An Education in the - Parelli Natural Horsemanship

Transcription

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Now On Sale!
New Topic-Specific Education!
Parelli is proud to introduce three exceptional new
products designed with your goals in mind!
You asked for it, and we’ve delivered! Parelli Natural Horsemanship brings you three brand
new DVDs designed with your specific horsemanship interests in mind. The Game of Contact
features Linda Parelli at her best, describing in detail her revolutionary methods for developing
collection naturally. Colt Starting features Pat Parelli and his detailed, entertaining & effective
teaching method. And on Hit the Trail, join both Pat and Linda as they take you, step-by-step,
through everything a trail ride entails. Each DVD features instructional demonstrations,
thorough education, and enthralling and humorous stories from Pat and Linda. No matter
where your horsemanship journey takes you, these brand new Parelli products will take you
there with the knowledge you need to make it a successful trip!
3•••• The Game of Contact
with Linda Parelli
After three years of intensive dressage training with worldrenowned dressage master Walter Zettl, Linda Parelli has
unlocked the secret to getting horses to willingly accept
bit contact.
A truly revolutionary breakthrough, the Game of Contact
addresses several riding issues in a natural way. If your horse
has inactive hind legs, tongue displacement, choppy stride or
any number of other issues related to contact, this DVD is an
essential addition to your library. Comes packaged with the
Study Manual that Linda gives to all riders in her wildly popular
Game of Contact Clinics.
MEMBER PRICE $229.99 USD
4Subscribe to our weekly EMAIL NEWSLETTER for updates on sales, education,
Colt Starting••••4
with Pat Parelli
Taming and starting horses is the foundation of horsemanship as a whole. As Pat
says, make the first ride as if he’s been ridden a thousand times... and ride your horse
for the thousandth time as though it was
his first. Getting the smallest details right
is critical to becoming a horseman. Taming
and starting colts shows you where you fall
short quicker than perhaps any other stage
you go through with your horse. Now, for
the first time, Pat’s renowned step-by-step
young horse development program is
available for at-home study and self-development support for any serious horseman.
Runtime: 9 hours, 10 minutes
3•••• Hit the Trail
with Pat & Linda Parelli
Join Pat & Linda as they take you on a trail
ride through the stunning Colorado wilderness. You’ll learn directly from Pat and Linda
all that you need to know before you set out
on the trail, then how to put your newfound
skills to use on the spot when you need
them most.
Covers trailering, trail etiquette, natural
obstacles, essential groundwork, in sadlle
preparation, water crossings, spooky
situations, gear selection and more.
Runtime: 4 hours, 30 minutes
events, teaching breakthroughs and new product releases at WWW.pARELLI.CoM
Issue 33 | NOV 2011
20
Features
News
20 | Magical Merlin
6 | Dear Friends
Pat’s new super-horse, Merlin, is
Magic’s mirror image. Learn more
10 | Manufacturing Happiness
about Pat’s new partner!
12 | An Update from
the UK and Ireland
26 | Meet the East Anglian
14 | An Education in the Theory
Behind Natural Horsemanship
Savvy Team
26
Parelli Professionals in East Anglia
16 | All the Latest from Parelli
Australia
join forces to help create a better
18 | Summit 2011
world for horses and humans.
20 | Magical Merlin
56 | Motivation in Horsemanship
community
Staying positive and progressive is
26 | Meet the East Anglian
Savvy Team
essential in horsemanship and in life;
Neil Pye explores the how and why.
22 | Tame Your Wild Horses
30 | Global Community
34 | Partner Profiles
62 | The Steady Rein
36 | Northland Natural
Horsemanship Games
With the help of the Steady Rein you
39 | The Hero’s Journey
will learn how to help your horse
40 | Learning to Speak a
Common Language
get calmer, carry himself better and
even improve the quality of his gaits.
56
8 | New Products
Linda Parelli explains how.
42 | Staying Savvy in Norway
44 | Persistence, Parelli, and
Amy’s Dream
Education
50 | Trail Riding
52 | Seven Games in the Saddle
56 | Motivation in Horsemanship:
Patience, Attitude & Values
59 | Developing Mental Fitness
60 | Circling is Not Longeing!
62 | The Steady Rein
66 | A Bit of Bridling
62
Cover photo by
Ninie and Mikkel Perlt, Greenland
One of the winning photos from the
“Where in the World are the Parelli Ponies”
photo contest
68 | Strength of Bond
70 | Let’s Use Those Abs!
74 | The Value of Think Time
76 | Official Graduates
The Parelli Member Magazine
Issue 33, November 2011
www.parelliconnect.com
www.parellisavvyclub.com • www.parelli.com
savvytimes@parelli.com
FOUNDERS Linda & Pat Parelli
Coco, Officlal Parelli Photographer
All photos are courtesy photos unless noted
©2011 Parelli Natural Horse•Man•Ship.
Huge thanks to all the members of our worldwide team, who do their best to be “the best me that
they can be” every day. We value their commitment to supporting horse lovers worldwide in whatever way they can.
Laura Aitken
Michael Alway
Elizabeth Andriot
Daniel Arzu
Coco Baptist
Jenny Beynon
Alilia Blodgett
Olin Blodgett
Elizabeth Brewer
Mark Brown
Renee Burch
Aaron Burns
Kimberly Carman
Betsy Chavez
Rosa Cisneros
Amanda d’Emery
Shannon Davies
4 | Savvy Times November 2011
Brian Drake
Susie Drake
Kat Green
Paul Hahn
Josh Hughes
Sara Johnson
Glenn Joslyn
Ann Kiser
Jim Kiser
Kalley Krickeberg
Berin MacFarlane
Liz Marchand
Alain Martignier
Kaffa Martignier
Rob McAuliffe
Megan McAuliffe
Stephen McCurry
Harry Mehlman
Carlos Oropeza
Nicole Pfeiffer
Ryan Pfouts
Matt Phelps
LaVerna Phillips
Neil Pye
Tammy Reid
Jeff Robel
Laura Rome
Ryan Rose
Hillary Rose
Molly Sanders
Connie Schanzenbaker
Steven Scheppelman
Carol Schofield
Sue Shoemark
Maree Stewart
Scott Teigen
Bill Thacker
Sharon Tiesdell Smith
Ashley Tippetts
Miguel Vera
Patricia Vera
Brett Walford
Rodney Wates
Jason Watt
Gale Weber
Mark Weiler
Dani Wilday
Emilie Wood
Jose Zamudio
Omar Zamudio
News
6 Dear Friends / 8 New Products / 10 Manufacturing Happiness / 12 An Update from the UK and Ireland
14 An Education in the Theory Behind Natural Horsemanship / 16 All the Latest from Parelli Australia / 18 Summit 2011
20 Magical Merlin / 22 Tame Your Wild Horses
photo by Coco
www.parelli.com | 5
Dear Friends,
by Linda Parelli
Can you believe it is November already? Wow, time flies
when you’re having fun! What a great year we’ve had!
There have been a lot of changes for us this year, and we
have so many new projects and products in the works that
we can’t wait to tell you more about, so stay tuned! You
know how it goes… good, better, best!
Wild Horse Taming
This used to be something Pat did all the time, but until
recently it was a thing of his past… until the Reno event
that is! What an amazing three days that was. Watching
these wild mustangs being delivered into the arena
and then getting to see every single moment of their
interaction with people was spellbinding. You could have
heard a pin drop throughout every session, an incredible
sign of how focused the audience was.
I’ve seen Pat be the first to contact many a wild horse, but
this was the first time I saw him coach his top level students
through it. I too was spellbound, and on two levels:
observing the teacher, and observing the Horsenality™ of
each mustang. That is always fascinating for me, because
now that I can read the horse, I’m even more interested in
the approach the horseman will take.
Everyone did an amazing job — and no pressure! You are
dealing with a wild horse for the first time in your life, not
only in front of your mentor but a few thousand spectators
across the globe as well, thanks to the live web streaming!
Kalley, Berin, Jake, Rhett, John, Ryan and James (who came
all the way from England for this) were incredible. Not only
did they learn huge lessons, they applied what they knew
so well and were not afraid to ask Pat for tips and guidance
along the way. And the results spoke for themselves: the
wild young horses that arrived on Friday were now approaching the humans, saddling, riding around, loading in
trailers… and while it was not without its dramas here and
there, every horse came through with more trust in the
human and its dignity in tact. (See the photos on pg 22).
And watching Pat in action never ceases to amaze me…
his passion for horses is only outweighed by his passion
for teaching. Allowing these wonderful young horsemen
and women to learn while keeping them safe was incredible, and his ability to stay outside the corral for as long as
possible is testament to his passion as a mentor – it is too
photo by Coco
News
easy to take over the horse, but in doing that, you rob the
student of the opportunity to learn their most powerful
lessons. He delivered as promised: “It will be beautiful,
exciting and educational.” Amen to that.
The Summit Tear-Jerker!
Wow, what a great event. Liberty and Bridleless Riding
are two things Parelli has become world famous for, and
to watch our students exhibiting this so beautifully, as well
as sharing with you some of the secrets of success, was an
absolute joy for us.
The incredible views from the Big Top covered arena
straight out to Pagosa Peak (some 14,000 ft high) already
give it all a magical feel, and with some of the most
moving performances, many of us shed more than a tear
of joy and wonder. So what was I thinking when I brought
Remmer out to see everyone again?! Tears became sobs
and I could barely speak as my lovely partner of some 14
years came in and played around with West Point before
coming to me and then joining me for a little walk around
the arena. I am so grateful to everyone who contributed
to his amazing recovery from his severed tendons. Even
better than having him join me was feeling the surge of
love and joy from everyone there for this wonderful horse.
Thank you all so much.
Pat got to know him a little on the ground, then saddled
up and played in the arena. What a lovely sight! They started
with simple things like Follow The Rail and transitions, and
finished with flying changes and a stop that made you
gasp. Then onto the cows. What expression Merlin has,
with all Magic’s talent and none of her baggage.
So Merlin got on the trailer with us as we headed back
from the famous Pitchfork Ranch in Texas, and Pat had
already come up with his name. What better successor for
Magic than a black horse called Merlin! Look forward to
seeing him very soon and especially on tour in 2012 (For
now, you can learn more about him on pg 20).
photo by Mackenzie Kincaid
Pat’s New Magic
Those may be big words, but when James Gholson of the
Pitchfork Ranch told him about this really special horse he
has, Pat took notice. Why? Because he has always really
admired James’ way with horses, so to cut a nice story a
little shorter, James brought the horse to for Pat to see.
As Merlin (aka Rufoleno) came off the trailer, Pat about
fell on the floor. His likeness to Magic is uncanny. Black,
soft star on the forehead, very similar build but a little taller
(he’s 15.1, Magic 14.2), a gelding and Left-Brain Extrovert –
Magic’s opposite. I could tell Pat was smitten, although he
was trying to stay left-brained!
Looking Toward 2012
In closing the year, we have such great memories and
moments to hold in our hearts. The Florida campus will not
operate going forward, as we have huge plans to accomplish in these next years for you, and we also look forward
to our instructors doing more for you out there in the field.
(The Pagosa campus still pumping in the summer!)
As I write, we are putting the finishing touches to our
exciting 2012 tour schedule where I am the headline, and
Pat participates more as the master horseman and mentor
that started it all. So I look forward to seeing you “on the
road” and hope you can bring friends and acquaintances
with you to experience just how amazing life can be with
horses when you keep it natural and do it with savvy. See
you on Parelli Connect!
Yours naturally,
Linda
www.parelli.com | 7
The Walter Zettl Collection
“A gentleman and a scholar” is the perfect way to describe
Walter Zettl. This soft-spoken, educated, and kind man is
on a mission to spread classical dressage worldwide... a
mission that is directly aligned with the Parelli vision of
creating a better world for horses and humans. For this
reason, Walter has been giving lessons to Pat and Linda
Parelli since 2006 to educate them and their students in
the refined art of classical dressage.
Walter’s library of books and DVDs are excellent resources
for Parelli students, particularly those studying concepts in
Finesse and the Game of Contact. And now these resources are available in the Parelli webshop: the complete DVD
library A Matter of Trust, plus books Dressage in Harmony
and The Circle of Trust. Call your local office or order online
now at http://bit.ly/nRgYB7.
A Matter of Trust
Walter’s philosophy of natural horsemanship applied to
dressage radiates throughout his DVD series A Matter of Trust.
This series, containing ten DVDs, walks the viewer
through the process of developing your dressage horse,
from the very beginning stages of understanding theory
and classical dressage philosophy to how to execute highlevel maneuvers, such as the pirouette and passage. Each
dressage movement explained in this series is broken down
into an easy-to-follow, step-by-step process that builds up
the horse’s mental, emotional, and physical fitness. A Matter
of Trust also includes important rider tips to help improve
effectiveness and clarity in communication with the horse.
It is particularly impressive that Walter is able to weave a
natural horsemanship foundation throughout the series,
all the way through Grand Prix dressage movements. The
entire series emphasizes that, “The goal of dressage should
be to bring the horse and rider together in harmony.”
Walter maintains that the basis of a great dressage partnership is trust between horse and human, where the
horse views the human as his natural leader.
No matter what your discipline of choice may be, A
Matter of Trust is sure to improve your understanding of
not only classical dressage, but also healthy horse and
rider biomechanics at any level.
News
Celebrate Horsenality!™
In April 2011, more than 6,000 horse lovers traveled to a
lively, fun-filled and thought-provoking Parelli Celebration
at the LG Arena, Birmingham. Now you too can share in the
excitement of this revolutionary event!
Delving deep into the life-changing concepts of horseand human-personality profiling, this educational and
entertaining documentary will change the way you look at
your horse — and yourself — forever.
