Parelli Horsenality Dos and Don'ts

Here are the Horsenality Do’s and Don’ts! I believe this is vital information if one is going to have amazing success with horses….this is what separates the men from the boys! Lol.
Knowing what makes your horse tick is a fantastic key to success with your horse. Here are some updated Do’s and Don’ts for each Horsenality.
LEFT BRAINED EXTROVERT
This horse is a playful character that needs interesting things to do. He is obsessed with learning and needs variety and new things to keep it fun.
DO:
*Teach him something new at least once a week.
*Keep sessions active, interesting and playful. Use obstacles, become more imaginative and when he’s really playful, increase the pace and get him to do more.
*Mischief is his middle name; so give him things to do with that busy mind and mouth. This horse loves to play tricks on you, so why not teach him some tricks on purpose?
*Use long lines- 22’ and 45’. Give him room to move!
*Praise him a lot: rubs and scratches, smiles, laugher…..you having fun as well, is very rewarding for this kind of Horsenality.
*Encourage his ideas and he’ll become interested in yours.
*Move his feet and he’ll give you his mind.
*Use the Patterns! They give him a purpose.
DON’T:
*Bore him with endless, mindless repetition. This guy is smart! When you know he’s got it, move on. You can always come back to it and polish little by little.
*Slow, calm riding is not really this horse’s dream. He wants to be active, go somewhere.
*Short lines (12’) are too confining when playing on the ground.
*Punish him, ever. He doesn’t know he’s being naughty; he’s just having fun! If he’s high-spirited, and you punish him he’ll become aggressive. If you end up scaring or suppressing him he’ll shut down and crawl inside his shell to save his dignity.
*Argue with him as it’s an opportunity for him to dominate. Encourage his idea instead and he’ll come around sooner.
　
OBEDIENCE STRATEGIES:
Parelli Patterns give him a purpose and engage his mind. Encourage his idea first.
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RIGHT BRAINED EXTROVERT:
This horse constantly needs reassurance. He gets confused easily and then gets afraid, so he needs you to make things simple, which will help him relax; especially since that is not something that comes easily for him around humans.
DO:
*Frequent disengagement and transitions. Also use a lot of consistency; it’s calming. For example, circles are great and the more worried your horse is, the smaller you need to make the circles. You could also weave around barrels or buckets placed six-feet apart. Frequent transitions also use the principle of consistency….keep doing one-rein transitions every few strides, from walk to trot, until your horse refocuses and calms down.
*Speed up, match the energy and add “four ounces.” You need to be asking your horse to go more quickly than he really wants to; this interrupts the fear pattern. If you don’t feel safe and confident doing this when riding, get off and do it from the ground. For example, if your horse gets frantic and wants to head to the arena gate, paces at the gate, etc. take him there and get him to pace back and forth faster than he wants to do it! Do it until he relaxes and be ready to start again.
*Use longer lines when playing on the ground, it will give your horse more drift. (22’ is ideal unless you are good with a 45’ line).
*Respect thresholds; use approach and retreat to overcome them.
*Keep learning sessions short and simple.
*Relax when he relaxes, so pretty soon he leans how to keep you quiet! Until then keep your energy up and get your horse busy.
*Parelli Patterns! They give him focus.
DON’T:
*Straight lines help a horse gather speed. You don’t want this! Use straight lines only when your horse is more self controlled.
*Don’t hold him back; this increases fear. Give the energy a focus and remember to use ONE rein for control- it disengages and calms.
*On Line is better than Liberty if your horse is upset. That way you can “hold his hand.” He’ll tend to get lost and disconnected at Liberty.
*Don’t teach your horse more than one thing at a time.
*Don’t try to teach him when he’s upset or unconfident. That’s the time to use calming strategies.
*Forcing him over thresholds usually results in an accident.
*Don’t wait for things to get better, he needs your leadership to help him get calm again.
CALMING STRATEGIES:
Frequent disengagement; A Million Transitions; small circles; tiny figure 8s; Falling Leaf (½ circle changes of direction while you walk forwards); do what he wants, only faster and smaller- “and then some!”
MAKE IT WORSE BY:
Holding him back; punishing him; using stronger bits, tie downs, martingales, etc.; being too soft and not matching his energy; not knowing what to do- strong and focused leadership is essential; blasting through thresholds; getting mad or frustrated or scared.
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RIGHT BRAINED INTROVERT:
This shy, timid shrinking violet avoids pressure by retreating into himself. Success involves going very slowly at first and waiting for him to come out of his shell, to trust more. Pretty soon he’ll be offering you more.
DO:
*Wait- wait-wait-WAIT! Ask your horse for something and then wait until he does it or looks at you to ask for clarification or more direction. If you just go through your phases and get him to act when you want, he’ll be tense, lose confidence and trust. He may even blow up.
*Use the tiniest and softest suggestions and wait. This horse sees every little thing you do, sometimes he doesn’t respond because his brain is locked up in fear.
*Be consistent. The RB horse has trouble with change so do simple things with lots of repetition until he’s confident.
*Move his heart and he’ll give you his confidence.
*Confidence is everything. If you focus on this, your horse will give you everything else.
*Parelli Patterns! They give him confidence.
DON’T:
*Make your horse do things when he’s not looking at you. This tells you he’s afraid of the pressure you are putting on him. You might not think it’s pressure, but you can overload this Horsenality even at Phase 1 simply by asking and asking and not waiting long enough for the response.
*Ask too much. Ask less in the beginning and you’ll get more in the end. Don’t ask more unless your horse is calm and trusting.
*Use big phases. You don’t need them. He can see you, he just can’t think when he’s afraid or rushed/pushed.
*Punish your horse for not doing what you want. Remember, this is fear, and punishment does not make a horse braver.
TRUST STRATEGIES:
Wait until he can think. Go slow, VERY slow, and he’ll grow in confidence. Spend undemanding time. Use a lot of gentle repetition.
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LEFT BRAINED INTROVERT:
Welcome to the land of “Why should I? What’s in it for me?” This horse reads people like a book. He knows what you want and he’s not going to give it to you, unless you treat him right. Even though he appears stubborn or lazy, he’s not at all lazy in the mind! Reverse psychology is where it’s at, oh…..and treats!
DO:
*Use incentive- treats, grazing, rest, scratches, etc. Incentive is not bribing because you’ll ask your horse to do something before rewarding him. A bribe is when you use the treat to lure him into doing it. There’s a big difference.
*Ask him to do less than he’s offering. It will blow his mind! He’ll then start offering more.
*Give him time to think. He’s not a slow thinker; he’s just got to stop thinking resistant thoughts before he can be more in tune with you.
*Variety is important, it makes life interesting.
*Use more drive than draw.
*Teach him some tricks. This is fun for both of you and is a good way to make him feel clever.
*Move his mind and he’ll move his feet.
*Parelli Patterns! They encourage him to think and show how smart he is.
DON’T:
*Make him work. He uses energy only for the things he thinks are fun.
*Punish him. You’ll have a big fight on your hands. This horse is a master intimidator of people when he dislikes them!
*Don’t push him. He’ll have you working harder than him. He’s also great at objecting when asked to go faster and usually responds by kicking up, swishing his tail or laying back his ears. Do the opposite of what he expects such as stopping, slowing, petting or giving him a treat.
*Don’t micromanage- ask him to do something and then wait for him to do it. If he doesn’t, resend.
*Don’t get tougher, get more ‘interesting’- do less to get more. Surprise him with a flick under the flank and a treat (cookie, rub or rest) when he tries.
*Use much repetition. He cannot see the point in doing the same thing over and over and will lose motivation and respect for you. He’s smart. Treat him like he is.
*Let your horse come to you with his ears back. Playfully send him or chase him away until he asks for permission to come to you.
*Get fooled into thinking that he’s lazy. He’s just unmotivated by you, so figure out how to make things more interesting.
IMPROVE MOTIVATION:
Likes- variety, rewards and food! Also responds well to going slow, relaxing, eating and doing things that are new and interesting.
VARIETY:
Straight lines, point to point, trail rides, obstacles, daily variety, tricks and learning something new.
BIG DISLIKES:
Micromanagement- you need to encourage him to use his brain.
　

