We Make It Easy

I’m thinking of trying it with my horse (it’s just SOOOOOOOOOO expensive!) I was hoping that it could help me get him to respect and trust me more. We have control problems (especially with stopping) sometimes, and using force just makes it worse. My horse is very sensitive, and if I get all upset with him, pull on his mouth (to try to get him to stop or listen), ect., it just makes things worse…
Just a little note to "kooneyedkellie", what Parelli (and other natural horsemanship people) teach is the exact OPPOSITE of what you described… They don’t buck horses out or stuff like that- they teach new, kind ways of training & working WITH your horse- READ ABOUT IT BEFORE GIVING A STUPID ANSWER!
*Thanks to everyone else for your help!*

It is worth every single penny. See if your friend has the level one pack. If she does, see if you can borrow it. The level one is so basic and easy, spending the $200 is worth it, but it’s better to wait until level two, which you will need your own copy of.

The equiptment, I’m afraid you’ll just have to bite the bullet and do it. I tried getting imitation and believe me, it was so not worth it. I ended up spending over $100 on a $60 rope because I didn’t want to spend the money on the authentic Parelli rope. But, forget it, I had to just buy the real one because the other one was so cheaply made. Same with the halter. My horse is super sensitive and once I learned to read what he was trying to say, I could tell that my halter, even though it was rope, bothered him. His whole attitude changed when I just spent the money and bought a real Parelli halter. Their stuff really is high quality and worth it, but it is expensive.

Try eBay too, they often have things for cheaper.

Parelli saved my horse and myself, I’m sure of it. He used to run me over and drag me around. Now I can ask him to follow me simply by clucking, and he comes willingly at liberty. This is the horse that I had to DRAG just to get his head up. We still have our issues, but I have the tools to deal with them now. Also, according to my friends and family, it has really helped my confidance. I admit I feel better about what I do, but they say it’s very noticeable.

In the end, just do it! It’s worth every single penny and you will get results. All I wanted was safety, but I have so much more than that now. My horse and I are truly friends now.

Good luck!

I know about Pat Parrelli and I’m reading one of his books but who are some of the others and which ones do you think are the best? Thanks!
I;ve heard Cliton Anderson is just looking for money and makes the horse do what he wants with cruel devices and force. Just what I heard, this person went to one of his clinics. Have any of you heard this?

Parrelli? RUN FOR THE HILLS!

Finally it’s finished!
A movie about Natural horsemanship (and a bit of Liberty Dressage)
of lots of different riders and horses. I hope it can give others inspiration
and the will to start doing natural horsemanship as well.

Hope you like it!

Songs: Avatar Soundtrack ~ Spirit – Here i Am ~ Robin Hood Soundtrack

Duration : 0:4:7

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Green, horsemanship, Natural, Riders

So, I’ve been doing natural horsemanship (mostly Parelli, with a bit of Anderson in the mix) with my mare over the last 2 months… and while I started out just aiming for —- here, I ended up getting ————————————————————————————————————————— here with her. She’s doings things and acting in a way I can’t believe. I just can’t believe my eyes. It’s been going so well…. and today we were working on one small point with her that she hasn’t been exemplary at since I’ve bought her – loading.

Since the N.H. began, she’s been getting on better and better and better, and today – for the first time ever, she self loaded. All by herself. I just stood there and she went on. And she did it again & again.
Then, I went to stop, but I walked back in the trailer to get something and she hesistated. So I tried to put her on again, and was not able to. I know I should have stopped while ahead, but……..
I didn’t… and I never did get her to go back on before I ran out of time and had to stop.

So, my question is… I know I messed up, by not ending on that phenomenally positive note I had at the start…. so do you think I pushed it too far by keeping on trying??
I am just worried that next time I school trailer loading she won’t walk right in without me like she did today. I know I should have ended it sooner, and now I am kicking myself for not.

I’m worried I might have messed up big enough that it is going to affect our work next time I do a trailer loading.

What do you think?

As you know by studying Parelli, it’s not about the trailer and getting her into the trailer! It’s about building her confidence up around the trailer and making it so she wants to be in the trailer. Yes, you should have stopped earlier, but she is not ruined due to this!! Remember….the goal is nose, neck, maybe the feet. Next time you go back to the trailer don’t go for loading! Play some games around the trailer and work on nose, neck and allow her to be ready to put her feet in. Don’t set any intentions of how far you will get or you will find yourself pushing to meet your expectations. Then as you know…it won’t happen. At least not in the way that you got to experience! Her so willingly wanting to go in for you!
Horses are very forgiving and so you will be able to get past this. Just use the naturael way that you have learned and you will succeed!!

What do you think of it and is it all like parelli?
Azeri- it would be great I’d you would tell me who you like. I am trying to get that "bond" with my horse but I don’t want to spend $500 on something that isn’t going to work.