Stepping into the spotlight, Linda Parelli explains her pioneering work in developing a model for horse personality
typing that allows everyone, from novice horse enthusiasts
to Olympic riders, to better understand the motivations of
their particular horse. Putting the model to work, both Pat
and Linda showcase a variety of challenging training issues
with horses of divergent Horsenality™ types. Along the
way, they show owners how to master their own Humanality™ habits for improved success in and out of the saddle.
With guest appearances by top Parelli Instructors Wally
Gegenschatz, Silke Vallentin and Mikey Wanzenried, you’ll
be wowed and inspired by all that can be accomplished
with your equine partner when you have the tools, knowledge and heart for success.
The UK Celebration 2011 program is available on
two-disc DVD or Blu-ray and runs 189 minutes. Order yours
today from the Parelli webshop: http://bit.ly/p43qxS
Books We Savvy
Beautiful Jim Key
At the beginning of the 19th century, the idea of an animal having thoughts
and feelings of its own hadn’t really caught on. Though horses were still used
as transportation then and were an everyday sight for people around the
world, our understanding of them was limited at best. They were labeled as
“dumb beasts,” to be used and discarded on a whim.
Challenging that perception was a horse called Beautiful Jim Key. Bred and
raised by ex-slave, Civil War veteran and self-taught veterinarian Bill Key, Jim
was truly a wonder of his age, and proved to a skeptical public that animals
could be taught with kindness rather than punishment. Jim could count,
spell, read, sort mail, use a telephone and cash register, cite Bible passages
and do math. He performed in front of massive crowds and helped to breathe
life into the fledgling humane movement, with millions of his young fans
signing the Jim Key Pledge: “I promise to always be kind to animals.”
Though Jim’s story faded into obscurity over time, Mim Eichler Rivas’
history revives the legend and reminds us just how much our four-legged
friends are capable of.
www.beautifuljimkey.com
www.parelli.com | 9
Manufacturing Happiness
by Scott Teigen
The next time you’re out with your horse, take a look at
your 12-Foot line. Then take a look at your Savvy String. If
you look closely at each of these pieces of equipment, you’ll
find a small number stamped onto the leather poppers.
“Every braider in the manufacturing department has
their own individual stamp number,” says Emilie Wood,
Parelli’s Manufacturing Department Team Leader. “If you
see a 0, that’s Jose. If you see a 1, that’s Miguel, 2 is Omar,
and 3 is Daniel.”
It’s this sort of personal touch that makes the Parelli
Manufacturing Department unique. The sheer volume
of product they churn out in a day is staggering; seeing
500 12-Foot lines being produced in one day is not out of
the question. To make that figure even more impressive,
consider that there’s no assembly line here. Each employee
works individually to create the products you and your
horse have come to depend on.
While individual work helps the Parelli Manufacturing
Department function like a well-oiled machine, there’s an
Emilie
Jose 0
undeniable sense of camaraderie that extends beyond
Manufacturing to the entire Parelli Central office. That’s
right: Manufacturing is located at the Parelli Central office,
just one room away from where your orders are placed,
your Parelli Connect questions are answered, and events
are planned, and a few short miles from the Pagosa Springs
Campus. After all, We Are Parelli.
“We have a really great team,” says Wood. “It’s very fun for
me, seeing everyone help each other when they need it.
Everybody is more than happy to go the extra mile for the
team. If we decide something is a priority, if it’s needed in
the UK or Australia, I can tell them ‘We need this as soon as
possible,’ and it just gets done. It’s wonderful to see.”
Like everyone else at Parelli Natural Horsemanship, the
Manufacturing Department is excited about the future. Of
course, their approach to change is a little more hands-on —
literally. They’ve been hard at work producing our new line
of colored halters, lead ropes, and the rest of our recently
introduced products to their usual high standards.
Miguel 1
Omar 2
Daniel 3
Visit www.parelli.com today to check out the 2011 Celebration of HorsenalityTM on DVD or Blu-ray
as well as our new bareback pad colors, blended ropes, equipment, education and more!
www.parelli.com | 11
photos by Claire Spelling
An Update from
the UK and Ireland
by Beth Barling
So yet another summer has drawn to a close here in the
UK – and it’s been a busy one!
At the UK campus at Stoneleigh Park, the course season
ended at the beginning of September with the second
Fast Track course of the year and with another batch of
budding Parelli Professionals and horse development
specialists in the making. The course was punctuated with
the second and final Parelli Games day for the year, when
another enthusiastic bunch of horses and riders arrived to
join the Fast Track students for a few hours of challenges
and savvy spotlights. The participants were supported, as
always, by a large number of spectators, although no one
anticipated the surprise visit from a curious fox who calmly
made his way across the middle of the playground!
Around and about
Around the country, Parelli Professionals and students
had a busy summer too. Visiting instructors arrived from
all over the world, with Jackie Chant and Russell Higgins
from New Zealand and David Lichman from the United
States all touring the UK and neighbouring countries for
several weeks. Our own UK-based instructors had packed
teaching schedules too and also managed to get out and
about to give demonstrations to the public. 3-Star Parelli
Professional Sharon Crabbe held a Get Started day at
Willow Moss Farm in Lancashire (with a little help from the
Lancashire Savvy Sisters!), while fellow 3-Star Professional
Lyla Cansfield drew a crowd of 150 people at Willow Farm
Equestrian in Kent, with all proceeds going to support the
50 rescue horses cared for there. In addition, 3-Star instructors Alison Jones and David Zuend put on a great show
at The Mare and Foal Sanctuary in Devon on August bank
holiday Monday.
A couple of Parelli instructors swapped places and
hopped “the pond” as 3-Star Parelli Professional and Horse
Development Specialist James Roberts headed over to
Nevada to take part in Pat Parelli’s Wild Horse Taming
Naturally Event. At the same time, Canadian Paralympian
and 4-Star Parelli Professional Lauren Barwick brought
her two horses, Fergi and Paris, over to the UK to take
part in two international dressage events as part of her
journey towards the London 2012 Olympic Games. Lauren
competed at the CPEDI 3* Hartpury Festival of Dressage
in Gloucestershire, where she placed second on Paris with
74% and third on Fergi with 72% in the Grade II Freestyle
competition, helping her Canadian Para-Dressage Team
win third place overall. Further north, Lauren took part in
a 2-star event where both horses placed first and second
over the three days – well done Lauren, Fergi and Paris!
Elsewhere around the UK, Parelli Professional Claire
Burgess hosted a stand at the Blackwater Country Show
in Essex, while in Hampshire, a team of instructors took
the New Forest Show by storm. Held over three days in
the heart of the New Forest, one of the UK’s most ancient
woodlands and oldest national parks, the show attracts
over 100,000 visitors annually. This year, UK Parelli Professionals Rachel Evans, Sharon Crabbe, Stacey Atkins and
News
Vicky Manser took part in a daily demonstration led by
visiting 4-Star Parelli Professional Jackie Chant.
It took weeks of preparation, but the effort was definitely
worth it. Each demonstration drew a couple of hundred
people, with nearly a thousand gathered around the ring
on the last day. “Interest ranged from first timers to local
Parelli fanatics! All of the sound booth crew, ring judges and
organisers were watching, fascinated too,” said team leader
Rachel Evans, a 2-Star Parelli Professional based in the nearby
Meon Valley. “Apparently we jammed the walkway next to the
arena as more and more people stopped to watch what we
were doing!”
Across the Irish Channel, Parelli instructors and students
were out in force at the Dublin International Horse Show,
where Professionals Miguel Gernaey and Chris and Sarah
Brady manned a booth for five days, answering questions
from visitors and welcoming new members to Parelli Connect.
Stoneleigh Park wasn’t the only place to host Parelli
Games, as two regions hosted their first events. In the
south, the Savvy Sussex group held their inaugural Games
and barbecue on a former polo field at the home of Ruth
and Simon Worley, while the East Anglian Savvy Team ran
their highly successful Games and spotlights day in Suffolk,
raising over £1000 for the Parelli Horsemanship Fund.
hands-on support should never be too far away. Oh how
things have changed in just a few short years!
This autumn the UK Parelli team had a presence at
the Horse of the Year Show at the NEC in Birmingham
(4-9 October) and will be at Your Horse Live at Stoneleigh
Park (12-13 November). We look forward to meeting
friends old and new, with plenty of instructors on hand to
talk with, and plenty of show specials to be enjoyed as part
of the retail therapy experience!
We’ll also be running another series of our popular
horseless workshops at the UK campus at Stoneleigh,
starting in November and running through February. One
of the workshops provides an introduction to Parelli and
will form part of the training for the NPTC qualification
which UK Manager Laura Aitken writes about on page 14,
definitely something to consider as the evenings draw
in and we get to spend less time out with our horses
and more time inside learning. Other workshop topics
include tool savvy, getting to grips with auditions,
leadership, fluidity and Parelli saddles, Horsenalities™ and
Humanalities™, plus a fun workshop for kids. By the time
you read this, the schedule should be available on the
Parelli website and Parelli Connect, so make sure you book
your place now as the workshops fill up fast!
What’s happening in your neck of the woods?
We hope this article gives you just some idea of the
great things that are happening in the UK. And this is just
a selection of things that are happening... there really is
a sense that not only is Parelli live and kicking in the UK
and Ireland – it’s thriving! If you’re in the UK or Ireland, let
us know what you’re planning by dropping me a line at
bbarling@parelli.com. We look forward to hearing from
you. Until next time, keep in natural!
The year ain’t over till it’s over
As if that wasn’t enough, there are lots of exciting things
yet to look forward to this year.
In September the first ever UK instructor course took
place at the Parelli campus at Stoneleigh Park, where
we welcomed a group of new 1-Star and 2-Star junior
instructors. We are fortunate to now have over 50 Parelli
Professionals in the UK, meaning that access to some
An Education in the
Theory Behind Natural Horsemanship
by Laura Aitken
In 2009, Parelli developed an exciting partnership with
City & Guilds Land Based Services to provide a Natural
Horsemanship qualification that was recognised officially
within the UK.
City and Guilds Land Based Services aim to promote
competence and professionalism in the workforce of the
land-based and related industries by the encouragement
of continuous learning and the recognition of skill. They
provide qualifications in a wide range of areas from Animal
Care to Machinery.
With the Parelli home-study program already helping
thousands of students across the world to achieve
success with their horses, it seemed like a natural fit, so
the Foundation Certificate in the Theory Behind Natural
Horsemanship (in association with Parelli) was born. The
name is quite a mouthful, but what does it involve?
Terry Roberts, one of the first students to complete the
course, talks about his experience.
“There are three specific and very relevant learning
modules – Horsenality™, Seven Games and Safe Ride –
and these provided me with an excellent foundation for
putting the relationship with my horse first. You’ll learn
how to recognise different types of horse and then apply
the relevant training strategy, learn how the Seven Games
build trust and confidence between you and your horse
and how you can apply Parelli methods to riding.
“The modules really helped me to realise why communication, understanding and psychology are so important to
a successful partnership with any horse and the ultimate
aim of a qualification gave me purpose to my learning.”
When you have completed your learning, you can
then sit the assessment at the Parelli Centre in the UK.
Providing you pass, you will be awarded with a City &
Guilds qualification. There is also a very useful Q&A
session, which allows candidates to ask any questions
of the Parelli team.
“I would highly recommend this learning for either
anyone just starting out with Parelli or even for someone
who has been studying Parelli for a while,” says Roberts.
As I always find out when I undertake any Parelli Learning,
I always discover something that I didn’t know before
and you can never learn too much!”
Another student, Sarah Olney, realised the experience
didn’t just help her horsemanship.
“Not only have I gained an invaluable knowledge of
the theory behind Natural Horsemanship, but I have also
learned useful skills which are transferable to every day
work and everyday life with confidence and assertiveness.
It was a journey undertaken at my own pace.”
The course and assessments run throughout the year at
the UK Parelli Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire and is
open to everyone (you will need to be able to attend the
centre for the assessment). In January 2012, we are also
holding a workshop to support you with this course.
If you would like to register for the course or find out more
information just contact the Parelli UK team on 0800 0234 813
/ +44 2476 692 888 or e-mail us at uk@parelli.com. For more
information about City and Guilds Land Based Services please
visit their website at www.nptc.org.uk.
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Raised Center Aisle!
Construction Begins November 2011
800 343-BARN | www.mdbarnmaster.com
www.facebook.com/mdbarnmaster
photos by Megan McAuliffe
All the Latest from
Parelli Australia
by Megan McAuliffe
The Parelli Australia Campus is located in Wilton, NSW,
a 45-minute drive south of Sydney in the breathtaking
Wollondilly Shire, and only 9 kilometres off of the Hume
Highway. The campus is located in a scenic community
and provides students an escape from the ordinary to
accelerate their relationship with their equine partner
and have some fun!
March 2011 saw the first ever Parelli Fast Track course
held in Australia. With over 20 participants, students were
able to accelerate their learning and dedicate four full
weeks to their horsemanship journey. Seven of these dedicated students came all the way from Western Australia,
travelling nearly 4,000 kilometres (one way) with their
horses to spend time at the Australia Parelli Campus. It
must have been worth their while, as some have already
signed up for Fast Track 2012!
We are currently gearing up for our last set of courses
for 2011. Horse Behaviour and YOU is a two week course
Shannon
designed to take a more in-depth look at Horsenalities™
and developing your groundskills. The Flex Track Course
is designed to be a mini Fast Track experience to cater to
students with very demanding schedules. These courses
will be overseen by Parelli Professionals Kaye Thomas of
Victoria, Carmen Smith of Queensland and Rob McAuliffe
of NSW. We will have a support team to ensure all students
receive the best possible education Parelli can provide.
