Well, a Parelli carrot stick came in handy for me for the first time last month. I went to my first show in my new town and the first horse I met there was being watched by a man carrying a carrot stick. He was just minding the horse for the horse owner who had gone to check in, but when she came back we struck up a conversation that I opened by commenting on the stick. Nice people, nice horse, despite the infamous carrot stick! (Of which I did not express my real opinion!)
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Anderson is definitely the worst. I went to a clinic of his in the early 2000’s and I used to think he was the best rider/ trainer in the world but I was like 12.
I was a kid and deeply insecure about my own riding. I remember I would feel jealous of kids my age that had parents that were buying them their own horses and paying for every lesson. And I would see other kids horse showing and being competitive and they were CLEARLY a way better rider than I was. I was a “working student” for a NH ”trainer” and would work 7 days a week all day in the summer and every day on weekends during the school year in return for maybe one “lesson” a week on some backyardigan unbroke/ unsound green horse. I needed to feel like there was something about my riding that was special and unique from all those other brats my age because the idea that I could work THAT hard, and love it THAT much, and still not be that good of a rider was just too hard for my insecure 12 year old self to admit. So when you’re like that and you’re confronted with someone like Clinton Anderson (or the old trainer I used to ride with) you suddenly see that THIS could be what makes you a better rider than everyone else. So when I’d see other kid’s parents them a 20k horse and a new saddle, and lessons, yet my parents wouldn’t even buy me paddock boots, I could still be happy knowing that I had something that no their rider had: the ability to chase horses in circles!
That’s how I dealt with my insecurities for awhile. While those other kids were learning about jumping and showing I was doing the REAL riding because I was learning how to “train” horses to do things like canter, and to not be afraid of a plastic bag, and to follow me in a round pen… you know the REAL stuff. Not those silly little competitions. Those kids didn’t have the skills I had, their parents were just buying their way into the sport. Not me, nope, I was the real rider! I bet none of those other kids could ride 2 and 3 year old unbroke horses. Nope, they’d all get bucked off. Not me though, I’m so good I don’t get bucked off because if my horse bucks I’ll just beat the shit out of it and “disengage the hind end” because I’m so strong and so good at horse training.
Now I don’t fault kids for thinking that way. Kids are naive and stupid and sometimes they just don’t have the right adult leadership. I sure as shit did not. But If you’re and adult, and you’re still buying into this Clinton Anderson/ Parelli cult BS, see a therapist and work on your self. You need it.
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Oh gosh, Clinton Anderson…yuck!~ Ever since i took a deep dive into Mustangs, all i hear about is that guy. I watched a little bit of a few of his videos and was dismayed. Especially strange is the huge amount of women (almost all of his followers are female) that buy-into his stuff. It feels to me like testosterone run-amok, and it is pretty contrary to my M.o. The whole aggression/domination thing, i get it, and sometimes i even feel that way when dealing with a horse (or dog or sheep or cow or whatever animal i’m trying to handle)…but getting tough with them changes nothing in the long run.
“Convince a man against his will, He’s of the same opinion still.”
All those guys in cowboy hats and microphones aggressing around horses in roundpens are a dime a dozen.
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I too noticed Linda’s body language, Pat also had his arms crossed.
hopefully, they part peacefully.
a little NH goes a long way.
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Well said!
They are selling themselves in their tight jeans. Profiting from so many women with horses. I wish the great female trainers would get more attention for actually training horses.
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The great female trainers need to hire themselves a marketing team. That is all that the other NH trainers have.
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Exactly how I feel. Let’s make more room for our great female trainers. Let’s see how that shifts the horse world.
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I’m sorry (about the loss of her horse…or anyone’s horse) But if these two split up, who cares?
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At one time Pat Parelli had a good reputation as a good horseman. This was way back in the early, early 80’s, when he was teaching for $10 a lesson in Lodi. Linda came along and started the whole merchandising and “name branding” and Pat rode that wave all the way to being a joke’s punchline.
Sheilah
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Here’s a link to Linda’s post (for as long as it is up). The mention of the split is the second full para from the end.
https://www.facebook.com/LindaParelliFanPage/posts/3412085795503966
I’m wondering what becomes of their program. Do they keep it going in a business partnership? break it up with each taken certain parts? each take their own version of it in their own direction, maybe with different names that still have ‘Parelli’ in them?
The post is a lengthy discussion of their program in the time of covid. A lot of emphasis on new programs.
It is posted on Linda’s page under Linda’s name. But it is written in the third person, as if someone else is reporting on what the Parelli’s are doing now. Referring to Linda as “Linda”, although it is posted under Linda’s name.
