Your opinion on Parelli
 

I've been looking into the Parelli training method and its my favorite so far...what do you guys think? Has anyone gone to the Horse & Soul thing? Thanks!!

Tried It
 

Hey GG,
I practiced his style of horsemanship and even had a few lessons with a certified instructor of his. He has some good information but I don't agree with all of his methods. I even turned my carrot stick into a flag because it resembled a whip too much for my taste. Natural Horsemanship has a lot of different mentors, Parelli just marketed himself well enough to make a huge name for himself. His style works for some (he wouldn't be where he was if that wasn't the case) personally I'm not fond of him but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't work for you. I say give it a try, it didn't take me long to figure out that he wasn't my style and I'm sure you can do the same one way or the other.
Hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions if you'd like.
Sammy

I like the way dose some thing I take from a few horseman and see what works for me that is what I do :)

I like a lot of the exercises that Parelli teaches, but not all. There's a very part-time but certified Parelli trainer at our barn who does some great things, but at times I look at her and think, really...?

Just the other day she came to work with one of her client horses whom I have previously worked with under a collaborative trainer as a groom. The horses were still eating, and this horse gets protective of his food. Supposedly the "Parelli way" of catching a horse is standing at the entrance of the stall and waiting for the horse to come to you-never walk into the stall because that's "his space" or something. Well long story short, that didn't work and she had to walk away and let him finish eating before he would come to her. He even got aggressive before he was finished!

Now don't get me wrong, she has come a LONG way with this horse mentally (he was with a nearly abusive trainer before his current two and was defensive over everything), but SERIOUSLY??? Fat chance I'm going to just walk away from my horse and let him eat after he tries to double-barrel me! That's a pretty good reward for extremely dangerous behavior!

ETA: Somebody PLEASE tell me that this is not a method Parelli actually teaches!!!

My opinion? Not a fan. But I don't "follow" anyone. So if it works for you .. great. But there are others that are much wiser, more knowledgeable and better at what they do.

Ha, I've had the same kind of WTH moments when I see Parelli students. I agree that not everything he teaches is questionable but there are some things. I can't say if that is an actual thing but when my horse got all aggressive on me over his food I turned my back to him and kicked my leg out. Probably looked like a fool but I figured, if that's what they do in the wild it could work there too, long story short, he got the picture. I did once talk to a Parelli student that was lunging her horse and he would crowd her. She told me that Parelli says to poke him in the shoulder with the carrot stick to move him away. The horse didn't seem amused and stood his ground. I don't know, I held my tongue because she didn't seem to want an opinion on the matter but it makes you wonder.

I studied Parelli and Dennis Reis after sudying John Lyons for years. Then! I found Clinton Anderson to help me Re-Train 2 half Arabs and start my 2 new Arabian babies. Down UnderHorsemanship is the only trainer for me now. Never looked back!

lol guys, I guess everybody is for himself here.... but you know it really depends on the current case/horse/ppl :)

My advice is that you take what you like and what works for you from any of the trainers/clinics you've crossed path with - that way you can gain the most important thing - your own personal experience...

Good luck and have fun :)

I am not a fan myself. I am a downunder horsemanship fan. I have all ways been a fan, I had started parelli and found it to be a little bit to friendly.....

I love the Parelli methods. does what it says on the box. you can try Parelli Connect free for a month, you can view all of the level 1 on it and have a good look at whats on offer. then you don't have to continue if you don't like it. I'm on there so connect with me if you join.

Claire