The Campus Faculty members are chosen by their level of
dedication to raising their own horsemanship level, hours
spent directly with Pat and Linda Parelli, as well as time
spent teaching in the field and at the International Parelli
Campuses; rest assured, this is PURE Parelli.
The Parelli Australia Campus has seen some recent
updates, including new sand footing in the large round
arena and improvements to our storage facilities.
We are also in the midst of establishing a final schedule
for 2012 course opportunities at the campus, which
Megan
Jamie-Lee
News
currently include a 4-week Fast Track Course followed by a
1-Star Instructor Course and Instructor Horsemanship
Course. Perhaps we will see Linda Parelli return in 2012 to
follow up on last year’s mind-expanding look at the Game of
Contact. This event sold out quickly last year, and we have no
doubt that Linda will raise it to the next level for us in 2012!
Please check the website regularly for updates and ensure
your email is registered for receiving the Parelli weekly E-news
for release dates.
The Parelli Australia office in Sydney is based at our
campus and is home to a new group of employees,
including Megan McAuliffe, Shannon Davies and JamieLee Carter. Megan, originally from the USA, is a 1-Star
Parelli Professional who started working for Parelli in 2003
at the USA Campuses before taking an extended maternity
leave to become a mum of two young boys. She is also the
wife of 4-Star Parelli Professional Rob McAuliffe. Shannon
Davies hails from sunny Queensland and accepted a
work opportunity with us after finishing up an Externship
Course at the Colorado Parelli Campus, USA. Shannon
has professional goals and is currently a 1-Star Parelli
Professional Trainee. Shannon enjoys her new career and
learning more about the business aspect of Parelli Natural
Horsemanship, as well as how beneficial it is to understand
all aspects of the business before going out into the field
as a Licensed Parelli Professional Instructor. Last but certainly not least is Jamie-Lee Carter, who assists us with
the dispatch of goods to customers across Australia and
internationally. In her short time with us so far, Jamie-Lee
has not only packed up equipment kits to send across Australia but also over to New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia.
Jamie-Lee is only 19 years young and is currently studying
to receive a Certificate; she is looking forward to travelling
abroad in early 2012. This team is here to help you with
any questions you may have, as well as assist you with
purchasing products, registering for courses at the campus
or simply updating your member details.
We encourage passionate and dedicated students of the
Parelli Program who are looking to learn more about the
Parelli culture and business to consider sending a resume
through to our office.
Will you be attending Equitana Sydney this November
2011? We hope to see you there! Not only will we have a
booth where you can come and talk to our Office Team
as well as the numerous Instructors in Australia and New
Zealand, but there will also be demonstrations from
Licensed Parelli Professionals each day. So stop by the
booth, say hello, check out the equipment for sale, get
re-energised and celebrate all things equine with us.
Are you aware of the new instructors in Australia and New
Zealand? We have over 30 instructors of all different star
rating, available to help you by offering lessons, clinics and
camps across our region. Have a look at www.parelli.com
for a complete list of Endorsed Parelli Professionals, which is
updated regularly.
Our storage facilities have been updated for good reason;
to make way for all of the new products released by Parelli,
including new colours of lines, halters, hackamores, reins
and a new clothing line. You can place an order at any time
via the Parelli Webshop or call us at the Australia Parelli
Office on 1800 460 988. All products are shipped directly
from our Sydney facility to you.
We wish you all the best in the New Year and look forward
to seeing you at a Parelli event soon!
photo by Coco
photo by Coco
West Point
Linda Parelli riding West Point
Ryan Rose riding Glo bridleless
while Zone 5 Driving Scamper
Linda and Pat Parelli with Moxie and Sheila
photo by Coco
photo by Coco
Pat Parelli riding bridleless on Aspen
Santana at Liberty
September 9-11, 2011
Pat Parelli Campus, Pagosa Springs
Kalley Krickeberg preparing for the 9/11 tribute ride
photo by Coco
Liberty & Bridleless Riding
September 9-11, 2011
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Berin Macfarlane does a backflip from Muppet
Caton Parelli bareback and bridleless on Liberty Major
Linda Parelli shares an emotional moment with Remmer
Amy Bowers and Sapphire wowed the crowd with a Liberty demonstration
Magical
Merlin
Have you ever seen someone who looks so familiar, you
swear you’ve met them before? Well, if you have, then you
know how Pat and Linda felt when James Gholson led
Rufoleno, a 5-year-old gelding, toward them at Pitchfork
Ranch in Guthrie, TX last September. As you can see in
these photos, this horse bears a striking resemblance to
Pat’s famed mare, Magic.
“When James led him in, Linda and I almost fell over,” says
Pat. “He looked like Magic’s twin brother.”
Because of his similarities to Magic, Rufoleno has been
dubbed “Merlin,” after the legendary medieval magician.
“He feels like a Left-Brain Extrovert,” says Pat. “Not only
does he look like Magic, but he’s got a great disposition,
he’s confident, and he’s very playful.”
Merlin has already successfully competed in reined
cowhorse events and is working in advanced levels of
FreeStyle riding, and Pat has begun his development in
the other Savvys.
You’ll be seeing more of Merlin as Pat continues to
develop their partnership. It’s already clear that Merlin is
worthy of his namesake, his tribute to Magic.
Registered name: Rufoleno
Barn name: Merlin
Date foaled: February 22, 2005
Sire: Lil Ruf Peppy
Dam: Dixie Chic Olena
photos by Mackenzie Kincaid
Tame Your
In July, Pat and a group of his top students traveled
to Reno, Nevada to demonstrate Pat’s techniques for
working with wild horses. The animals were all geldings,
3-4 years old, and were provided by the Bureau of Land
Management, which is responsible for the management
of America’s wild herds. With Pat coaching his protégés
Wild Horses
and the crowd watching — both from the event center and from
around the world via webcast — these wild horses received an
excellent start on their taming, and a solid foundation for future
partnership with humans. Several of the horses were adopted in
the course of the event, and the rest will continue to work toward
adoption within Nevada’s prison wild horse training program.
photos by Coco
Atwood Ranch Naturally
Young Horse Development Program
DON’T LOOK BACK . . .
Specializing in the development and sale of Atwood bred yearlings and two-year-olds
And don’t miss out as 2011
comes to a close! The two-yearolds are saddled and riding,
the yearlings have completed
our preschool program and
the foals are nearly weaned.
Whether your goals for the
New Year include performance,
pleasure or simply making
progress with a great partner —
we have a young horse suited
to your ability and needs.
Come take a look!
ATWOOD RANCH
4400 County Road 200A
Orland, California 95963
For information
Catherine Sapienza
530-865-1525
info@atwoodranchnaturally.com
www.AtwoodRanchNaturally.com
The breeding you want,
with the foundation they need,
from the brands you trust.
Photo by Jo Danehy
A PARELLI PREFERRED PRODUCT
Community
26 Meet the East Anglian Savvy Team / 30 Global Community / 34 Partner Profiles / 36 Northland Natural Horsemanship Games
39 The Hero’s Journey / 40 Learning to Speak a Common Language / 42 Staying Savvy in Norway
44 Persistence, Parelli, and Amy’s Dream
photo courtesy of EAST
photos courtesy of EAST
Parelli Around the World
Meet the East Anglian Savvy Team
by Beth Barling
This is a story that supports the adage “the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts” – or in other words, how
when people come together in a group, great things can
happen. This is the story of the East Anglian Savvy Team.
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the region,
let’s begin with a little geography. East Anglia is a region
in England, the big bump on the east of the country that
sticks out into the North Sea towards the Dutch coast. It
is an ancient land, first formed as the Kingdom of the East
Angles in the year 520, and today comprises the original
member counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as the
counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, and
Hertfordshire. Covering some 7,380 square miles, including
250 miles of coastline, East Anglia is well-known for its flat
fenlands, reclaimed marshlands, waterways, agriculture
and tourism.
The story begins a couple of years ago in 2009, when
connections between four Parelli students in the region
began to be made: Anthony Greenleaves, Cath Langley,
and Jacqui Sharland (all in Suffolk), and Jennifer Woods
(Norfolk). “Jennifer and Jacqui already knew each other,”
said Cath, “and Anthony and I had done the Fast Track
together and supported each other to do the instructor
course.” In January 2011, all four came together at the
Parelli campus in Florida to attend the 1-Star Instructor
Course and became the first licensed Parelli professionals
in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Community
Four heads are better than one
The four newly qualified instructors were presented with
two challenges: firstly, how to find and present themselves
to students (who had gone from having no local instructors to suddenly having four) in the most effective and efficient way, and secondly, how to grow interest in Parelli in
the East Anglian area. The answer lay in working together.
“In order to achieve our vision
of growing Parelli in East
Anglia, and in the spirit of
‘We Are Parelli,’ it was crucial
to work together as instructors
and not competitively.”
“In April this year, the four of us got together with an
initial idea of organizing a Parelli Games day,” said Jennifer.
“We got talking and things quickly began to snowball —
we realized that in order to achieve our vision of growing
Parelli in East Anglia, and in the spirit of ‘We Are Parelli,’ it
was crucial to work together as instructors and not competitively.” And so the East Anglian Savvy Team was born.
Free choice
When the four instructors offered their free hours during
their trainee period, this was a great opportunity for students
to meet all four instructors and get to know them. For
students, knowing that the instructors were working together
and not competitively meant that they felt free to select the
instructor they preferred to work with, even if it wasn’t necessarily the one closest to them. “Students like the fact we’re
not competitive. We recognize that different teaching styles
appeal to different people. By working together our aim is to
best serve the needs of students in our area.”
Beverley Foreman lives in the area and has been a Parelli
member for five years. “Over the last few years I’ve felt
quite isolated as a student,” explained Beverley. “Now we
have support everywhere we look; it’s wonderful. And we
can work with all of them; it makes it easy knowing that
they work together and are so supportive of each other.”
Making connections
With a handful of students dotted around the region, the
team saw that there was a big need to connect students
Parelli Professionals Jacqui Sharland and Jennifer Woods
together to form a group that would get together socially
and also provide a central access point for people interested in Parelli and looking for information about things
happening locally.
In July, the inaugural “EAST Parelli Social” took place in a
hotel in Norwich. The evening was billed as a place to come
to meet new friends, share experiences, talk to instructors,
and watch a fun communication demo in a relaxing environment. The aim: to bring the Parelli community in East
Anglia closer together. The event was advertised on Parelli
Connect and Facebook, and the news spread amongst the
students they knew already, but as a first event it was an
adventure into the unknown: would anyone come?
When the instructors arrived at the hotel they were
shown into a big room. Oh no, would they be able to fill
such a big place? They needn’t have worried; that night
18 people came along. Half of them were already Parelli
members, but many weren’t, and there were even a few
photos courtesy of EAST
people completely new to Parelli. New connections and
friendships were made, and the group discussed the types
of things they’d like to do together.
Beverley Foreman was able to take a neighbour along
to find out more: “My neighbour couldn’t stop peeping at
what we were doing with our horses, and she soon started
with Parelli. We took her along to the inaugural social
meeting and now she’s hooked!” Beverley also made some
new connections and had several invitations to meet up
with other people and their horses – something she’d
never been able to do before.
Let the Games begin!
In August, the team ran their first Parelli Games and Spotlights day. The team worked hard to set up the Games area
where there was an arena, round pen, various obstacles and
plenty of space for the horses. An area was sectioned off
for spectators, where a marquee housed a barbecue, plus
tea and homemade cakes, as well as a table loaded with
free back issues of Savvy Times, calendars, books and Parelli
catalogues. Many people pitched in to support the day,
including the instructors’ husbands, wives and other
family members.
In total there were 19 horses, with 18 entrants in the
Parelli Games classes, and over 30 spectators. Participants
could enter up to three classes, choosing from three On
Line classes, Liberty and Freestyle. There was a prize draw
for three two-hour lessons, as well as one free two-hour
lesson for the best spotlight. In the afternoon, there were
optional spotlights – an opportunity for individuals to
show what they can do and show the relationship they
have with their horse.
The day began with simulations of the games, with
Anthony expertly demonstrating the On Line games, with
Cath, Jacqui and Jennifer acting as his “conga horse”! Then
the Games began, using the official Parelli Games rulebook,
with zip ties applied to all lines so that the lightness of the
human could be tested. The instructors did the scoring for
the classes and were delighted and very proud of what
they saw. There was a broad range of experience and
expertise amongst the participants, and many of them were
taking part in the Parelli Games for the first time. Jacqui
explained how they aimed to create a safe environment
where people could feel confident to take part at whatever
level they were at. “We were really pleased to see how brave
people were to give it a go,” said Anthony. “It was great to see
so many lovely relationships between people and horses.”
After the Games, there were nine individual spotlights,
demonstrating three of the Four Savvys (On Line, Liberty
and Freestyle). At the end of the afternoon, rosettes were
awarded to the Games participants, as well as rosettes for
people who took part in the spotlights.
It was definitely an exciting first experience for
Beverley. “I was very apprehensive when I arrived and
saw so many people,” she said, “But with the support of
the instructors, that soon diminished. I found that everything I’d learned I could put into practice.” Beverley even
felt confident enough to do an On Line spotlight with
some Liberty at the end: “I was a little worried at first,
but to know that I wouldn’t be judged or criticized was
a very safe feeling; it was completely different than my
previous experience of shows.”
Participants paid to enter the Games, and there was a
raffle with plenty of great prizes (including horse feed,
Community
champagne, a copy of Pat’s book, and jelly beans, to name
but a few!) and a bucket for donations. The proceeds from
the day went towards the Parelli Horsemanship Fund – an
amazing £1000 (USD $1550) was raised. “The day was the
biggest success we could have imagined!” said Jennifer. The
team is already thinking about making it an annual event.
“We all share a vision: to cause
more people in East Anglia to
become interested in Parelli.”
