Parelli Training Method

[Karie]

Has any one ever used it? Has any one been to some of his clinics? Any succeses?
I want to know cause im looking for a way to start training my colt and my parents and some friends said i should look in to the Parelli metod but i thought i would ask around before making any desisions.

[KateWooten]

It's fine, it works, it costs a lot of money !

All the 'Natural Horsemanship' methods are basically the same - you gain respect and control of the horse by moving his feet. Personally, I hate to pay Parelli the thousands it costs to get that same info from him !

If youhave the time to study before starting your colt, then what you could do (what I did, actually) is just buy, or borrow, an introductory book from every different trainer you can get your hands on, and decide which way to go from there,

I did that last year .. some of the books I have are by : johnLyons, PatParelli, Clinton Anderson, Charles Wilhelm, Kelly Marks, Monty Roberts, Mike Schaffer ... errrr a bunch of dressage poeple .. who else ? I forget - a bunch more ! I also have, or have watched a huge number of the colt-starting videos, ground control manuals, riding dvds, training series all the above peopel, plus Chris Cox, Ray Hunt, Craig Cameron ...

so if you want to save a bit of money and not buy all those - I can tell you my conclusions ...

The clear winner, in terms of just about everything you can think of, is Clinton Anderson. No comparison. Bearing in mind, all the information is the same(apart from John Lyons, who is out there on his own, and is very much obsolete now in what he's saying - and quite dangerous sometimes too) , just the presentation (and the price) varies .. Clinton Anderson is the clearest, most straigthforward... no gimmicks.

Also, his book pretty much gets you started - and it only costs $20 or so. Most of the $20 books you can buy are little more than an advert for the method, just to encourage you to go on and buy the DVD series or whatever. Certainly, I could not start training my 2 from Parelli's book 'Horse.Man.Ship' .... I did start my gelding entirely just from CA's book. If you have an easy-going baby that's entirely possible. I have to admit I needed far more than that to be successful with my filly - very different horse.

Did any of that help ?

Kate

[punkypalomino]

i have used parelli on noodle and it works a treat you gain loads of respect from the horse and will build an even bigger bond between you and your horse it also helps with co-ordinatoin and where they place there feet and if the horse is bargy then you can solve that problem:D.

i agree with kate it is soooo expensive, if you do have the time then i would look it up and try your self alough my m8 showed me how to do it , it is brill:D and i have gained sooo much respect from her its amazing:eek: lol the first thing you supposed to do is join up , and it goes on from there is you havent heard of join up then bacially you have a circluar ring and you send the horse out to the edge of the ring and keep them there and keep them moving around the ring (the ring should be about a 20 meter circle )roughly sp ,
and you have to wait for all the right signs for the horse telling you they want to be with you and not on there own and you let them come to you and it just makes a really good bond.
lol (sorry this is sooo long):o then you start the parille you can play games with the horse you can do back up which is brillant and what you do is you have a pressure head coller which you can use all through the parille!!!! and you stand in front of the horse and tilt your head to the side so you are looking at his chest the you gently wiggle the rope side to side if he dose not respond then you do it harder, if does not respond again then you do it harder ect,
and even if you have to whack the rope from side to side aslong as he takes 1 step back bring him back towards you and give him a big hug and praise him but make sure you never move from your spot anyway you can do this over and over again untill you only have to move the rope slighty and he will back up, but always make you bring him back to you and praise him but anyway it works a treat and sorry ive gone on a bit but i hope i was some help and when you put your mind to it, it is soooooo easy :D good luck and have fun because is it soo fun xxx zoe and noodle xxxxxxx:D

[Karie]

I was looking in to getting the books and DVD kits. I think its $750 or something for all 3 home-study courses.

[cvb]

Karie

in general the level one Parelli programme is about training the *person* rather than the horse (though you do it by working through a programme of training with a horse). So they advise you NOT to have both horse and rider learning - and to do your initial work with an easy horse.

You don't need to buy all 3 levels at once, and I'd look into the Savvy Club as you normally get discounts, Plus check out eBay for "old" packs...

[KateWooten]

Karie !!!! DON'T SPEND $750 on all this stuff until you are absolutely sure you want to. That's a heck of a lot of money, and it's only the start of it. I can sell you the same information for $20 !!!!!!! It's on amazon.com under the title 'Establishing Respect and Control for the English and Western Rider' It's the same information - without the hype. Once you have really understood and digested the principles : pressure-release, always reward the slightest try : move them feet : always start with the softest cue : ... once you've got that ... and started your first youngster without a problem ... then decide if you want to go ahead and invest into the Parelli structure.

$750 is just for the basic information - you know you'll also need the 'basic kit' too... and then there's the $20 a month sign-up to the club ... and then you'll inevitably get to the point on the parelli forum where people are saying 'you know, you'll make much better progress if you actually see someone doing this stuff in real life, so you know how much pressure you need to raise it to' .. then before you know it you'll have signed up for weekly mentoring sessions... and then there's the videos to send in so you can have your progress officially recognised ... and then there's the $5000 a week stays in Ocala or Colorado ...

I know, not everyone takes it so such extremes - but that level of expense is just not considered extreme within Parelli. My last Parelli buddy is into it to the tune of about $25,000 by the time you add in all the kit, all the local training, all the weeks at Parelli Centers ... and according to her and the people she hangs out with ... she's pretty mild into it !! And guess what (and ok, this is quite extreme, but far from unusual) ... out of the 3 horses she owns and has parellied for 2 years now ... not one of them is safe for her to ride on a trail above a walk. Not typical, but not extreme either.

