Old Parelli vs. New Parelli

I think a lot of things involved in the program are misunderstood from those who are not involved with it. All of the "bad" things that are said about the program (like people being too soft, never riding, overdoing ground work, etc) are simply not true....I'm a dedicated student of the program, I believe in it 100%, and those things do not apply to me. At all. New students to the program may not "get it" right away, but they are learning, and everyone has to learn sometime.

If the horse is well prepared and has a trusting and respectful relationship with the person, he will do whatever he is asked, to the best of his ability, as long as he understands.

If a horse has been well broken, well schooled and trained any idiot can safely get on it and go for a nice ride - regardless of whether there is relationship with that person or not. I used to run a horse trekking business, every one of the horses that are used on treks must do what it is asked to the best of it's ability, while having zero relationship with the person on it's back.

^^^^
I feel bad for those horses honestly...

Why? Occasionally, for two hours, the horses get to meander along a nice track that they know well, carrying a person who has no expectations of them other than to not buck them off.

These same horses also do a lot of stock work. Now that is demanding for them, they are worked hard and have to maintain a level of skill and ability which must be very challenging for them. Similar to any horse that is used for a purpose like eventing, dressage, rodeo or any other disciplin I guess. Believe me the treks are a little holiday.

Before I bought my latest trail horse, I went and looked at a stunning black/white pinto gelding. The owner was a Parelli person and showed me all the wonderful things he could do on the ground.

He lunged without a rope to voice commands, hopped into the horse trailer great, etc., but when I started asking about how he rode, she was more interested in showing me his ground manners.

Now don't get me wrong, ground manners are GREAT, but if I had to choose between a horse that rides great and a horse that has great ground manners, I would choose the horse that rides great.

Anyway, she was "iffy" about whether or not she thought he could be ridden alone, but he was stunning and was just what floated-my-boat, so to speak. So we set it up for us to ride together so I could test ride him. She canceled out. No problem, we set it up for another time, she canceled out. She said his shoes needed pulling and his feet trimmed. I offered to do it. Afterall, that would be a great way for me to get to know the horse.

None of that ever happened and I gave up on the horse and started looking elsewhere. I honestly think he scared her and she was afraid to ride him, and maybe she didn't want to sell him to me because I told her I wanted a horse I could safely ride alone.

Long story short, I found out later that she gave him to a horse trader (the same person I bought my new horse from). I also found out that sometime when she still owned him, he threw someone who was riding him and broke his wrist.

So in this one case, the sterotype did prove true. All the ground work in the world, and she was still afraid of him and gave him away to a horse trader.

Again that's not the program's fault, that's the peson's fault.

I kind of like the ground works portion of it and wouldn't mind playing the games. My issue with it is exactly what trailhorserider pretty much laid out. There are people that use NH that have some knowledge. But there are many people that do not have the experience that take it on and turn it into the gospel of horses. They misunderstand it and they take it to heart and they create dangerous animals/situations. It's those few people, that act like brain washed idiots that put a nasty taste in peoples mouths... (no offense meant to anyone with that statement).

The woman I'm giving lessons to does Parelli, but she didn't have the same opportunity with NH that I did, by going to a knowledgeable instructor... According to her, the horse had no concept of Parelli. Really, she was intimidated by the horse, and after working out a few kinks for her,the horse is performing what is asked because it has come clear.

Just as with any training, it takes basic knowledge to achieve something, and the DVD's aren't going to produce holograms that can help us with our horses for quite a long time. They give you an idea, but they can't do it all for you.

I used NH to get my gelding over his issues, and it worked perfectly as it was supposed to. I will never use anything else but the methods I have learned through Parelli to start and get respect of a horse.

I understand where you are coming from farmpony....I can't stand the "crazies" out there either....but to be fair, you find that kind of behavior everywhere in the horse world, not just NH.

Very true.