I do wish I had the marketing brilliance Pat and Linda have.

Misty doesn't really fit any of the horsanalities, she is just a happy inbetweener I think there are more than 4 types of horse, there are more than 4 personalities and you can have a bit of both They can probably change over time too!

Keep in mind this was not intended to be a Parelli bashing thread. I posted this for those who were interested in it and who wanted to learn more about it. Thanks in advance! :)

Ready.....Bash!!!

Quote:

DON’T: *Make him work. He uses energy only for the things he thinks are fun.

Question, if you aren't supposed to make him work, how would you go about long fitness rides or a day campdrafting where they have to work?

I don't know, Spirithorse.

What if your horse dosen't fit in these catagories? Then what do you do?

Or what if you do step A for your Left Brain whatever and he should do step B, but does step D? You simply can't stick a horse's reactions in catagories..

It's all about preparation. Get your horse WILLING at home BEFORE you have to do something more intense. Once the positive pattern of being willing is instilled in the horse, and the rider makes sure to take care of his needs, you'll be able to do anything you want and it won't be "work" to the horse.

I've personally never met a horse that didn't fit into one of the categories. And really, each and every horse has each of these tendencies, it's just a matter of which one(s) are more intense....like with my warmblood, his right brain introvert side is burried very very deep, I never see it anymore but when I first got him he would sometimes go catatonic, which is an extreme behavior of a right brained introvert.

If the horse does step D when you asked for step B then it's either because you asked the question wrong, you asked the wrong question, the horse actually did think you asked for step D, or the horse is left brained, like you said, and is trying to dominate the situation. In each case it can be fixed.

Confusing..

I prefer the old fashioned way :)

Clicker training is my friend.