The term "natural horsemanship" encompasses a lot of different styles of training, and personally, I don’t like the term. True classical dressage would actually be considered "natural horsemanship" because it trains the horse according to his natural physical and mental abilities and predispositions. And good western and english trainers have been using the same basic principles to train horses for a hundred years or more. What the "movement" or whatever you want to call it here in the USA is, is an attempt to get away from some pretty harsh training methods that evolved in most disciplines (and are practiced still here and in many other countries as well), and seem pervasive in some of the hispanic trainers’ circles (such as with the pasos), but really can be found in all disciplines, unfortunately.

So the short answer is, no. In particular, in my opinion, Parelli methods are futile and confusing to the horses, at best, and dangerous, at worst. I’m trying to figure out if the methods themselves are flawed or if it just attracts followers who are particularly inept at actually understanding how horses think. I’d like to meet PP and watch him teach, and ask him a few questions. . . .guess that won’t be happening.
I also am not a big Clinton Anderson fan, though undoubtedly he has geat success with certain types of horses. His methods would (and do) cause a lot of problems for many Thoroughbreds and Arabians, and horses with those types of temperaments, though.

I’ve worked with horses trained with both trainers’ methodologies, and they were sent to me bacause of problems which developed or were exacerbated by those particular training methods. I’ve only watched PP and CA on tv, and I can see where some of their techniques are causing problems with certain horses, even when done the way the trainers teach them to be done. Another one (almost no one has heard of) is Ryan Gingrich. He’s just very inexperienced with hands-on. I think he took some horse psychology courses in college. I’m not trying to be mean, just to give some honest evaluations, since you asked.

I’ll tell you who I do like, if you’re interested.

Duration : 0:3:30

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: horsemanship, Natural, och, Trickträning

just wondering your opinion. personally, i am all for it

I think it depends on what you consider natural horsemanship to be. If you think it is only about a series of games and working a horse in a round pen for endless hours, while it takes you months or even years before you get on the horse because you are hoping that the horse somehow "naturally" comes to the notion that they should let you ride them…. Then I think it is all a scam to get beginner and novice riders to buy books and DVD’s.

However, if your interpretation of natural horsemanship is using training methods that manipulate the horses natural instincts to get a desired result… then it makes a lot of sense. Truly "natural" methods are meant to make training easier and last longer. And, theoretically, because they should be easier for the horse to understand, training should move at a similar or faster pace than using some of the rougher methods that are out there.

I think what is being marketed as Natural Horsemanship is not what it is all about. Unfortunately I think that it is something that is being sold to people without teaching the fundamentals and reasoning behind the methods. As a result I see a lot of people that try it, get a small amount of success with it (just enough to buy the next product) and then find themselves progressing no further because their horse is now some type of "left brained, introvert, with a touch of AD HD.

In your own words, how would you describe natural horsemanship as it relates to training a horse? What are the big concepts, and what are the benefits?

Also…. how long do you think that a horse being trained with "natural" methods should be in training before you get it to a green broke level? (from halter breaking to basics under saddle)
Maybe I could put it differently… What makes it so "natural" and what makes it work?

To me, it means taking your time working with a horse and going at the horse’s own pace…it’s building a good foundation on the ground before riding is even considered…it takes the horse’s natural instincts and utilizes them in training and getting a response from the horse…working with the horse, not against it…give and release of pressure…making the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy…and basically, something that has been around for a very long time only not always known as "natural horsemanship." It is the new coined term for a way of training that has been in practice for years…I think it’s rather funny how some people are so against "natural horsemanship" yet some of the things they do with their horses are the same things that fall under that category that they are "against."

It works because, as stated above, it utilizes the horse’s natural instincts and body language as a part of the training…and the horse is not forced to do something, rather you only make what you don’t want the horse to do difficult for the horse to do and what you do want the horse to do you make easy for it to do…following that, it stands to reason that a horse will learn to do what you want them to do because it is easier for them to do so…not really the rocket science some people seem to make it out to be…

As for how long…depends entirely on the horse itself, and how mature it is both mentally and physically to be able to handle the training…in general/on average, a good 30 days of ground work is a nice start for a young horse…however, it’s going to really depend on the individual horse…

http://www.chelsienaturalhorsemanship.com/. From 2008. Experience an inspiring demonstration of the high-trust relationship that you can achieve between you and your horse. Watch Chelsie demonstrate natural horsemanship tasks. Learn more about natural horsemanship at our website: http://www.chelsienaturalhorsemanship.com/. We look forward to hearing from you!

Duration : 0:8:43

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: bridleless, chelsie, dennis, driving, horse, horsemanship, horses, instructor, kallestad, Natural, Parelli, reis, training, universal

I am about to buy a three-year-old Arab/Andalusian cross. He’s small, around 14.3. He is greenbroke, and I’m able to ride him, but he lacks all fundamentals and skills. He doesn’t know proper leg commands, he weaves, he’s "looky", etc. I would really like to train him myself using natural horsemanship. How does one begin natural horsemanship training? What are some fundamentals? What are the pros and cons of this method? Any other information on it would also be appreciated. Thank you.

Buy Pat Parelli’s book called natural horsemanship. It will answer all of the questions you have and then you will always have it to refer back to. It’s a wonderful book that explains all of the fundamentals of Natural Horsemanship and how to achieve them. Good luck and congrats on your new horse!