Please consider very carefully, and think about it, and read as much as you can about it before sending off all this money. In particular, make absolutely sure that you know what you are deciding between. Make sure you know exactly the differences between Parelli and ... John Lyons, Clinton Anderson's complete series, ... Dennis Reis, 'classical' training .. etc etc. Some of these are 'better', more effective, easier to follow than others.. but PLEASE make sure you know what the differences are before parting with the cash.

[cvb]

KateW

Well I have the levels pack for all three levels AND the new style level 1, as well as halter, carrot stick, 12ft line. All parelli genuine items. And it did not cost me $25,000 ;)

Karie, I attended a course ages ago - with the first guy who represented PNH in UK. It was a one day course and very useful I think a lot depends on the person doing it. In theory all instructors in PNH have certain skills - but the *style* they teach in makes such a difference.

[KateWooten]

I know, cvb, but you're quite smart too ! Even so, it didn't cost you $20 either !!!

I'm very much NOT against Parelli - and with the luxury of RFD-TV, I get to watch him in action on TV a lot ... and of course, to borrow the levels kit from my parelli buddy... and at the rate I pay him (nothing) he's good value for sure. And for finesse, he's useful to watch.

Compared to other teaching materials, other 'step-by-step' packages that are available, he is very very much over-priced. IMO.

He's not, never will be, and can't possibly be worth $750 ... let alone the thousands and thousands that some people pay.

[cvb]

I look at it this way. A private lesson here may cost £30. One of those a month, for a year, £360. As long as I am getting equivalent value for money from Parelli, I'll buy in. If not, I look elsewhere.

There *is* value elsewhere in NH, but it does depend which country you are as to which clinicians you get to watch...

[KateWooten]

Agreed. There is value in Parelli. But it is the same information as any of the other clinicians.

[Cheeky]

Hey there :)

I got his vids for free .. and only nit picked what I wanted from various trainers. If it's one thing I am unable to do - it's to totally agree to one trainer in everything they say. So - I watched the vids of Pat and took notes on what I agreed with, Same with Mony, as well as reading a bunch of different books (training ideas), plus a seminar or two.

I then combined all this info I liked to fit my horse -because each horse is taught diff .. I Don't follow instructions (hehe) .. I do my own thing, from research and experience, and found that got me where I am today :)

[Karie]

Obviously i was going to look around first. I find Parellis prices a bit extream too.

Thanks for all the info.

[Kate F.]

It's not just a matter of price. The INFORMATION is on my website - free for anyone to click on! (beat that for price!:D :D) However, the tricky bit is in learning how to use the information yourself in a way that is meaningful for you and your horse.

It's a bit like learning a new sport, or a language. You can buy a book on it - but however good that book is, it's never going to replace hands on instruction because what you are learning has its own dynamic - and no book/video/programme in any form can predict every possible response your horse might give - and even if it could, you'd never remember it at the crucial moment!

You don't say where you are (as you mention a price in $ I imagine you are in the USA, but could be Canada, Australia...) - but your best bet is probably to ask around and see whether there are any really good NH trainers/instructors in your area who could come and help get things going. The Parelli stuff is sound, but the essential information is in his Natual Horse-Man-Ship book - which is a lot cheaper than the course!

I think, if you want to learn anything thoroughly and well it can't really be done "on the cheap". It will cost, if not in money, in time, effort and dedication. However, IMHO, if you have $750 to spend, you might get better results by buying a few books to study theory and background, and taking a series of lessons with a good NH trainer.

[Karie]

I live in costa rica. So finding a NH trainer to help me out if out of the question. I dont trust the way people train their horses down here, its too abusive.
I dont live in a big horse comunity. Sure, there are horses but there are no riding schools or places that i can go to to seek information about training.

[inca]

the harmony project is very interesting, just working my way through it :D

[Kate F.]

the harmony project is very interesting, just working my way through it :D

Thanks! :)

[cvb]

I live in costa rica. So finding a NH trainer to help me out if out of the question. I dont trust the way people train their horses down here, its too abusive.
I dont live in a big horse comunity. Sure, there are horses but there are no riding schools or places that i can go to to seek information about training.
Karie

the other thing that might be useful for you to know then is that there are communities of people online who discuss and share relating to particular trainers. I know of PNH and Rashid ones, but there are probably Lyons ones as well for example. You're sharing with other people who are learning, rather than the main men, but its still really useful if you get stuck on something :cool:

[KateWooten]

yes, johnLyons has a very active forum on his website. You just have to take it with a little pinch of salt, obviously, because everyone on a particular trainer's forum is already a convert to that method.

[Kate F.]

I live in costa rica. So finding a NH trainer to help me out if out of the question. I dont trust the way people train their horses down here, its too abusive.
I dont live in a big horse comunity. Sure, there are horses but there are no riding schools or places that i can go to to seek information about training.

In that case, I think Parelli is probably a good option. It's very comprehensive and designed for people working on their own. If you look on under the Natural Horsemanship section, you'll see lots of discussions about the pros and cons of Parelli - and it would certainly be a good idea to get some reading material from other people to study as well, but for someone in your position it's probably the best bet.

As others have said, it is a bit pricey - but you do get a lot for your money and if you're working alone the videos etc. will certainly be helpful to give you a clear idea of what it's meant to look like before you start.

I'd probably recommend just getting the level 1 to start with, and seeing how you get on with that. A lot of people use that as a basis, then build other people's ideas and exercises onto it, as well as their own. The Parelli organization likes everyone to be Parelli through and through, and follow all their stuff all the way and to the letter (obviously they do - that's how they make money!:D ) but a more flexible and open minded approach suits some people better.