Equipment

[Waikato Valuta]

How important is the parelli equipment. I was given a partnership pack for my birthday but I cant afford the equipment to do it i have been doing some of my normal lead rope.

Is there any where you can get there items cheap or make them your self. I would love to do it but the cost it huge especialy for my because i am a school. and my perents think it's sily.

[Zingy]

Most of the parelli instructors will tell you you need all the proper stuff and you can't improvise, but one of them has been known to admit otherwise ;) .
Instead of a carrot stick use a dressage whip. When you want a carrot stick with a string on, use a lunge whip.
If you can, work in a halter rather than a headcollar as it's easier for the horse to know what you want, but it doesn't have to be a parelli one - a lot of people know how to make them and it's quite easy if you just get some rope.
A rope is better to work them on than a lunge line, simply cos it's heavier, but you can use a lunge line for most stuff.
The parelli equipment is vastly overpriced and it's just not worth it. I did a trip round B&Q and got stuff which was much cheaper! Only word of warning though - if you buy nylon ropes they will really burn your hands, but apparently you can get yachting rope quite cheaply, which is what they make the parelli ones from anyway.

[Sue Carnell]

A friend of mine made her own. She got her rope from a boat chandlers and the chap there spliced it for her. If you type fiador knot into the search engines there are a couple of websites that have instructions on how to tie a rope halter. My friend practiced with baling twine first. A local saddler made the leather bits for her.

To be honest though, by the time she'd finished she hadn't saved much money on Parelli, she saved about a third, and hers still weren't as good, so Parelli isn't as expensive as it seems really. For the carrot stick, you'd need something much thicker and stiffer than a schooling whip, but longer than a normal whip. A lunge whip isn't any good. It's too whippy and the idea isn't to use it in the same way as a whip. A lunge line is no good, as it's too light and doesn't give any feedback.

I think the main thing though is to start with a rope halter and a long rope. If you could make your rope halter first, that would be what I would do if I couldn't afford everything at once.

Sue
sue@eclipse.co.uk

[Shiny McShine]

I personally do not see why you need special equipment. I do not strictly use Parelli methods but I do work by the same principles and have never needed to go out and buy his marketed equipment. In my opinion a rope is a rope and a stick is a stick. Perhaps I am just disillusioned or something but I have found no benefits in using Parelli stuff, I actually find his ropes to be a bit too heavy (but maybe I am just a weak individual).

Then again maybe I am doing something totally different... I really don't understand all this Parelli stuff and am awaiting enlightenment.

[LindaAd]

Couldn't you just use a bamboo pea-stick or something like that for a carrot stick?

[Sue Carnell]

Hi Shiny,

I don't think the equipment of rope halter and long rope should be considered special equipment for training horses, I think it should be the norm, but that besides.

A person can ride dressage in a western saddle, western curb and split reins. However, if they really want to learn and ride dressage, a dressage saddle, snaffle bit and english reins are probably the best thing to buy. We can then jump in a dressage saddle up to around 3ft, but if we want to jump seriously, we'd be better buying a jumping saddle. Reining? Western reining saddle and reining tack. So on and so forth.

If a person wants to ride with a rope and a rope halter and learn 'natural' whoever it's from, then they'd be best off buying a rope halter and a long rope. Even the none Parelli natural type horsemen have long ropes and most use rope halters too. I don't think that we should need the pressure halters, they would be 'special equipment', but I do think that we can't really do this so well, or so easily with a normal short lead-rope and a webbing headcollar. Considering what we all spend on horses, I don't believe a rope halter and a long rope is really a great expense. :)

A rope might be a rope, but they come in different lengths, of different materials and with different clips. If you found the Parelli rope a bit too heavy for you, then you must know that it does matter. A stick might be just a stick, but the same principles apply. Choose the best for the job in hand?

Hope this helps. :D

Sue
sue@eclipse.co.uk

[cvb]

if you look around, any where you find natural horsemanship (whether Parelli or not) you will find similar equipment available. I have found a rope supplier in Scotland. And one in Sweden but they are not much cheaper. The guy in Scotland makes them up for you !

But thats not much use for you. I suggest you try doing a web search in natural horsemanship for your area.

[TNT]

I've recently started taking classes at our local arena. The man teaching has been doing Parelli for years and the first thing he told us was not to go out and buy a bunch of equipment use what you've got he told us. I do have a rope halter and made my own lines. His older daughter did puschase all the Parelli equipment and just passed level one. Her daughter who is 10 uses her mom's equipment. From what I can tell he gets the same results as they do just useing whatever is at hand even nylon halters. This man is just amazing he teaches every Saturday for 2 hrs sometimes longer and charges nothing for the classes. He loves what he does and wants to share it with others. I swear this man has some sort of horse magnate in him because the horses are so tuned into him .The indoor arena only charges $2.00 to bring your horse so we've been really blessed to have him (the teacher) and the owners of the arena in our community. If you still would like to buy parelli equipment check out ebay they do have it on it.

[Esther.D]

We use a combination of Parelli, Monty Roberts and anyone else with good ideas all rolled in together with my own experience:)

We have the Dually halters as used by Monty Roberts (bought full price), we are also getting the Parelli type rope halters for £12.50 from a place in Scotland that makes them (I'll find the web address and post it on here), we use a 'dealer's whip' as the carrot stick as it is identical but costs about £12.00 and we have just bought a bareback pad off ebay for £56 rather than £175! We use a lunge line at present as the long line but are aiming to make a rope one (to add the extra weight that the 12ft line has) in the future.

There are ways and means of improvising to get the same equipment without spending the money.

[Yann]

A climbing or outdoor shop is another good place to get suitable rope for a halter, they will stock smaller diameter nylon line which can be bought in whatever length you need.

I made a halter out of an old 9mm climbing rope, bit too thick really as the knots used up too much length. Still would probably hold the horse's weight if it fell off a cliff whilst doing NH exercises:rolleyes:

[cvb]

Esther - if the scottish place isn't Deepwater, then its worth doing a comparison. The guy at Deepwater is the one I said would make ropes up for you - and he is very reasonable. So you might find you could get your longer rope from him.

[Esther.D]

I have finally remembered to find the website for the person we located who made the halters, they are in Argyll:

http://www.ropehalters.co.uk/

[Shiny McShine]

If you can find somewhere to get some good rope cheaply those halters are not so hard to make. I used to make them for my old riding school from some nice rope dad found (he works for a charity so he is always finding handy stuff that costs nothing). It was the cheapest way of supplying 30 horses with halters. It cost us nothing as we got the rope for free but there are places you can find rope that are reasonably cheap, especially if it is only for one horse.

[cvb]

Esther D

If you want ropes of any length to go with the halters, or something similar to a carrot stick, then try Deepwater. They don't seem to have a web site any longer (used to have) but contact details are

Deepwater Equestrian Centre
Dalskairth
Dumfries
DG 2 8ND

pm me for the phone/fax number - seems a bit naughty to just post it without them knowing.

They have been extremely helpful every time we have gone to them for something.:D

[Esther.D]

cvb - thanks I was just trying to pm you for the number but your mailbox is full!

Also do you know anything about the Equestrian centre as we are up that way soon and might be interested in a bit of riding if it is good.

We only live 20miles from the Scottish border so Dumfries is not very far to go for a weekend or something - I've just checked Dumfries is only 50 miles away.

:)

[cvb]

emptied boxes and pm'd you with info....:)