Which Method Do You Use?

I'm like everyone else who does what works. I do a lot of Frank Bell and Clinton Anderson. But bottom line, do what works for you and your horse.
Not everyone is cut out to train a horse. It takes time, patience, consistency then add some more time. With whatever "method" you use, do it every day sometimes several times a day. I see many people saying this or that method didn't work. The reality is they were only working their horse once or twice a month or less. You have to make the long term commitment to make anything work well. A lot of people aren't willing to do that.

I lost a lot of respect for Parrelli over this weekend, I was told he wont allow stallions at the clinics, some friends of mine are level two's (and has since moved on to other training methods). After they finished his clinics they came back and tried working with there stallions and the horses just go really mad, they said Parrelli does not work on Stallions.

I personally do a bit of everything, including the cowboy way I learned growing up... I do really like Monty though, when I watch him, my mind goes "ooo that makes sense" and when my mind just clicks, thoses are the choices I make for my life... Montys "Join up" exercise, does wonders.. I really like it.

I can understand why he wouldn't allow stallions, just a personal point here. I wouldn't either. There's too much that could go wrong: mares in heat, new learners, uneducated people, stimulation that might make any horse go bonkers, but a stallion will overreact even more (if they're not properly handled and trained already) Basically there's already so much that could go wrong that adding a stallion to the mix could make it that much worse.

I would, however, allow stallions if I were doing it onexone or there were just geldings and other stallions there.

The stallion here at my barn knows Parelli and reacts to it better than some of the other horses.

I don't really practice any one trainer's techniques...I will use whatever method works on the horse I'm working with; I listen to the horse, not some overpriced training packet.

I have only done a little Parrelli, and its a great program for someone who's just learning, or like to have a step by step program, but I just don't like it for my self, I just get way to board and my horses get board doing it. All the power to someone who can stick with it and mould a wonderful horse/partner.

I completely understand why stallions aren't allowed. Parelli does work with stallions, you just have to know what you're doing and be at a high enough skill level....Level 2 is not high enough to deal with stallions. I have worked with stallions before with great success.

FlitterBug has great advice.

I just wanted to add that no horseman ever got great, or even good, from only watching DVD's or Reading books... there is so much that you can only learn from living and trying. Sweating and bleeding.

Personally; I do not trust paper... levels, certificates, and diplomas mean nothing to me. Show me what you can do and then we can talk.

A lot of people say they will "use what works"-- but this doesn't mean much more than that they are satisfied with what's happening at the moment. There isn't any single "what works."

Whatever method you start with, keep your goal in focus. If what you want is a companion, you will proceed differently than if you want a winning competition horse. You could end up with both but you will still have different priorities as you school your horse. (I'd be interested in how you proceed, Spirithorse, with blending in Dressage. One thing I find missing with Parelli is sufficient attention to the horse's development.)

What I like about Parelli's approach is his emphasis on teaching people. I believe he has all these cute little gimmicks (like "Games") simply because they make sense to a lot of beginners. If you don't like this approach, try someone else. I've been much impressed with Parelli's instructors, especially David Lichman (CA). They have far more alternatives than you'd think, they don't follow a Parelli Menu or strict Parelli Rules. And they're horse people. A million times better than a DVD!!!

Brannaman says things like, "Just be yourself"; what he means is, "Just be like me." That's not going to happen. . . But you can still learn from some less student-friendly trainers, especially when they are as excellent with horses as Brannaman is. The main thing, as a beginner, is being able to understand your instructor.

Your friends are fools. Stallions are still horses and the reason that NO clinician wants to have stallions at a clinic is that alot if not most of the people that go to clinics are having trouble handling thier horses. The clinicians don't know the people and they don't know the horses so they want to limit the liabity as much as possible. Good horsemanship works regardless of gender. If Parelli didn't work for them it's because they didn't do it right and they used the horses gender as an excuse.