Parelli or not?

I have been reading some of the posts on this site and noticed multiple negative comments about Parelli. I'm not too familiar with it, but I am interested in starting. I have seen many amazing things done with this training, but I am curious to know why people are being negative about it. Is there something I am missing? I just want to use the best form of natural horsemanship with my horse.

Thanks

The best form is the one that you and your horse work best with. One of the best things about Parelli, also happens to be it's worst thing; that a person can do it on their own. PParelli has systematized the steps to working with a horse on the ground in such a way that they can be taught with out a person being there to "show" you. This is nice for folks that have no one to help them and demonstrate the concepts in NH training. However, it also ends up in people so focussed on the steps in the system and all the specialized vocabulary and gizmos that PP espouses, that they loose sight of WHY the do what they do and what is the ultimate purpose of these activities. They often end up doing nothing but "games" and not doing much riding, and having a horse that goes through the motions but itsn't really "there" mentally, so when you ride him he isn't mentally with you either.

I am not a huge fan of Parelli because of the horses that I have seen , but I have also watched Pat himself work and he is very good with horses. I isn't that what he teaches is wrong, but that it is very hard to train based solely on a book or a video. You really need a mentor right there helping you.

Will you have someone to work with you?

Well..this usually turns out as a debate and can't be a sensitive topic. There are many other threads about this exact same thing, I'm not sure if more of the opinionated posters will add to this dicussion because of that..I'll go ahead and say my piece though.

Pepperoni has good points, but he nor Linda came up with their "techniques", MANY trainers were already doing most of the "techniques" Parelli uses..He just put a name on it and made money off of it...Now Parelli is mostly about "buy my magic halter and carrot stick, because it's what wrongs."....Wrong, I don't have to have his rope halter and orange stick to get my horse to work like he does...He and Linda aren't the Gods people make them out to be..After the incident with the horse Catwalk, Pepperoni lost a ton of respect from his followers... I for one, have never been a fan of Parelli..For them, now, it's all about putting a name on a product and selling it...I'm just not impressed with them.

I also believe that a DVD isn't going to teach you how to handle all situations..I'd rather have a trainer.

For every one horse who may benifite and do well with PP program there are 100 that are messed up by it. If you already have a very good foundation in training horses taking parts of PP program may be benificail. However if you are a newbie. Go find a good trainer in your area. At the very least take a few lessons a month and get giudence from them. It is very very hard to learn to train a horse with a DVD. If you have a good foundation then a DVD might give you more tools in your tool box but nothing more.

This ^

To each his own but for me personally I will not use it. It seems very gimmicky to me ( around here we call it the parelliite cult) and I have found other easier to understand methods to accomplish what I want. I have also seen graduates from the program with honestly dangerous horses.

I have seen more than one person with a biter giving their horse treats to stop it from biting. When I ask why I'm told that the horse is biting because they are not comfortable with the situation so a treat helps alleviate the anxiety. Personally if my horse goes to take a chunk out of me he's going to get a good wallop. They all tried once and that was the only time they tried. I will not let me horse be aggressive toward me period. Totally different views about the situation. When I share this view with parelli followers most of them are appalled. There are several other situations similar to this that I have come across, but basically I have seen to many bad ideas such as this come out of the program for me personally to be comfortable with.

I have heard that when he first started out some of his view were not the same as they are now. My vets wife does the parelli method and she has good usable horses, but she uses the "games" as part of a bigger training picture and it works well for her.

Thank you guys so much! All I want is to excel my relationship between my horse and I. And I want to do it right! He is so willing, and my coach has taught me many NH ways with horses. And plain and simple logical things as well. I don't want to be apart of an organization that's in it for the money, the name, or just for that sake of whatever. All I want is harmony with my horse, and it IS retarted to have to spend $1000 of dollars to get there. Again, thank you guys soo sooooo much! :)

Google 'abuse of horse, parelli'. Here's some to get you started

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
Uproar in England following Parelli exhibition July 9 at 2010 Royal Festival of the Horse UPDATE! - National animal training | Examiner.com


It's got nothing to do with training. It's just a money making marketing machine for getting the parelli's rich

Keep in mind that NH is not PP. While PP may say he is as NH Trainer what he really is is a snake oil salesman.

You can get what you want with out spending all that money. I have a great bond with all my horses. I have horses at the trainers who have been there for 5 years and they still know me when I come to the barn to see them and at times that could have been months and months. You can use PP and still never get the bond you want with your horse if you do not do everything correctly or like has been stated just go through the games with no reason to them.

Horses what a calm confident and resonable leader. If you can do that they will follow you anywhere you go. If you can not they will not. No amount of games will ever change those facts.

I use the Downunder Horsemanship by Clinton Anderson myself with great success. I get the DVD's used online and find similar halters, sticks, etc to train with. Made our own long lead rope to use as well as other items. The concepts are easy to use and work if you do what he says. You don't have to be a club member and buy all the fancy gadgets for it to work.

I never tried Parelli, so can't say anything about it.

This is exactly why people dislike Parelli. They cater to every person new to horses and convince them that the ONLY way to have a bond is to follow their program. If you're already following some logical NH techniques, I'd advise sticking with them! We ALL incorporate a certain amount of NH techniques without even thinking about it half the time. Horse training all boils down to common sense - be sensitive when you need to be, and be firm when you need to be.

You seem like a pretty sensible person, and I really don't think you need to be spending oodles of money on this program. It sounds like you have a great coach and I would just continue as you are! Most people develop WONDERFUL relationships with their horses without ever knowing Parelli even exists, just through being thoughtful and compassionate human beings who use logic and common sense in their training programs!