Working as a team
Working as a team has proved to work well so far.
“Starting out on your own can be tough,” said Anthony.
“With four of us we feed off each other’s strengths. We can
pool resources, ideas and skills.”
One of the things that works well is having the same
goal, explained Cath: “We all share a vision: to cause more
people in East Anglia to become interested in Parelli.”
They also know that it’s important to embrace change
as more people qualify as licensed Parelli Professionals –
there is an open invitation for new instructors in the region
to join the team. “Being part of a successful team needs
diversity, with a mix of people and skills. It also needs to
have people who appreciate diversity and can work with
that,” said Jacqui. “Together we can do so much more.”
Their friendship and team spirit is also providing support
for their own horsemanship; the team get together
regularly with their own horses to support their own
progress and help each other with their Levels auditions.
“It’s great having such a support network,” said Jennifer.
“They’re brilliant people – I’m loving it.”
Building a foundation for the future
Although the team hasn’t been working together for
long, the impact of what they’ve done so far is already
apparent. “There is definitely more cohesion across the
area as students get to know each other better. And we’ve
been able to welcome new people through the social
events,” said Jacqui.
This is something the team is keen to do, with plans to
do a social event every six weeks, rotating them around
the region so that there will be an event close to each
instructor on a quarterly basis.
Being part of a group has given Beverley the
encouragement she needs to make progress. She is using
Parelli Connect to keep in contact with others in the group
and tick off horsemanship tasks. “Having local support is
really important, especially now I’m just starting in Level
3 – and now I’m doing it with a local friend!”
So that’s the story of the East Anglian Savvy Team. But
the story doesn’t end here; it’s just the beginning. Parelli
member Beverley is excited about the future: “East Anglia
is going to take off with Parelli!”
To find out more about the East Anglian Savvy Team, visit
www.facebook.com/Parelli.EAST and connect with them
on Parelli Connect.
Global Community
The Parelli Easter Ride in Mallorca
Tanja Bever, Spain
The Parelli Community in Spain is still comparatively small,
and even smaller in Mallorca, a beautiful Spanish island in
the middle of the Mediterranean. But we are active!
Practically all horse-related activities are outdoors, as
there is only one tiny covered arena on the entire 500
sq km island, so apart from a relatively small community
of competition-focused horse people — show jumping,
dressage, some western disciplines and of course trotting
races — riding out is really what people do with their
horses. As small as our island is, it is also very diverse; we
can enjoy very nice mountain trails, wide open meadows,
and, of course, beach rides.
As Parelli people, we love to put a purpose to things. So
my husband Lance, also a Parelli Licensed Professional,
and I decided to combine both promoting Parelli Natural
Horsemanship with a bit of local culture when planning
our first official Parelli Ride Mallorca this spring. We had
just gotten to know a small vineyard and bodega of ecological local wines, which happens to be a short hour ride
away from our facility here in the center of the island. The
vineyard is on a 120-hectare property with an 18th century
mansion that has belonged to an old Mallorcan family for
many generations.
So on Easter Sunday, a small group of Parelli friends
gathered up, and after a short trail ride safety rehearsal
on our property, we headed off through almond orchards,
passing fig tree plantations and finally through a small oak
tree forest to “Son Drago.”
With our 22-foot ropes, we quickly put a safe tying
device together for the horses, surrounded by a group of
Mallorcan and Moroccan kids asking if we were “vaqueros
verdaderos” (real cowboys).
The Feliu family had prepared a lovely “merienda” for us
with coca, the typical Mallorcan pizza-style tart, homemade
bread, red pepper sausage and cheeses. Carlos Feliu, who
runs the vineyard and produces the wines, told us about
the history of the company and explained the different
wines to us, actually giving us an entire wine seminar! Not
everybody knew that Mallorca wine was produced and
exported to ancient Rome!
After an uneventful ride back, the adventure segued into
a lovely evening with a super-sized paella, prepared by
our son-in-law and professional chef Andreas, which was
enjoyed over lots of horsey talk and happy smiles. As a
friend of ours commented: Parelli, ponies, paella... perfect!
Community
Live Your Dream
Eva Cavalini, Holland
I discovered Parelli on Cardinal Ranch, in the Rocky
Mountains of Canada. I was a volunteer there for a couple
of months, to train the horses and guide tourists. Before
this trip, I had been skeptical about the Parelli program for
quite some time. But eventually I did open my eyes. I had
clinics with Don Halladay, did lots of trail rides, and started
some young horses. When I got back to Holland, my eyes
where wide open and there was no way back. Parelli is the
way I want to live with horses.
I met my partner Roy, and we started living together while
I bought my own Paint Horse called Mountain, and sadly my
dad died. Last September, Roy asked me to marry him and I
said yes. After my dad died, I always knew that when I was
going to get married I wanted my horse to give me away.
Mountain is 4 years old and I started him at 2 years of
age. He is quite a dominant Left-Brain Extrovert. He was
quite a challenge when I started him, and that was when
Eefje Veenstra, 2-Star Parelli Professional, started helping
me. We are now Level 3/4 students and are learning and
progressing every day.
When I decided Mountain should give me away, I asked
Eefje for her help. She immediately and enthusiastically
said yes. I knew I couldn’t do this without her help. I asked
my little brother to walk with me and Mountain down the
aisle and we immediately started practicing. We practiced
with everything we could think of, because prior and
proper preparation prevents things from going wrong!
July 1st was our wedding day. We had everything
arranged, including a special permit to get married in
open air, with Eefje working with Mountain for the day. It
all worked out and was stunningly beautiful; Mountain was
great and I know I lived this dream thanks to Parelli and all
it brought me.
I am writing this in the train to Paris for our mini-honeymoon.
Our actual honeymoon is in September to the Canadian
Rocky Mountains... the place where my journey started.
You can make
a difference...
...and help change the world.
Every day, we hear from students whose lives – and horses – have
been transformed using the Parelli Program. But just as Parelli
is way more than riding, it’s also more than just horsemanship
techniques. What makes this program truly unique is the sense of
community and camaraderie that exists among Parelli students.
This all began with Pat and Linda, but it’s become so much more. It’s
about you and your growth; it’s about your horses and their stories;
it’s about where you’ve been and where you’re going; it’s about all
the people who are walking alongside you, sharing the journey.
Everyone who studies, teaches and promotes Parelli principles
worldwide is an important part of what “Parelli” means. We are
more than the sum of our parts – together WE ARE PARELLI and
we believe WE can create a better world for horses and humans....
This is Our Mission
With your help, to create a better
world for horses and humans.
Read the Entire Parelli Horsemanship Fund White
Paper at: www.parellihorsemanshipfund.org
Global Business Strategist to Lead
Parelli Horsemanship Fund
Charged as it is with making the world
a better place for horses, the Parelli
Horsemanship Fund is pleased to announce
its partnership with global business strategist
and 2-Star Parelli Professional Lori Northrup.
Northrup will manage the day-to-day
operations of the fund, spearhead fundraisers,
interface with rescues and therapeutic riding
groups and guide the fund’s growth.
“Lori has always been passionate about
Parelli. She’s a bright, dynamic business
woman and we are honored that she has
volunteered her skills to spearhead the Fund’s
initiatives,” says Parelli Media Director, Neil Pye.
To make a donation of any kind, please
contact Lori directly at 716-474-7580 or
email Lori@Northrup.com.
Helping to create
a better world...
The Reality of Scale
Because of the impact Parelli has had on the relationships
between horses and humans worldwide, many people
reach the erroneous assumption that Parelli is a huge
corporation with limitless pockets. In truth, we are a relatively
small business with a very big dream to help create a better
world for horses and humans! Today, 1 in 200 horse owners
use the Parelli Program worldwide. When we achieve our
next milestone goal and 1 in 100 horse owners worldwide
are members of the Parelli Program, we will automatically
donate 15% of all member revenue to the foundation (in
addition to the 75% of Benefactor member revenue we are
committing to the Horsemanship Fund TODAY).
Our ultimate goal, with your help, is to reach 1 in 10 horse
owners worldwide using the Parelli Program. When we reach
this goal, we will be able to not only educate but also donate
significant funds to all of the Horsemanship Fund’s causes.
Can you imagine how that would transform the world?!
Like any small business, we have to carefully watch
expenses and often have moments where we “soldier on
through” in the face of doubt and economic downturn. Many
might read the above aspirations and think we’ve gone a bit
mad. Those individuals would make a critical misjudgment,
however, by not realizing the transformative power that love,
language and leadership have with horses and humans alike
and how that love can, and has, changed the world already. So, are we crazy? Maybe. But who would have thought
in 1991, when Pat and Linda coined the term “natural
horsemanship,” that today it would be a household term
in the equine industry? Who could have guessed that
communication with horses could have changed the
lives not only of a cowboy from California and a girl from
Australia, but for a legion of horse owners worldwide who
call themselves part of the Parelli Family? No one can guess,
but we can get there, with your help; of that we are certain!
Your Support and Involvement is Critical
You are the pioneers of a movement that has already
helped create a better world for horses and humans.
Through your support and word-of-mouth efforts, the new
Parelli Horsemanship Fund will touch the lives of countless
horses and horse lovers worldwide. We can’t do it without
you, nor would we want to. Worlds are changed one life at
a time. Your efforts and life experiences will be instrumental
in helping to change the world for horses and humans. By
taking the time to tell your story, by getting involved and
encouraging others to reach for their dreams, you will help
the Parelli Community advance real change in the lives of
horses and humans around the globe.
The New Parelli Ponies
Modeled after each of the four Horsenalities™, these
adorable soft toys are sure to capture your heart and
imagination. And best of all, 100% of profits from the
sales of Parelli Ponies will be allocated to the Fund,
where they will be helping to find “forever” homes
for horses in need, enriching children’s lives through
natural horsemanship learning, developing future
para-equestrians, and supporting students all over
the world by developing the Parelli Professionals and
equine educators of tomorrow.
Other Ways You Can Help:
• Be a good example and show others the power of love,
language and leadership for horses and humans alike.
• Spread the word about helping to create a better world for
horses and humans by talking about your experiences in
the Parelli Program with ALL of your friends, not just the
horse owners!
• Get connected and support fellow students and newcomers
near you on Parelli Connect.
• Become a fan of our Facebook page and share it with your
Facebook friends.
• Coordinate or participate in a fundraiser.
• Buy a Parelli Pony.
• Buy a new horse through the Parelli Dream Horse Program.
• If you already have the Levels Pathways DVDs (Levels 1
through 4), then consider lending the DVDs to a horse
rescue or therapeutic riding center near you.
Finally, thank you for your time to read this and we look
forward to sharing your positive energy and support.
Together we WILL help create a better world for horses
and humans!
P.S. Help us spread the word and start your friends on the path
to success! Helping change the world for horses and humans
is as simple as telling three people about the FREE 30 Day Trial
Membership on ParelliConnect.com. As soon as they sign on
they’ll have FREE streaming access to the complete Level 1
Educational Program so that can begin their horsemanship
journey without delay!
Partner Profiles
Lily
Draft x Paint / Mare / 5 Years Old / 16.1hh / Left-Brain Introvert
Playing in Level 2-3 / Partner of Sue Lanthier, Ontario, Canada
How did your horse come into your life?
I was getting out of horses altogether. I was very
discouraged with what I was taught to do with traditional
methods. I loved these animals, so how could I continue to
treat them this way?! So I was going to love them from afar.
But a chance visit to a farm changed my world forever.
The horses at this farm were different. They were interested in people. They certainly didn’t have that ”get me out of
here” look, and I wanted to learn why that was. I was invited
to hang out, play and learn. I began attending regularly.
During my days there a young, Paint filly began hanging
around me. I didn’t pay much attention at first. I really
don’t care for Paints much, especially the ones with lots
of white on them. This was a medicine hat Paint yearling
with blue eyes, and she was at the gangly, “parts don’t fit
together” stage. But boy did she want my attention! Lucky
for me, I was smart enough to listen to her. Due to her
persistence I started to look at her differently. I could see
the swan hiding in the “ugly duckling”. I bought her but
we both know she picked me.
i.com!
Send your partner’s profile to savv ytimes@parell
Please limit your submission to 500 words.
and send us
Answer any or all of the same questions you see here,
some high-resolution photos of your partner!
Tell us about the best moment with your horse.
There have been so many! She’s very expressive when I
find itchy spots. I’d gotten used to her eyes closing, head
dropping and her lip pointing... then she started pointing
to where she was itchy! But one time in particular I must
have hit a really good spot because she lifted up her back
leg and held it up! She’s done it since then but at that time
I didn’t know horses would, or even could, do that! I stood
there licking and chewing for quite awhile. Another monumental time was when I had turned her loose after a play
session. We were walking back to the herd together and
just before she went over the last hill I climbed up on some
farm machinery in order to see her better as she joined
them. Instead of leaving me, she sidled over, actually sidepassing to position herself so I could get on. I was absolutely dumbfounded! Never in a million years did I think
that would ever happen to me. It was a huge moment. I
was, and still am, humbled to this day. I strive each day to
be worthy of those moments. The irony never escapes me
that a mostly white Paint — the last horse I ever would
have been drawn to — has been one of the best things
that has ever happened to me. Maybe sometimes fairy
tales do come true...
Check out Lily’s updates on Parelli Connect!
www.parelliconnect.com/horses/7476
Arab x Australian Stock Horse / Mare / 8 Years Old / Left-Brain Extrovert
Playing in Level 2 / Partner of Yvette Fenning, Rockhampton, Australia
How did your horse come into your life?
Cosima was born on 6th October 2003 at 9.40pm in my
paddock. She is the first and only foal I have bred. She is
the offspring of my gorgeous Arab mare, Tahlia, and my
farrier’s champion Australian stock horse stallion.
