazing a horsemen as they come) get a horse to do something no one else could by practically just passing his thoughts on to the horse.

The crux of the matter is that the vast majority of us think we're more proficient at reading horses than we really are, and we don't have the exact timing needed to make things look effortless. The great horsemen can make it look so easy. But the few times they need to get assertive enough that the human eye can see it, the general horse owner thinks 'see, THAT'S the way you get a horse to do what you want' and the next thing you know that person is bullying and manhandling horses ALL the time. One of the natural horsemanship guys (can't remember which one) has a saying that is something like 'as soft as possible and as firm as necessary'. But sooooooo many people jump right to the firm part and forget all about offering the horse the soft part, and that's the attitude that really frustrates me.

Kristi

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