Parelli

Where can I find out about the steps of parelli. If I get this 4 yr old then I would like to be able to do the parelli exercises with him. Is there a book I need to purchase?

I believe that Parelli is all on very expensive DVD sets. You might be able to find them on Ebay but I'm not sure. I don't believe that there is a book involved with the Parelli system.

Can I offer one word of advice? If you wish to do Parelli with him that's fine, just remember to keep an open mind about other training methods too. :)

Oh yeah I will keep an open mind, I was just considering it since I don't know everything about it yet. What would you suggest?

I tend to just do a mix and match program that I have learned part from my Dad and part from my own experience. I try to be as natural as possible but I don't believe in the whole carrot stick, flag waving part of it. Parelli is a good place to start if you can afford it but I don't believe in basing an entire training method on only one person's ideas. No single method will work for every horse. If you really want to learn more about Parelli in particular, I suggest you pm Spirithorse. Huge supporter of everything Parelli. Anything else, you can find lots of good stuff on Ebay and if you have questions, you can ask anyone here. There are lots of knowledgeable people here and many times, you will end up with a couple of options on how to handle a particular situation.

That sounds good to me. I was thinking exactly that about any questions I might have in the future. I don't particularly want to spend alot on training techniques. I trained one horse when I was younger and I liked teaching her my own things. Thanks

I agree 100% with smrobs.

Parelli stuff is very expensive, and yes, it is DVD sets (plus they recommend that you get all of their brand of halters, whips, etc.), and the cheapest you'd probably get away with finding them would be on Ebay. I was able to buy some Stacy Westfall DVDs pretty cheap off of Ebay and I really like those. I've also been to a Clinton Anderson seminar and I have TONS of books and magazines from John Lyons, who happens to be my favorite.

Look around, keep an open mind, and figure out what works for YOU.

Actually Pat did publish a book on the steps to his program. It's simply called Parelli Natural Horse-Man-Ship. You could probably find it on Ebay or Amazon.

His program is not based on one person's ideas.....his ideas came from his mentor's ideas, so really they are ideas passed on from great horseman.

You can find good deals on DVDs on Ebay. Like smrobs said, I'm a huge supporter of Parelli. I completely believe in the program and there is something there for beginner riders or world class competitors.

Spirithorse, curious about who Pat's mentor was. Don't mean to go off topic, but with my memory, gotta ask before I forget!

His mentors included Ronnie Willis, Troy Henry, Tom and Bill Dorrance, Freddie Ferrarah (sp?), among others. Ronnie Willis rode with Pat when Pat filmed the wild mustang special on National Geographic years ago. He was to work with a herd of wild mustangs in order for people to draw blood on them to see if they were direct descendants from the original Spanish mustangs. I have the tape and just watched it again the other day. It's amazing what Pat was able to do in 45 minutes.

I just started reading True Horsemanship Through Feel, by Bill Dorrance. It's very interesting and very in depth. I ordered it through Amazon.ca and it wasn't very expensive.