At that time, I was suffering a long-winded illness that
left me unable to ride for a couple of years. So, rather than
watch my horse go to waste in the paddock, I decided to
allow her to have a foal. I fully intended to sell the foal, as
I certainly had no need for another horse at the time. But,
that plan went out the window at about 9.41pm when I
walked down to check on my pregnant mare and my
torchlight fell upon that baldy face.
What lesson has your horse taught you that you use in
your everyday life?
Cosima has taught me to turn frustration into fascination, and to get out of my comfort zone to try new things.
She has a greatest outlook on life. Everything is fun and
exciting to Cosima. The world is a giant playpen, begging
to be explored. She is teaching me to be bolder and more
adventurous. For years, her dam (Tahlia) and I have been
playing along in our own little Right-Brain Introvert safe
and secure way, progressing in small steps in our own time
and not getting anywhere fast. But Cosima is challenging
me to be better, to get those Levels assessments in and get
on with the journey.
Cosima
Tell us about the best moment with your horse.
I have two moments that immediately spring to mind.
The first was the instant that my torchlight hit her newborn
face and I fell instantly and completely in love with her.
The second was a time when I drove out to see my horses
at a different time of day than normal. They were way off
in the distance up the top of a very large hill. I called out
and Cosima immediately flew into a full gallop down the
hill towards me. She was going so fast that she couldn’t
stop and she shot straight past me. I thought she would
keep running all the way down the hill to the feed shed
and leave me standing half way up the hill, but she didn’t.
As soon as she managed to pull herself up, she wheeled
around and galloped straight up to me, stopping with her
head in my chest.
What are your dreams and goals with your horse?
My dream is to become the person I need to be in order
to allow Cosima to become all she can be. I mainly ride
English style, but I have a strong sense that Cosima would
rather chase cows than prance around an arena. I hope to
take her to some cow-type Parelli clinics in the future, once
I have developed into a good enough rider to stay on her
for the chase.
Check out Cosima’s updates on Parelli Connect!
www.parelliconnect.com/horses/4283
photos by Helen Frances
Northland Natural
Horsemanship Games
by Pat Hunter
An exciting idea with small beginnings in a small rural
place became a big natural horsemanship event that
inspired more than a thousand people.
In Northland, a sparsely populated area at the top of the
North Island of New Zealand, there is a small active group of
Parelli students. I am one of those students, and I organise
clinics to be held in Whangarei about three times a year
with Russell Higgins, 4-Star Parelli Professional. Whangarei
is the only city in the north and has a population of 48,000
people. I also run an email newsletter for Northland Parelli
students and a website to update students about playdays
and clinics happening in the North.
Around September 2010 I began to think, “We could
do some kind of natural horsemanship event — something really inspiring and challenging.” I felt that the more
advanced students might like something a little different to put in their calendar, and we could also showcase
Parelli. I came up with the idea of a Northland Natural
Horsemanship Games. Soon I was joined by a few other
Parelli students who were also excited about this idea, and
together we mapped out how we saw the Games.
Our aim was for the Games to be fun, safe, exciting, challenging and inspiring. It would be run using Parelli principles
and also it would be inclusive, involving all sorts of horse
people. There are many in our area who are doing some kind
of natural horsemanship and many in Pony Club and endurance clubs who are wanting to change the way they interact
with their horses. Often I am contacted by people who don’t
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know how to get started. We wanted to reach these people
as well as provide for our Parelli students.
It was decided the Games would be a mixture of games
and demos, as well as having sponsors and stalls. Committee member and Parelli student Leanne Cameron worked
many long hours on the instructions and details for each of
the games, which was published online in a booklet form.
Six months of intensive planning and hard work, some
media coverage, lots of help from the networking tools on
the internet and some fantastic and enthusiastic sponsors,
and it was game on!
As it got closer to the day, we realised it was going to be
much bigger than we had thought. We finally had quite a
lot of entries, we had more than enough money and gifts
for prizes from generous sponsors, and it appeared that
lots of people were intending to come this year for a look
and then enter next year. Two of the three New Zealandbased Parelli Professionals, Russell Higgins and Tori Murray-Elley, agreed to do three demos between them.
There were nine ground skills games and nine horseback
games. Each of the contestants could choose from three
levels of difficulty by designating that they were going
for 5 points, 10 points or 20 points. They could choose a
different level for each game. As an example: for 5 points
a game might be played using a 12-foot Line, whereas the
10 points would be using a 22-foot Line and for 20 points
one might use a 45-foot Line or play at Liberty.
Anyone who succeeded at the points level they had
designated won a ribbon. In any one game, we could have
several winners or all the contestants might be winners.
At the judge’s discretion, one person could win an extra
certificate and prize for being outstanding in some way in
their relationship with their horse during the game.
Adults and children, horses, ponies and minis were all
contestants together in the same games. It was hard to
keep your eyes off Tori’s 8-year-old sister Hope Moorehead
and her pony Spencer, both of whom have fantastic spirit,
focus and determination. They entered every game and
took away not only a pile of ribbons, but a major prize at
the end of the day!
Our aim was for the Games
to be fun, safe, exciting,
challenging and inspiring.
The Whangarei Riding for the Disabled charity (RDA) made
their whole facility and all their equipment available for us
on the day. Conveniently, RDA is situated in the same park
as the event. RDA Whangarei is aiming to become affiliated
with Parelli; currently Tori is training staff and volunteers in
Level 1. Claire Leighton, one of the volunteers and a Parelli
student herself, plays with their horses in her spare moments.
Russell and Tori absolutely wowed the crowd of over a
thousand people in their demos. Leanne Cameron, along
with her horse Star, showcased what a Level 2 student
and her horse could do with a big ball; she and Star did a
great job. Star is a Kaimanawa pony — from the wild horses
caught in an annual “cull” in the highlands of the central
North Island.
Russell and Tori absolutely
wowed the crowd of over a
thousand people in their demos.
The Parelli tent was overwhelmed by people wanting
to sign up, especially after each demo. Many people said
they were coming back to enter with their horse. “Oh!” we
thought. With thirty-four contests this year, we’d already
had almost more than we could manage!
The most common comments heard throughout the day
were about the horses: “I have never seen so many calm
horses at an event before,” “All the horses look so happy,”
and, “I want to be able to handle my horse that way.”
We employed the services of around twenty-five volunteers — mostly friends and relatives — to help us on the
day. Some weren’t horse people at all. Those that were
did jobs that were around horses. All volunteers wanted
to come back next year. They loved the atmosphere, the
horses, the demos, and the big thank-you dinner we held
for them.
Months after the Games, people were still coming up to me
in the street and saying, “I went to the Natural Horsemanship
Games — what a fantastic event!” and variations on that.
photos by Helen Frances
Many people came up in carloads from further south to
see what this event would be like. We even had contestants bring their horses from far and wide.
We learned that even though horses have been ready for
Parelli since their lives became entangled with humans,
now large numbers of people are ready for it too. It is
wonderful to have a fully developed educational system
to refer them to so they too can learn the joys of being
natural with their horses.
Watch it on YouTube!
Russell Higgins, 4-Star Parelli Professional, gave a terrific
demonstration of bareback and bridleless riding with
his horses Oscar and Maverick at the Northland Natural
Horsemanship Games. Check out the video of a part of
his performance on YouTube!
http://youtu.be/NFo75dMxUoA
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The Hero’s Journey
by Jim Patterson
All of us are on the Hero’s Journey, where one sets out
on a long, frequently arduous path, and is presented
with seemingly impossible tasks to complete — slaying
a dragon, if you will. As the journey unfolds, the hero
must confront and overcome those internal obstacles to
success: fear, weakness and self-doubt.
As a Parelli student, you too are on a journey, an expedition of sorts. Yours is defined as a journey with an uncertain outcome. There is you, your horse, and the Parelli path
to your vision.
The big questions are: How do I maintain my perseverance when the journey gets difficult or emotionally
uncomfortable? How do I find the courage to step out of
my comfort zone, letting growth and learning drive my
behavior choices instead of fear and my desire to stay
comfortable? What are the drivers that can take me to
where I want to go as a Parelli student?
Here is a formula for you to consider. For some of you, it
will be an answer to that question - The Creating Success
Formula: D+V+P>C
So, what do all these letters stand for, and how do I use
the formula?
D = Dissatisfaction. A clearly stated and compelling case
for change: Why can’t I keep doing business as usual with
my horse? (If I always do what I’ve always done, I’ll always
get what I’ve always gotten – some of you have heard that
before!) Step 1 is meant to cause some thinking on this. Write
it out, pulling no punches, using clear, simple language.
V = Vision. An emotionally compelling and specific
articulated picture of an ideal state you want to achieve.
Step 2 is writing a statement of intent – what do you want
it to look like in the future? What are images or emotional
references you can use to add color to your articulation of
an ideal state you want in your leadership and partnership
with your horse?
P = Process. The path to get from the current state to the
imagined future state. Hey! You don’t have to figure out what
this step is! Pat and Linda have done that part! Your job is
not to figure out the process, but to understand it deeply by
informing yourself and exploring through experience, the
applications of the Seven Games through the levels.
C = The cost of Change. Mostly the cost of change is emotional. Certainly there is some additional cost in terms of time
and money, but the greatest cost of any change is emotional.
Here is how this formula works. If the sum of D + V + P
is not greater than the cost of Change (C, which is mostly
emotional, plus time and some money), then movement
to your goal will be simply not happen. This holds true for
any human endeavor, from losing weight, furthering your
education, or becoming more skilled in being the best
leader for you horse.
The power in this simple formula is in doing great,
deep and meaningful work on the first 2 steps. Doing this
creates a force multiplier that simultaneously propels you
away from the unsatisfactory current state, and towards
the desired future state.
So – you have your homework to do! Spend some time
thinking and writing clearly about both your current state
and a more ideal future state. It should not take much time
— 30-45 minutes for each of the first 2 steps — and the
payoff can be remarkable. Never give up.
Jim Patterson is most famous for being the husband of
3-Star Parelli Professional Kelly Sigler Patterson. A trainer
and consultant in organizational and personal development,
he has worked with large companies all over the world conducting Leadership Development, Executive Coaching and
Employee Engagement programs. He has worked with many
Parelli Instructors, externs and interns teaching a mini-Play
To Win course at both the Ocala and Pagosa Springs Parelli
Campuses. He is available to teach Play To Win programs and
do personal coaching. Contact him at jimpatterson@mac.
com or visit The Looking Glass Group at www.tlgg.biz.
photos by Coco
Learning to Speak
A Common Language
by Lauren Barwick, 4-Star Parelli Professional
Paralympian and 4-Star Parelli Professional Lauren
Barwick has been awfully busy — and she’s been sharing
that journey with us! As Lauren prepares her new horses
for competition and navigates her own life (including her
recent marriage to husband Paul; our congratulations to
the happy couple!), she’s been keeping us updated with
blogs and Facebook updates. This is just one of Lauren’s
latest stories for us; if you’d like to read more, check out her
blog posts at http://bit.ly/qWBsWA or like her Facebook
page at http://on.fb.me/o817CW.
My mares Paris and Fergi – and my Australian Shepherd
Sky – have been training in British Columbia now since
August 6th. As much as I would have loved to be in
Colorado with the Mastery program and my husband Paul,
I made the decision to travel home to be with my mother.
She had had a heart attack eight weeks earlier, and really
needed to have family around.
We have been at a really nice equestrian center that has
beautiful arenas, but not a lot of places to really play with
horses. There is a square pen that we are allowed to be
off-line in, but the footing is quite hard, and I didn’t like
having the mares moving around on it.
This has left us with spending a lot of time On Line,
which gave me plenty of time to rediscover my patience.
Ropes, Carrot Sticks™ and 350 lb. wheelchairs don’t mix
well, unfortunately.
The problem isn’t that you can’t
hear them or that they are
talking too fast; you just don’t
speak the same language!
Both Paris and Fergi have spent many hours on a lunge
line and I feel as if I’m trying to re-wire our communications. It is so much easier starting with a horse that hasn’t
been handled at all. Both mares aren’t doing anything
wrong - actually, they are doing exactly what they were
taught to do - but I keep asking, “Why do you do that?
That’s not what I’m asking for,” and they keep saying, “I’m
confused; isn’t this what you mean? Why do you keep
asking me when I’m already doing it?”
Have you ever had someone speak to you in a different
language, and you didn’t understand a word they said?
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So they say the exact same thing, but only louder. And
then, again, they say it louder and maybe even slower
the next time. The problem isn’t that you can’t hear them
or that they are talking too fast; you just don’t speak the
same language! No one is right or wrong, but it can get
frustrating. It’s exactly the same when trying to help a
horse that has been taught with a different language. It
doesn’t matter how loud you get; you have to figure out
how to show them what your asking for. I feel for my mares
because they both try so hard and sometimes they are
doing exactly what they had been trained to do. For Paris,
a Right-Brain Extrovert, patterns and consistency are huge.
She had learned to go from the stall to the pen, and at the
end of the day back to the stall. Don’t deviate from this, or
else the world is going to come to an end!
With Fergi, if I picked up that Carrot Stick™ — whether
it’s in front of the drive line, behind it, or straight up in the
air — it meant go!
I’ve identified where I sit on the spectrum of a “carrot
person” being a 0 and “stick person” being a 10: I’d say I
am about a 6.8. When it comes down to it, I overdo it and
demand obedience. The session has to be effective and
there has be results; there was no walking all over me.
Knowing this about myself, I really have to slow down
and remember that when things aren’t working out and
the horses are doing things other than what I’m asking,
there is most likely just a communication problem, and it’s
my job to break it down and help them understand what
the answer is. I know how to be quick and effective. Now I
need to learn to get to a balanced 5 on the scale. I need to
learn to slow down, re-organize and wait! This is so hard,
because I like to move my feet — or should I say my wheels.