Linda is mentioned several times. Pat is referred to only as “Pat and Linda”, and his name is in the lengthy post twice. Actually three times counting the last "Linda and Pat Parelli will still be involved in your success … "
The last part of the post …
…
Additionally, we have implemented a NEW Advisory Board. Advisors that are both familiar with PNH and yet have business acumen and experience of their own. We believe this will bring both diversity and unity, providing balance in directing the CO-CEO’s as we move forward with what is best for the future of PNH.
Finally, as you may or may not have heard, after much thought and discussion, and many years together, Pat and Linda have decided to uncouple. This decision was not made lightly and does not change what they have built together or their mission to change the world for horses and humans. It does however give them space to find out who they are as individuals and explore their separate passions. Please honor their privacy and dignity as they navigate through this very personal and difficult time.
Parelli Natural Horsemanship is more committed than ever to your success, we have not and will not detour from our principles, we will continue to provide you with information and inspiration to keep you motivated throughout your journey. Our mission is to create a better world for horses and the humans that love them. Not to worry, Linda and Pat Parelli will still be involved in your success and transformation.
We look forward to supporting your horse’s progress.
Keep it Natural!
And then today there was this post as well, on Linda’s page (bold added).
https://www.facebook.com/LindaParelliFanPage/posts/3420590027986876
Enjoying my last few days in Colorado, but did not expect to be spending them as a 62-year old, single women, starting over. The good news is I’m very excited about the future and so grateful for your support of my new venture!
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@Equkelly - Halfway thru your post, I had to laugh. You hit the nail right on the head. They act like know-it-all little teenage girls. I boarded with a young woman who was part of the Parelli inner circle and while she never rode her horse, just chased him with a stick, she could tell the rest of us just exactly what we were doing wrong and how SHE was a much better horsewoman than any of US.
As far as the Parelli split goes - when the monster you’ve created starts to think it’s better than you and can live without you…
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To be fair, my start was somewhat similar to yours (NH trainer, but more Buck Brannaman/John Lyons type) where I learned more about groundwork and how to train a horse, and then after a few years starting getting into eventing and learning to ride more correctly. But all the things I learned have come in handy a LOT now that I’m at a dressage barn. I can help the pushy or flighty horses lead better, help the ones that don’t want to stand at the mounting block, the one that is afraid of the wash stall, etc etc etc. Most recently, my ability to catch the most uncatchable, feral horse in less than five minutes with no feed or treats needed has been greatly appreciated by the lesson kids (and their moms) when the typically perfect ponies decide the weather is so fantastic right now that they really would rather just stay out. And those are all things I learned from the backyard NH trainer. I wouldn’t give up how I started for anything, I learned so much about feel and timing and rhythm and how to read a horse.
Parelli and CA though, I never liked them. Thought they were ridiculous from the very beginning.
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I definitely don’t see all those years as “wasted” either. I still even use some exercises but have changed the application if that makes sense? I think when I was doing NH I was always looking for “respect” and now I’m more looking for “connection”. The biggest turnaround for me was realizing that it’s better to earn respect and not demand it.
I don’t look fondly on that part of my riding career just because that trainer was abusive to the horses and even to me. I would probably feel differently if the trainer was more brannaman oriented rather than Clinton/ Parelli but who knows.
The one thing I did get out of it is the confidence and ability to start and back young horses on my own. I bought my mare as a 2 year old and started her myself and I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I had grown up with a traditional riding education, so at least there’s that.
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Yep. He got his start in my town, where his old rodeoing partner is a farrier and runs an old established boarding stable. Photo in the office of the two of them in the old days. This partner is still good friends with Pat’s first wife, who lives about an hour away.
Pat had some integrity back then. I remember him telling a clinic participant to sell his horse before he got himself killed, and he was dead serious. He did a few presentations on horse handling at UC Davis, and for the state capitol mounted police. I admired that his [original] method was systemic, and this consistency provided clarity for the horse as well as the handler. He rather quickly morphed into a carnival barker, long long before Linda.
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I find that a lot of Parelli stuff is very contradictory. On one hand, you have them saying “Don’t jerk on the halter with an agressive horse, it won’t help” and then on the other hand you have videos of Linda lunging a horse on a 5m circle jerking on its head and smacking its hind end with the lunge line when the horse is clearly distressed and scared of her. I just find it strange.
Don’t get me started on CA, he shouldn’t be around any living being, humans, plants or animals. It really ticks me off he’s so adamant about ‘being the boss’ and crap like that when he’s just blatantly physically abusing horses.
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I wouldn’t lump Buck Brannaman in with these other people.
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I can agree with that. I still don’t care for his methods either but I wouldn’t consider them abusive like I would for Clinton Anderson/ Parelli.
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Didn’t LP branch off into some half-assed “life-coaching” sort of BS a few years back?
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That’s what she’s doing now, plus skin care.
I was really envisioning a stick with a carrot attached to it :lol:
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