[palominosrock]

Is anyone into Parelli or other natural horsemanship? I just starting getting into it when I got a job at a hunter/jumper stable last July. A few months ago I started working for one of the boarders as her private groom. She is really into it and yesterday she showed me the seven games and let me try them with her dutch warmblood who is imported from Holland. I even got to do the squeeze game over a 2 foot jump. It was really neat. I think Parelli methods make horse handleing a million times easier for the horse and handler. Any one else have any natural horsemanship experiences?

Tabatha

[Cara]

I started getting into Natural Horsemanship methods about a year ago. I had just moved my horse to a new stable, and within weeks I couldn't handle him. We had the vet out, and a lot of it was long time back problems that were starting to really pop up (moving to a new stable at the same time was just a coincodence), so we had my horse worked on. But he was still hard to control, and didn't trust people, and was constantly challenging me - and he won. But then we got help from someone who has done lots of Natural Horsemanship, she's done Parelli's program, but has mainly worked under trainer Richard Winters. Anyways, her methods have worked wonders on me and my horse. I highly recomend Natural Horsemanship to anyone.

~ Cara

[Paints4me]

I use gentle easy training meathods to train all my horses, but ther not from one person in particular. I like many of the trainers out there, but most of my training comes from experiences and things I have learned throught my life. I think once you limit yourself to one person, or style you really hinder yorself from learning as much as you could. Yoo need to develope a style that works best for you and the your horse.

[CountryBoy]

I'm with P4M, Tons of trainers out there all with good and bad thoughts on training. I learned from my grandfather who was not the easiest man on horses. I took what he would do and look for a better way to the same results. We fought for yrs over things, but he finally gave up on the beating and fear type training. Heck he even improved on some of the things I did. In his days it was all brute force, and there are still some people who work that way. Take what you can from, reading and watching and mold it into your program so it works for you.
Not all horses learn the same so you always have to adjust your training to get the same end results.

[CanadianWrangler]

I use "natural horsemanship" but in a different sense. I use what techniques methods that work for that specific horse, and modify them as necessary, or try something different until that horse gets the idea of what I am asking (regardless of whose 'technique' it is).

Most of my techniques are my own as I have learned from the horses, I have worked and grown up with, on how to train horses. Never attended clinics (ok just one), or had a 'mentor'. Just did what worked the best with the horse as an individual. And I will never go as far as to say my ways are the only ways, or even the best ways. Just that they are very effective with a large number of horses.

I view natural horsemanship as anything where YOU listen, and (at least try to) understand what your horse is telling you. And the horse understands what you are telling/asking it.

Its all about building an effective, efficient, and comprehendable communicational relationship with your horse/s. Simple as that.

Use what works, use your own ideas, modify as necessary, and listen to your horse as you would have the horse listen to you.

[wyldterv]

Originally Posted by CanadianWrangler

,,,I view natural horsemanship as anything where YOU listen, and (at least try to) understand what your horse is telling you. And the horse understands what you are telling/asking it.

Its all about building an effective, efficient, and comprehendable communicational relationship with your horse/s. Simple as that.


Use what works, use your own ideas, modify as necessary, and listen to your horse as you would have the horse listen to you.

That is EXACTLY how I view all training myself... and how I've helped myself become a more effective partner in crime with my horses is by learning to better read their language and what they're attempting to tell me. I, personally, have found just sitting and watching all manner of people interact with their horses tells you alot about what a horse is trying to communicate back to you... Then I find I can take that memory of the mare with the twitching tail and narrowing of her eyes 1 min prior to actually striking at her handler when seh did NOT want to bend to the left, with me when I'm working my own horses and helps me catch them PRIOR to behavior I don't want to see happen, happening so I can shut it down BEFORE it gets started, AND I can also take the memory of a horse licking and chewing at the exact moment it got a concept, so I can learn to read the instant my horse tries, and thinks about something I DO want to have happen so I can INSTANTLY reward for that behavior to encourage it's continuance in compliance to a particular 'cue' on my part.

I do recommend attending every type of training clinic you can, even if it is a discipline you don't ride in... Often as an observer as you can gain as much or sometimes more from auditing, for less $$$ outlay, then by being a full participant.

I just found out there is going to be a Les Vogt Working Cow Clinic for 3 days an hour South of me... it's $600 to be a participant and I suspect it's already full... I do NOT have a horse that is a working cow horse, but I AM going to do all I can to get to taht clinic to audit all 3 days so that I can take away ideas and possibly a new way of doing or NOT doing something.

On the flip side, when given an opportunity to sit and have dinner with Bettina Drummond, even though I'm not a big dressage person, I jumped at that as well... You can never learn too much about anything and cross method training will give you the most tools to have in your training box.

I also just read where Clinton Anderson is coming to do a clinic 3.5 hours South of here.... I've got a call in to see if there are ANY slots open for participation, and if there are I'll beg the money to attend If not I'll still be attending as an auditor since Clinton rarely gets out our way to do full blown clinics and again, you can never learn TOO much!

Then take all you've learned and pull it out and USE it and make it YOURS.

[Blistering Winds]

Unless you do the snub down and Hop on style of the old days, anything done today is considered "natural horsemanship" That is the way things are done today. It is rare now a days to find your old cowboys who snub down and get on and pray styles. They too are learning that to work with the horse, the horse learns just as fast, and they have less medical bills.

[KZWestern]

I LOVE Parelli!!! I use his methods too. I really like it and its worked wonders on my horse!!

[Qh_rIdEr]

I am just learning, how do you play the 'Porcupine Game'?

[Shotgun93]

Originally Posted by Qh_rIdEr

I am just learning, how do you play the 'Porcupine Game'?

I pm'ed you about the porcupine game.

I use a lot of Parelli stuff with my horse. He has his level 2 and I can't tell you how much it has helped both of us. This horse was dangerous and virtually untouchable seven months ago. Yesterday, I got him lay down by just tapping the ground and asking him to lay down. I didn't get into this stuff to teach my horse tricks and games, I had just tried everything else and nothing worked. But, now, I find it to be an invaluable tool in my training and I love it.
I teach clinics with my friend and we deal with a lot of problem horses and we have yet to find one that hasn't improved with NH.
Canadian Wrangler and Wyld are right - you need to find a trainer and a program that works for you and you horse. Go to clinics, read programs, go to their websites and do your research. You might find that you can take techniques from different programs to make a well-rounded program for your horse. We teach a lot of different things, from Parelli and Clinton Anderson, Richard Winters and John Lyons, so you can really benifit from variety of different programs, you just have to look around.