This month, I was having a terrible time with my changes
of direction with Fergi. I wanted to be on the 45-foot Line
doing them, and I was getting more and more frustrated
that she just wouldn’t change eyes and go from left to
right! Now, it doesn’t help that my power chair is really
slow and doesn’t go backward quickly enough. I have one
hand on my remote, one on the rope and one holding my
Carrot Stick™. After two sessions of frustration, I decided
to use the tools available to me and get really good at the
distance I was capable of achieving the best results at. Yes,
that meant I had to go back to a 12-foot Line in a small
pen, so I had the use of the fence. That made an incredible
difference! Instead of shaking a huge rope until my arm
wanted to fall off while driving backwards over what felt
like the length of a football field, Fergi became more connected. And instead of going right-brain, she slowed down
and started to ask more questions, which lead to beautiful
changes of direction! I almost teared up because of the
amount of frustration I had felt the two days before.
Four days later, after being on the 12-foot rope, we
moved to the 22’ and they were still lovely!
I know this is a common lesson, and we learn that when
we go to Liberty and things fall apart go back On Line. It
was just a matter of seeing the situation and doing what
was necessary in the moment.
photo by Anett Tveit
Staying Savvy in Norway
by Anita Veimo
Parelli is growing rapidly across the world, and it’s no different in our little country: Norway. The very first time we
had an official Parelli course in Norway was back in 2004. It
was a Level 1 course held by then-instructor Ute Lehmann,
and it was a great success. We learned more in that one
course than I had ever thought possible. And more important, from that point on, there was no turning back! Almost
all the people from our first course still are into Parelli, and
they’re making huge progress with their horses.
And here comes a little secret: my motivation for making
the arrangement this first time was not about changing
the world for horses and humans; it was a little more
personal. Two years prior to this, I met my husband, Bjørn
Otto, for the first time in another horsemanship course,
and I liked him from the first moment. He wasn’t a guy that
rushes into relationships, and he didn’t even notice my
interest at all, but he did tell me about the Parelli membership program! So when I got home, my first action was to
subscribe and start learning about the Parelli Program. My
horse “El-Key” was a yearling at that time, so we were in no
hurry, but we developed a strong and loving relationship
from the very beginning.
A couple of years went by, and being a Right-Brain Introvert, I still had not found a way to approach Bjørn Otto.
Then suddenly, getting a Parelli instructor here seemed
like a brilliant idea! And it was, even though Bjørn Otto
didn’t come. That was really perfect, because then I had
to do it again! And by the second time, we were already a
couple, and now we are married and have bought a nice
little farm for our horses and ourselves.
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photo by Bjørn Otto Braaten
Since then, there have been sixteen courses with several
instructors from different European countries, and other Norwegian Parelli students have started arranging courses as well.
We had two courses this year — one Level 1/2 and one
Level 3/4 — taught by UK-based instructor Lyla Cansfield.
These courses were so popular that they were fully booked
almost immediately; it’s easy to make arrangements these
days. A few years ago, it was more of a struggle, sending
hundreds of e-mails to fill one course.
But being in a Parelli course isn’t all about joy. Rather, it is
very much about being outside of your comfort zone. This
time was no exception! We all to some degree felt we were
swimming in deep water at times. It was a super opportunity to learn that Level 4 is Level 1 with excellence, and
to let that fact really soak in. Lyla is also super in reading
every human and horse in the arena at any given time.
How she managed to come up with one task that let all of
us progress in what ever area we need, even though it is a
different one for every person, was impossible for me to
grasp. But somehow she did it, over and over again.
We thought Parelli courses shouldn’t be all about work
for our terrific instructor, so we brought Lyla to a moose
farm: an opportunity for her to experience another big
prey animal! The one in the picture is “Arnliot.” He is the
head bull of the herd, standing 18 hands. I wouldn’t care
to meet him in the breeding season, but during our visit,
he was very friendly and curious. We had a short and interesting lecture about the specific traits of the moose,
and some of it sounded familiar. But we also discovered
that the horse is the ultimate flight animal. The King of
the Forest is much less spirited and more inclined to fight
rather than flight. Seeing this made us even more humble
about the gift our horses give us every day.
The newbies in Level 1/2 have started logging savvy
hours on Parelli Connect and every one of them are
determined to continue their journey and get support
in this community of horse lovers. The participants from
Level 3/4 are planning auditions or Fast Track courses, so
we might end up with some more Parelli Professionals
over here before long. When the highlights were listed
at the end of each course, it was interesting to learn that
they ranged from huge achievements to the small but
important details. I’m happy to say that every single person
went home with a satisfied smile on their face. I want to
thank everyone for being a part of making these days a
pleasant experience for everybody, horses and humans!
Everybody was kind and eager to give a helping hand in
all kinds of situations, and this loving attitude makes all
the difference! We will continue arranging Parelli courses,
because our desire to help change the world for horses
and humans keeps growing all the time.
After the courses were finished and our everyday life
knocked on our doors, we’re still filled with a fantastic
motivation to keep on playing with our horses, to get
our good better and our better best! “Take care of your
horsemanship, and your horsemanship takes care of you”
is surely a valid statement. I do indeed love my life, and my
horsemanship is a big part of that.
photo by Rebecca Fromherz
“What’s It All About?”
Persistence, Parelli, and Amy’s Dream
by Rebecca Fromherz
This is the testimonial of an opera singer and sister who
had a front row seat to true transformation. It is a letter
to the world that real change is happening, that humanity
is “getting it,” and that we are much more than we often
believe ourselves to be, both as individuals and as a
society. And ultimately, it is a letter of deepest gratitude to
Parelli for standing up for the welfare of spirit in the form
of horses, so that we humans may learn to wield the power
of love in constructive and beautiful ways.
Now, where do I begin?
Three months ago, I moved to Oregon to start changing
the world for singers and their voices. You may be wondering to yourself, “Why change the world for a voice?” I didn’t
know the answers to this question until very recently,
when I witnessed my very special sister Amy — with the
help of Pat and Linda and the whole team at Parelli Natural
Horsemanship — make a remarkable dream come true.
Last year, Amy approached me at the horse barn during
my vacation and said, “I’m ready.”
I could only ask, “Ready for what, Sis?”
”I’m ready to tell my story to Parelli. You’re going to make
a video about my life, and I’m going to tell everyone about
my dream to go to Colorado.” She wanted to make her
dream a reality, a feeling I’m very familiar with.
Along the path of twenty years studying and performing
as a classical singer, I’ve learned to survive the sometimes
cruel education system and business of music-making by
seeing my voice as something separate from myself. “Voice”
became an entity, an ideal, a symbol of freedom, joy, exuberance, and uniqueness. My voice, according to a famous
teacher in Vienna ten years ago, is a horse. And the horse,
according to Pat and Linda Parelli, is what it’s all about.
A large part of my decision to take on the daunting task
of changing the very well-established world of singing
was inspired by my sister Amy’s journey with horses and
Parelli Natural Horsemanship.
Amy hasn’t had an easy life. Watch “Amy’s Story,” the short
video on ParelliTube (http://youtu.be/ec1lFZ4dbJE), and
you’ll see what I mean. It’s easy to tear up when we hear
stories of people making it through obstacles to create
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the most from their lives. It’s a bit harder, however, to think
of the countless little details — beyond the overarching stories — that people like Amy have to live through
to attain basic freedoms, let alone success. For instance,
consider the hours and hours it took Amy to learn to write,
when all the children around her got it so easily; or the
times in gym class when she knew she couldn’t do what
the other students could. Or knowing that her little brother
and sister had to defend her — the oldest — from all the
kids who didn’t “get it,” who didn’t see her but for her differences. These are just a few of the really hard things.
The “hard things” were what my studies in singing were
all about. I asked myself, time and time again, what my
sister Amy often asked herself as a child: “Why am I not
fitting in?” “Why should I change myself to be what they
want?” “Why does it not turn me on to study the things
people think I should study?” “Why is this all so hard?”
Like the “normal” world of horses many of us unfortunately know too well, the world of music is often skewed.
Just as horses are often forced into performance through
violence, music students are given tools to “strengthen
themselves” without foundation, love, or truth. Product
is placed well above process, and careers fall apart more
quickly than they begin. Most of the time, we are taught
the partial truth: that to become great musicians, we must
know our music theory. We must know rhythm and composition. We must be able to package our thoughts and
instruments for presentation for someone “in the know.”
We must wear the right makeup, buy the right gowns, and
photo by Rebecca Fromherz
Rebecca (left) and Amy (right) meet Linda Parelli at the
2011 Summit in Pagosa Springs.
look, speak, and walk the part. But what gives purpose
to what we’re doing? What protects us from harm? What
gives a sense of dignity and sacredness to our pursuits?
Parelli people know the answer to these questions. It’s
the horse! We learn while studying Parelli that no matter
what we do, as long as we put the horse first, all is well.
Make a mistake? No worries, go to your Friendly Game!
Lose your confidence? Not a problem, try a different tactic
and work back towards it. Feel jealousy? Fear? Doubt?
Don’t worry! It’s not about you in the first place! How wonderfully freeing, and how incredibly powerful.
What gives purpose to what
we’re doing? What protects us
from harm? What gives a sense
of dignity and sacredness to
our pursuits?
I’ve witnessed this power time and time again in the way
my parents raised Amy. From the moment I was aware that
my sister was ‘different’ according to the world, I started to
watch my mom, Robin, carefully as she paved the way for
my sister. With the help of her passion and knowledge of the
law, Robin made sure that Amy lived up to her full potential.
When I asked Robin why she didn’t believe the doctors who
told her to put Amy in an institution, she said, “Because I love
Amy, I know Amy, and Amy belonged with family.”
My dad Allen also did all he could to meet Amy’s every
need. Over the years I’ve watched him follow his passion
for building pole barns, arenas, shops and homes, “making
it work” with a steady love through long hours and lots of
miles, when extra riding lessons led to horses for each of
us. Both Robin and Allen created all the new experiences
which made Amy who she is today. So much of our childhood was all about Amy... but who, really, is Amy?
Recently, I’ve been obsessed with the easy things. You
see, through all of the struggles in Amy’s life, through all
the tear-filled nights, the questions, the anger, and the
fear, we were taught about two very simple things: love
and life. What kept us going through the tears and the
triumphs, through the questions, the guilt, and the challenges? The knowledge of the truth of Amy’s worth.
The doctor’s proclamation at Amy’s birth was one of
worthlessness. It was a statement of hopelessness, of
darkness, and of death. I cannot even imagine not having
photo by Sharon Tiesdell Smith
Amy with Neil Pye, Caton Parelli and Pat Parelli during the 2011 Summit.
Amy in my life. Knowing that this walking ball of exuberance, curiosity, and growing confidence could have been
reduced to a shell of a person in an institution makes me
feel as protective and as powerful as a wild mother mare.
Playing with her and our horses makes me feel like I’m
running free in the fields, free from a world where we want
to define what is “right” and who is “worthy.” It makes me
feel free to be in a place where “what it’s all about” is as
apparent as the next breath we take.
Whether “it” is a horse, a voice, or a precious soul like
Amy, Parelli people “get it.” Witnessing Amy attend the
2011 Parelli Summit as a special honored guest, I got to see
her digest the beauty of a facility built to serve and uphold
life in the form the true “stars” of Parelli Natural Horsemanship: the horses. I saw her accept the hugs of recognition
from people who already loved her without having met
her. I got to laugh when I heard her compare notes with
Pat’s dapper son Caton about whether 4-wheeler or Gator
riding is best, and I got to cry tears of pride when she was
recognized for being who she is in front of the crowd with
hugs from Pat, Linda, and Neil.
I can end this testimonial with a deep sense of knowledge that Pat Parelli is teaching us something quite
profound in all of his work, and in particular, with his
teaching of persistence. Amy is living, breathing proof that
with persistence, life and love are possible. And the Parelli
program is proof that there is a way to put the “it” first, and
create a community that sees love and life, without fail,
in its members. I am honored to be a Parelli student. I am
honored to be Amy’s sister, and to have been along for the
ride on this amazing journey.
In closing, I’d like to share what Amy taught me about
voice just a couple days ago when she brought her thank
you notes for Pat, Linda and the Team over to show me.
You see, still accustomed to looking at the “hard things,” I
said, “Would you like me to proofread these for you Sis?” To
which she said, “No, I know what I want to say!” So I opened
the notes, which were written in Amy’s difficult script. At
the end of the letter to Pat and Linda, in bold, strong, clear
writing, Amy had simply written, “YOU ROCK!” To which I
can only echo — Pat and Linda, and all the Parelli Team
and community — yes, you certainly do!
Watch it on YouTube!
See the video that started Amy’s trip to Pagosa Springs
on ParelliTube! Learn more about Amy’s history and all of
the wonderful people who’ve helped her in her journey,
in horsemanship and in life!
http://youtu.be/ec1lFZ4dbJE
How Do You Know You’ve Done It Right?
by Letitia Glenn
One of the keys to successfully fitting your saddle is
making sure that your horse’s shoulders have plenty of
room to move freely. The scapulae must be able to swing
back underneath the front of the saddle, without pressure
that would restrict them in any way.
As you know by now, our extensive research has proven
that it is critical that your saddle NOT lock down tight onto
your horse’s back shape when he is standing still. Nor
should it sit too far forward on his body. Nor should rider
weight be dumped onto the forehand.
We have been passionately scientific about designing
Parelli Saddle systems to help you and your horse achieve
optimum performance and comfort. Shims under the
saddle help customize it to accommodate your horse’s
particular back shape. You’ll find lots of information and
pictorials on www.ParelliSaddles.com/Education to help
you diagnose your horse’s shape and what basic shim
patterns would be advisable to use. You can also download
checklists to help set yourself up for success.
