Good lord. The lungeing videos are despicable too.
Beyond the obvious disregard for the horse, there is no way I would allow anyone smacking my horse with a whip from behind while I was sitting on it. Incredibly dangerous for both horse and rider. Unless he wants to be implicated in someoneās debilitating injury or worse.
Right there with you. Iād be tempted to climb down off that horse, snatch the whip and beat him with it. See if he likes how it feels.
Word on the street of an on going Safe Sport investigation as wellā¦
What Iām most horrified by is that this has obviously been going on for at least the past decade (presumably much longer) and has been brushed aside until now. People have protected this man just like people have protected and continue to protect Helgstrand. I am as far from a RARA as it gets, and yet the more these things come up, the harder it gets for me to defend upper level horse sports.
So I will say that many horses are taught to piaffe in hand with a whip and then trained under saddle with a ground person so the use of a whip whipe someoneis working piaffe is common, but I have never seen it done so aggressively and inappropriately and I would have left immediately.
There are some public comments on social media that allude to this.
The more disturbing thing, IMO, are the number of comments all over social media indicating that many people have witnessed abuse over multiple years, reported it to USDF and USEF, and provided photographs and videos as proofā¦ and yetā¦ no sanctions were imposed.
ETA: very disturbing video embedded in the article.
Provisional suspension from the FEI. How about a full on ban, next?!
Iām am of the school of thought that on a fractious horse or a horse saying ānoā, one good whack, MAYBE two in a row to really get their attention, is not entirely out of line.
But beating a horse repeatedly with a lunge whip, whacking a horse in the face with a whip for any reason (barring absolute life threatening emergency), and tying a horse that tight while lunging are absolutely unacceptable, ever.
I noticed the draw reins on the horse being beaten. Take those suckers off and watch your student get run away with or worse. Absolute, outright abuse.
Warning: This is an extremely disturbing video.
I almost wonder if he isnāt marketing this to the BSDM market. (I am not kidding).
Holy wow! Those poor horses.
Yes, notice I said smacking. Whatās being shown in the video when it escalates is not an aid. Iāve taught numerous horses to piaffe from the ground and understand how to translate that to the under saddle work.
I also may have some āPTSDā from being chased around with a lunge whip by my childhood trainer on an unhappy mare.
If you look closely I think there is a martingale on the curb rein of the first horse. The horse has literally now where to go.
Ok! Just checking. Some of the FB comments suggest calling the news or the humane society and I think weāre treading water here with some of these Incidents attracting the wrong attention. Itās a shame.
Several comments:
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I wonder if the person who videoed those episodes is a client or a working student. I also wonder what kind of retaliation Parra is going to exact on that person for posting those videos.
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Even though I did not personally witness anything untoward when I visited his farm years back (where I watched multiple training sessions with multiple riders and horses), nor did several of my friends who put horses in training with him report any concerns, nor when I watched him give a clinic (which my horse participated in), I have nonetheless always been somewhat leery of him because of the William incident. So I am shocked and disgusted to realize that even though I and my friends had no problems with him, it is now abundantly clear that he learned nothing from the William incident and that his general MO is ātie 'em down and beat 'em into submission.ā
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I have always wondered - considering the caliber of horses I saw at his farm all those years back - why he hasnāt made it further up the ranks of FEI riders in the U.S., and why his horses all seem to disappear from the scene - esp. considering that he has had some pretty wealthy clients over the years. Iām guessing it is because he breaks the horses physically and/or spiritually, and/or their owners get sick of watching their animals get beat up.
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It is interesting to me that FEI has already acted to issue a temporary suspension (thank God!). But what is USEF doing about it other than āinvestigatingā? Why not a temporary suspension from them? Are they afraid to take action?
I was one to witness the video of William before it got taken down. Horrific.
I also saw it. He had put the horse (a 3 y/o stallion) in super short side reins - way too tight for even a seasoned GP horse. I had also heard through the grapevine that the reason he did it was because they were trying to do a rush job on preparing the horse for stallion licensing and the horse would occasionally rear and strike when being lunged. Parraās method was apparently something he had learned SOMEWHERE about dealing with bullish young stallions. I also understand that the horse had been turned down by several other reputable colt starting / stallion training operations, and Parra was pretty much a last resort for the owner. But he obviously had no business trying to start a 3 y/o colt - he was out of his element.
Itās already been reported to ACC in Palm Beach County 
I just have to add, did you all notice the signs around the indoor?
gratitude
positive
ummmmmmmm surrrrrre and yea right