I
ELL
PAR SIDE
IN
One thing that is critical to include in your personal
checklist before you mount up: be certain to check under
the front area of the saddletree (especially while the horse
is walking forward) to feel all the way back to the stirrup
bar. You should be able to feel your horse’s shoulder
working freely. NOTE: If you feel under there while he is
standing still, it will feel tighter than when the horse is
walking, but should still not be terribly tight.
You may need a friend to help you by leading your horse
while you do this. If feeling for his left shoulder, reach with
your left arm. If you use your right arm, your shoulder
could be injured if the horse should move suddenly. There
must be some pressure, of course, as the saddletree must
support/distribute weight all along its bars, but it must
not be so tight as to restrict shoulder action, or else the
horse cannot use his body correctly: gaits will be short and
choppy, he will likely travel with a hollow back, etc. See
the photo above for an example of how to check under
the saddletree.
“We do not judge how good a saddle is...our horses tell us!”
What is your horse telling you about how it feels when you ride?
Our Foundation models:
“Natural Performer”Western
“Cruiser” Hybrid Endurance
“Fluidity GP” English
(these are the most versatile
and athletic for achieving
high levels in the Parelli Program).
Our Sport-Specific models:
“Fluidity Dressage” English
“Ranch Roper ”Western
“Cutter” Western
Not shown above:
“Jumper” nor “Reiner” (see them on the website)
ins it!
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Parelli Saddles are provided by NATURAL HORSEMAN SADDLES, LLC, exclusively
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Education
50 Trail Riding: Fitness & Horsemanship / 52 Seven Games in the Saddle / 56 Motivation in Horsemanship / 59 Developing Mental Fitness
60 Circling Is Not Longeing! / 62 The Steady Rein / 66 A Bit of Bridling / 68 Strength of Bond / 70 Let’s Use Those Abs! / 74 The Value of Think Time
Trail Riding
Fitness &
Horsemanship
by Pat Parelli
Growing up in the East Bay area of California, I was able to
ride from the stables to my house, which was over 7 miles.
And we even had stables at my school, so I would ride there
too. For a 10-year-old to be able to use his horse for transportation was great; I thought, “This is better than a bicycle!”
That was my first experience with that sort of riding. I
wouldn’t call it “trail riding” per se, but it was a start. Then
I met a man named Freddie Feriera, who was involved in
an organization called NATRC, or the North American Trail
Riding Conference. We would join these trail riding competitions, where you sort of had to stay in this zone for 25-50
miles. If you went too fast or too slow, you were penalized,
and you were judged crossing creeks and things like that.
To prepare for these competitions, Freddie would take us
up in the Diablo Mountains for up to two weeks at a time.
He taught us everything we needed to know — how to
keep the horses safe, fed properly, how to keep them from
running away. Every five minutes, he had a new trail tip
for us. He was one of those guys whose passion was trail
riding, without a doubt.
Freddie Feriera was the man who really got me interested in trail riding, and I take a lot of pride in being able to
share what he taught me, because trail riding is a wonderful experience if you take the necessary steps.
It’s easy to see what draws people to trail riding. It’s a really
romantic image, actually: just you and your horse, out in the
wilderness, in a place that you can only get to by walking.
There’s just a wonderful feeling of freedom out there. Of
course, you can get yourself into trouble if you focus so much
on the idea of it that you forget some preparation.
Actually, I did something like that just the other day.
I went out on a trail ride with a few friends, and I forgot
to bring a saw. Not really something you’d usually think
about, but it still would have been a big help. We were out
there, trying to blaze trails around trees that had fallen,
and all we needed was a darn saw. It would have made the
ride a lot safer and a lot more fun.
photos by Coco
Education
Basically, you need to think it through — be prepared
for anything you think there’s a chance you’ll encounter.
There are a few things that are essential on any trail ride:
a raincoat, a way to tie your horse up, and a good sense
of direction. If you don’t have a good sense of direction,
bring a map and a compass. GPS and phones are great, but
you’re never guaranteed to have service out there. With all
that in mind, my best advice is to ride in a group.
I consider a group to be two or more people. Whenever
you go out into the wilderness, it’s best to have at least
one other person with you. You’ll have one more brain, one
more mind, to solve problems. Safety is obviously a huge
plus, and you’ll have some camaraderie as well. If you’re
out there appreciating nature’s beauty, you might as well
share it with someone.
Another thing to consider before you head out on
the trail is the type of horse you’ll be riding. If you’re still
looking for the right horse, breed preference is up to you,
but keep the horse’s spirit level and Horsenality™ in mind.
In general, Left-Brain Introverts are the easiest to work with
on the trail, while Right-Brain Extroverts tend to present
the most difficulty. Obviously, nothing is certain, but rightbrain horses are more likely to spook out on the trail.
At Parelli, we stress the importance of never-ending
self-improvement; along with that comes being open to
learning and adjusting your outlook. Over the years, I’ve
certainly come to understand how skills translate across
disciplines. The more I’ve learned about performance
horses — jumping, dressage, racing, reining, cow horses
— and what they do, the more I’ve realized how the skills
they use in an arena also apply on the trail.
The more I’ve learned about
performance horses and what
they do, the more I’ve realized
how the skills they use in an
arena also apply on the trail.
For example, horses that need to know how to perform
a slide stop can be great out on the trail. We’ve got this
mountain behind the ranch here in Colorado. It has a lot
of this loose shale rock on it, which can be pretty treacherous if you’re not prepared. We practice halts when we’re
coming down the really steep parts of the mountain, and
we use the same basic maneuver as a slide stop — get the
horse’s back up and his hindquarters under him.
Also, performance horses really need to be aware of their
surroundings and very perceptive of where their feet are.
These are the types of traits to look for in a good trail horse,
and I found them in performance horses!
Trail riding requires a combination of horsemanship and
fitness. Our program teaches horsemanship, the habits
and skills you need to become a partner with your horse.
Fitness is something you and your horse need to develop
throughout your partnership.
You can develop physical fitness by preparing your horse
for the elements — as much as you can — in a controlled
environment. Increase his endurance by playing at a
higher intensity level for longer periods of time. In preparation for NATRC events, we’d be out there three or four
times a week, getting acclimated to the elements. I’m not
suggesting you should do that, particularly if you’re just
starting, but it’s all about preparation.
Mental and emotional fitness are just as important. If
your horse is next to a horse trotting faster than he is, your
horse might want to race. Play the Seven Games and condition him to things that might spook him on the trail.
As long as you’ve prepared yourself and your horse, trail
riding can be one of the most enjoyable and memorable
experiences you share. Just keep “prior and proper preparation” in mind.
photos by Coco
Seven Games in the Saddle
Yo-Yo, Circling, Sideways and Squeeze
by Scott Teigen
Take a moment and think back (way back, if you need)
to your early school days. Remember learning to read and
write? Once you had a grasp on the alphabet, the next
step was forming words and sentences. You can think of
the Seven Games in the same way. The first three games
— Friendly, Porcupine and Driving — are like the alphabet.
The foundation for all of your communication.
In the last issue of Savvy Times, we took a look at the
first three games and how they translate in the saddle.
Now, we’ll expand your repertoire to include the next
four games — the “purpose” games. In keeping with our
language metaphor, these games are the words and sentences you’ll use to effectively communicate with your
horse. Of course, as your communication improves, so do
your abilities as a leader.
The Yo-Yo Game
When you’re on the ground, it’s pretty easy to understand
why the Yo-Yo Game was given that name. Your horse
starts near you, you back him up, and bring him forward
on a straight line. Just like a yo-yo. Well, the same concept
applies in the saddle as well.
“The reason I call it the Yo-Yo Game is to share the similarities
between this game and an actual yo-yo,” says Pat. “When you’re
playing with a yo-yo, you barely need to use any pressure to
get it to do what you want. Move your finger a little, and it
comes right up. Move it again, and it stays suspended.”
In the saddle, this suspension takes the form of maintaining straightness, in any and all maneuvers you and your
horse take part in. First and foremost, you should emphasize making smooth and graceful transitions. Pat looks for
“snappy departures and smooth transitions.”
“When your horse’s ‘go’ is equal to his ‘whoa,’ and when
your departures are equal to your transitions, you’ve got
it,” Pat says.
To help explain what these “smooth transitions” look like,
he draws on an example we’re all quite familiar with.
“It’s like driving a car. You shift from 1st gear to 2nd, to
3rd, and then to 4th. Then you go back down. It can’t be
jarring; it has to be graceful.”
Pat suggests a few exercises that can assist you in
making sure your transitions are smooth and you maintain
straightness. To begin, practice the following pattern along
a fence: walk/trot/walk/stop/back up. Performing this
Yo-Yo Game
Education
exercise along a fence is important, because the fence acts
as a reference in maintaining straightness. Once you’ve
practiced with the fence, perform the same exercise in a
cloverleaf pattern.
If possible, do this exercise in a freshly groomed arena or
in a field with a fresh layer of frost, so you can see your tracks
clearly. Perform the pattern from one end of the area to the
other, then look back and see how straight your tracks are.
“When they check their tracks, most people are surprised
how crooked their horse can be,” Pat says. “It looks like
someone rode a drunken cow across the field.”
To correct this, Pat suggests emphasizing the “game”
aspect of the Yo-Yo Game.
“Tell your horse, ‘I won’t use my legs to make you go, but I
will use my legs if you don’t go.’ It’s the same thing with using
the bit — ‘I won’t use the bit to slow you down, but I will use
it if you don’t slow down.’ So you make a little game out of it.”
“Also, use the Four Phases when you’re playing this game,”
Pat says. “For departures, it starts with a suggestion; then
you start to ask by squeezing your legs a little. If that doesn’t
work, start flicking your Savvy String in the air. And if he
doesn’t respond to that, maintain the pressure with your legs
and let your string touch him. The same philosophy applies
with the bit and the reins in your downward transitions.”
Naturally, straightness and focus go hand in hand. When
you play the Yo-Yo Game on the ground, getting your
horse to look at you is an indication of straightness. So
when you’re in the saddle, make sure your horse focuses
on what you’re focusing on.
“I use my horse’s ears like the scope of a gun,” Pat says. “I
‘aim’ with my eyes, my nose and my bellybutton, through
his ears to the point I’m focusing on. Maintain that focus,
no matter where you’re going.”
Circling Game
As odd as it may seem, the Circling Game also requires a
type of straightness. It’s called “straightness on a circle,” appropriately enough, and it occurs when your horse’s nose,
withers and tail are all on the same circle line. The bigger
the circle, the more gradual the line for the horse.
When playing the Circling Game in the saddle, it’s important to make sure maintaining straightness is your
horse’s responsibility. There are plenty of exercises to help
emphasize this.
“You can play ‘find the line’ in a freshly groomed arena,”
says Pat. “Make an imaginary circle, of any circumference
you prefer, and then have your horse walk, trot or canter
Circling Game
along that circle until his hoof prints form the line. Then,
play the same game — keeping the nose, withers and tail
on the line — without touching the reins. Then do it in the
opposite direction.”
As you’ve probably noticed while playing the Circling Game
on the ground, your horse is likely more comfortable circling
in one direction. In fact, most horses find it easier to circle to
the left than the right. As a result, exercises that strengthen a
horse’s ability to circle in both directions are key.
“There are plenty of ways to create a good circle,” says
Pat. “Take some barrels and place them in a circle, so you
have something physical to circle, to act as a reference. If
you’d prefer not to use barrels, create a chalk line. In fact, I’d
suggest making two chalk lines: take your 22’ line, chalk out a
line, and then tie your Savvy String to the 22’ line and create
another line. This creates a lane for you to circle through. See
if you can keep your horse inside the lane without using the
reins, then change directions and do the same.”
When you compare playing the Circling Game on the
ground to playing it in the saddle, it’s surprising how similar
the responsibilities are. It’s still the horse’s responsibility to
maintain gait, maintain direction, and look where he’s going.
It’s still our responsibility to think like a horse before we think
like a human, have an independent seat, and focus.
In addition, the three “parts” of the Circling Game remain
essentially the same whether on the ground or in the
saddle, even though the terminology changes slightly.
“On the ground, the first step is the ‘send,’” says Pat. “In
the saddle, you don’t start by facing the center, so there
isn’t really a send in that sense. However, the ‘departure’
is basically the same — a start to the game. When you tell
your horse that you won’t use the reins or stick if he stays
on the circle, that’s the ‘allow.’”
“Finally, the downward transition — from trot to walk, for
example — takes the place of the ‘bring back.’ This is where
a lot of problems arise, especially if you’ve just played the
Yo-Yo Game, because he’s just been taught that he needs
to maintain a straight line when slowing down. It takes
practice and savvy.”
Sideways Game
The Seven Games do not exist in a vacuum; they’re all
interrelated. If you’re having issues with your horse maintaining straightness on a circle, for example, you may have
transitioned too quickly from the Yo-Yo Game to the Circle
Game. Along the same lines, the Sideways Game is a great
indicator of your overall horsemanship.
“The better your horse goes sideways, the better he’ll do
everything else,” says Pat. “And it goes the other way, too. The
worse he goes sideways, the worse he’ll be at everything else.”
With that in mind, how do you get better at the Sideways
Game in the saddle?
“You need to expect a lot, accept a little, and reward often,”
says Pat. “That’s the biggest issue people run into: not expecting enough. We need to be particular without being critical.”
“Even if we’re going slow, we need to make sure the
hindquarters are traveling at the same rate as the front
end. A lot of times, the hindquarters will be about three
feet behind the front end, and the horse is looking in the
wrong direction. So really, the horse isn’t even moving
sideways. He’s just crooked.”
To avoid falling into the trap of being crooked, rather
than moving sideways, it’s vital to maintain balance with
your horse. Balance the horse’s front and back ends as you
go along. This can be accomplished with the reins, your
carrot stick, or both; whatever you’re comfortable with.
“Whether you’re using a stick or the reins, you need to
maintain a steady leg to apply pressure in Zone 3,” says
Pat. “The vital thing is that the leg cue you give your horse
means ‘go sideways,’ not ‘go forward.’ Most horses, when you
apply pressure with your leg, want to go forward, because
that’s how they were programmed when they were young.”
“This is one of the intrinsic values of the Sideways Game
— with time, it gets your horse to understand the difference between a lateral yielding leg and a forward leg.”
Once your horse understands your cues in the saddle,
you’re well on your way to mastering the Sideways Game.
“There’s a natural progression to it,” says Pat. “Empower
your horse to go sideways along a fence, then out in the
open, then around obstacles. This leads to a sense of exuberance in your horse, those ‘Oh, I get it!’ moments we all
love to experience.”
Squeeze Game
If there’s any game that requires you to think like a horse
before you think like a human, it’s the Squeeze Game. Place
yourself in your horse’s position, and you’ll understand his
hesitancy to really engage in the game.
“Let’s say you’re asking a horse to squeeze through a
tight space,” says Pat, “and you’re saying ‘Come on, let’s go!’
He’s thinking, ‘What do you mean, “let’s go?” It’s my head
that’s three feet out in front here!’”
Sideways Game
Squeeze Game
“It’s like if I said to you, ‘Hey, look around that corner and
see if they’ve got any more bullets left.’ From a horse’s perspective, it’s his vulnerability that’s being brought to the
forefront. You may be with him, but you’re still behind his
withers. Out of harm’s way, as far as he’s concerned.”
The key is to make the game provocative. For example, if
you’re out on the trail, find a large puddle and focus directly
on the other side. In the same way you would begin playing
Education
the game on the ground — directing your horse through
wide spaces at first, then increasingly tight spaces — start
with a wide puddle, maybe 20’ across if possible. Then, try
to find a 10’-15’ puddle, then a 5’ puddle, and so on. Once
he can comfortably cross the large puddle, smaller, tighter
puddles are the natural progression.
It’s situations like this that illustrate just how well the
Squeeze Game translates to trail riding. Trails are full of
tight spaces and unpredictable situations, and getting
your horse comfortable in a controlled environment is key.
“It all comes back to polite and passive persistence in the
proper position,” says Pat. “You really need to think like a
horse before you think like a human. What makes absolutely no sense to us might make perfect sense to a horse.
They look at the world in a totally different way.”
This is where the Seven Games come in. When you can
see the world through the eyes of your horse, the next
step is communicating with them. It becomes a dialogue
between horse and human. And the Seven Games are the
language of that dialogue.
photos by Coco
Motivation in Horsemanship
Patience, Attitude & Values
by Neil Pye
Motivation starts with a positive attitude. It’s starting
every day by asking yourself, “What’s important about
today, and what can I do to make today great?”
Natural horsemanship really gets you into this mindset.
Pat has this brilliant ability to get you to ponder things you
wouldn’t normally think about. For example, consider the
Seven Keys to Success. What’s first on the list? Attitude.
The first few times I heard that, I thought, “Wow, what an
unusual thing for a horsetrainer to talk about!” I’m sure I
wasn’t the only one, either. I’d come to Pat to get my horse
fixed, and there he was talking about attitude! Of course, after
I heard him talk about it a lot, it started to make sense to me.
Consider the Seven Keys to
Success. What’s first on the
list? Attitude.
Pat always said, “If you want to be successful with horses,
you’d better have a positive attitude. And if you don’t have
a positive attitude, you’d better be working towards it.”
This is vital, because the increments of success with horses
can be so slow that — if you’re not a “glass half full” type
of person — you’d better take up something else, because
horsemanship could drive you nuts.
Along with this positive attitude comes another essential quality: patience. Pat has an expression: “I’ve never
seen it take longer than two days” – that really applies to
this. I always used to hear Pat use that expression, and I
always got a chuckle out of it; when I was teaching, I said it
millions of times. It’s funny, but it’s absolutely true. If something isn’t working in three or four seconds, we want to be
through with it. We live in a very fast, “fix it now or throw it
away” society. Horses, more than anything else, teach us to
take the time it takes.
That’s the way it works in nature. You can plant a seed, till
the soil, water it and give it sunlight – but you can’t hurry
it. There’s a natural process. In fact, guess what happens if
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you constantly pull the seed out every five minutes, asking
“When are you going to sprout?!” You’re going to impede
the process more than help it.
When it comes to horsemanship, there’s a change that
has to take place in the human before anything else. You
need to say to yourself, “I’m really going to take the time it
takes, and I’m going to mean it more than just as a Parelliism. You know, this isn’t a race. I’m just going to hang in
here and look for and reward the slightest try.”
Of course, it’s frustrating at the start. I remember just
wanting to yell, “Come on, horse! For crying out loud, get
in the stupid trailer already!” But then I’d hear my thoughts,
and I’d say to myself, “There I go again…” I’d take a deep
breath, sigh, and think, “You know what? I’m just going to
stay here for a while. Forget the clock. I’m going to encourage him, reward the slightest try, and if I’m still here in four
hours, so be it.”
The ultimate tests of patience
and motivation are those
moments when things
don’t go smoothly.
The minute you accept that change, you get that sense
of peace and patience. Your body language will change,
and your horse will sense it. Oftentimes, the most obvious
changes occur with people who have tried it the hard way
for years, with multiple horses. They’d forced it; their egos
had gotten in their way. Sometimes, they come to natural
horsemanship as a last resort, but as they’re adopting a more
natural approach, they’re also adopting a “take the time it
takes” mentality. And they’re amazed with the results.
Of course, the ultimate tests of patience and motivation
are those moments when things don’t go smoothly. When
setbacks occur, what separates motivated and unmotivated people are their core values, their core philosophy, and
what they decide a day is really worth. It’s easy to have a
positive outlook when you’re having a great day — you’re
just skipping along; everything’s wonderful. It’s how you
handle the bad days that really shows whether you’re truly
motivated or not. If you think, “Well, today was rough, but
I can take something from it that can help me tomorrow,”
then you’ve got a truly positive outlook.
There’s something that happens when you verbalize really
negative thoughts, especially when you surround yourself
with people that actually encourage and relish your misery.
It’s just unhealthy. You’ve got to be particular, not only in
the words you say, but especially in the words you don’t
say: the conversations you hold between your ears. You’ve
got to decide how you think about things. You’ll say, “I’m
not depressed. I’m just feeling a bit flat today.”
Isn’t that just semantics? Well, no. If I say, “I’m feeling a bit
flat today,” that’s okay. I can deal with that. But if I say, “I’m
depressed,” just saying that word makes me feel that way.
When it comes to staying motivated, I really try to speak
with positive terminology and enthusiasm. At the end of
the day, you either project energy or you take it away.
A lot of people, when they come to us at Parelli, come
to us because they have a problem. They have a “move
away from trouble or pain” mentality. Some people are
“move away from pain” types, and other people are “move
towards pleasure” types. I’m a “move towards pleasure”
person. I’m always looking for ways to have fun, have a
laugh, make things interesting. For people that move away
slightest try, the slightest improvement, and realizing that
the smallest progress is still progress.
I had to recognize that I had mild ego issues, and I realized
fairly quickly that I had to let go of that. Pat had a phrase
that he doesn’t use much anymore, but hearing it back then
probably saved me years in my horsemanship journey.
Someone asked him, “Pat, when did you first start to
really get good with horses?” He paused for a second, and
then said, “Right after I had my Macho-ectomy.”
You’ve got to be particular,
not only in the words you say,
but especially in the words you
don’t say: the conversations you
hold between your ears. You’ve
got to decide how you
think about things.
photo by Megan McAuliffe
from pain, the thought process is “how can I remain safe,
avoid embarrassment, and stay comfortable?” There’s no
right or wrong; it’s just how people are.
For example, a person that is drawn towards pleasure
isn’t likely to be rattled by you telling them all the things
that could go wrong, whereas it may very well motivate
someone whose focus is avoiding pain or embarrassment.
However, if you tell me how much fun we’ll have, what
we’ll achieve, who we’ll meet — that’s what motivates me.
Now, that’s not to say I haven’t been challenged, or that I
don’t take things seriously. Throughout my natural horsemanship journey, I can thankfully say that there have been
very few times that I’ve been challenged physically. I’ve
always been in reasonably good shape, especially when I
was teaching in my 30s. But mentally and emotionally, I
have definitely been tested.
I came from a business background, rather than a strictly
horsemanship background. As a result, I’d been rather
direct-line; that had brought me some success in business,
but it was definitely a roadblock when it came to horsemanship. I realized how many things I had to work through
and consider: the predator/prey barrier, looking for the
I heard that and I thought, “That’s me!” After that, I knew
that I had to stop being so “Australian Male,” thinking I was
the boss, that I was in charge. Luckily, I’d been a dog trainer
earlier in my life, and I realized it was the same sort of situation: to be successful, you just have to put your ego aside.
It’s taken me a lifetime to really embrace this mentality.
Obviously, I didn’t start out this way. I’m in my 50s now,
and I think I’m just starting to really glean what “taking
the time it takes” really means. I hope, with the help of
the Parelli program, you’ll continue to understand and
practice this philosophy.
photo by Coco
photo by Coco
Developing Mental Fitness
To me, being mentally fit simply means that you’re solution-oriented. You stay calm in potentially upsetting situations. Of course, in Parelli terminology, we refer to this as
“staying left-brain” – whatever the challenge, whatever the
problem, you stay in your thinking mode.
It’s really no surprise that our ability to stay left-brain comes
from teaching our horses to do the same. When you’re with
your horse, staying left-brain means thinking, “How can I
think my way through this, rather than getting mad?”
How do you get to that point? Well, it doesn’t happen overnight. To become truly mentally fit, the first key is awareness,
and this program definitely emphasizes that. You need to be
aware of how your horse likely views what you’re doing. For
me, that was one of the first things I noticed – how impactful
playing with my horse was in teaching me how to stay leftbrain and act like a partner, not a predator.
Then, after you’ve got that awareness, you’re going to start
noticing some changes. You’re going to notice that situations that might have caused you to get mad at your horse
or frightened of him in the past now cause you to pause and
think instead. This is because you’ve got that sense of awareness, and you can look at the world from his point of view.
That’s why we emphasize saying, “Hmm…how interesting,” instead of just reacting and being mad. At first it won’t
feel natural, but soon, it’ll just be second nature. Instead of
getting angry and frustrated, you’ll ask yourself what you
could have done to better prepare him. And this awareness, this mental fitness, extends beyond horsemanship.
You’ll be lying in bed one night, and it’ll hit you – “Wow,
by Neil Pye
what if I thought, ‘Hmm…how interesting,’ instead of
getting angry whenever someone – my husband, wife,
son, daughter, friend, mother-in-law – does something I
don’t agree with!”
The biggest test of your mental fitness is how you deal
with setbacks. Inevitably, setbacks are going to happen,
and the critical part is just not taking them personally. It’s
very easy to go through life, justifying your behavior by
saying, “It’s not fair,” and going around singing “Nobody
knows the trouble I’ve seen…”
You know what? Stuff happens. No one gets out
unscathed. When you can become a little more dispassionate, understand that the world isn’t out to get you, that’s
when you become a lot more mentally fit. It’s the moment
you realize, “This may be happening, but it’s not happening to me. I’m involved in it, but the universe hasn’t lined
up to pick on me today.”
It’s pretty easy to pick out the mentally fit horsemen from
those that aren’t. Back in the days when I used to teach, it
was interesting working with others and seeing how their
mental fitness was coming along, whether they were really
trying to develop it or not. At every clinic we ever put on
– and we did hundreds around the world – we’d inevitably
end up doing a trailer loading on Day One, and that was all
about mental fitness.
If you ever want to test your mental fitness, do some
trailer loading. It’s an eye-opener. But, like anything else,
stay left-brain and the rest will fall into place.
Circling Is Not Longeing!
by Linda Parelli
I will always remember the first Pat Parelli clinic I went
to in 1989, especially the look on my face when Pat said, “I
am against longeing horses. Chasing the horse in mindless
circles exercises the body, but the mind goes to pot.”
Wow, no wonder things weren’t getting better with my
horse back then. I would longe my Right-Brain Extrovert
Regalo for about 30 minutes before every ride because I
was thought that was the only way to get him calmer, but
after a month, 30 minutes was not enough. He just got
fitter, but not any calmer!
In that clinic with Pat I learned about the Circling Game
and how different it is from longeing. Yes, your horse still
circles around you but he has to THINK. Why? Because he
has to maintain gait and maintain direction without any
reminding or coaxing from you. In fact you have to stand
still, relax and pass the rope around your back, staying
completely neutral.
Now of course things can go wrong – your horse changes
gait, may even change direction or stop, but the key is to
not do anything until that happens. Assigning your horse
the responsibility of maintaining gait and direction is what
keeps him thinking and connected to you. When longeing,
you have to keep your horse moving forwards, preventing him from slowing down or turning, which involves a
degree of micromanagement because it assigns no trust
or responsibility to the horse. That’s why most horses
mentally tune out when longeing, and BEWARE… you
could make this happen in the Circling Game too!
How to make sure you are not longeing!
When warming your horse up on the ground, it’s really
easy to fall into the trap of longeing him. It’s kind of easy
and automatic to send your horse off in a circle to burn
off pent-up energy and have it easily turn into mindless
circling! Here are some tips on how to make sure you are
playing the Circling Game and not longeing your horse:
1. Keep your feet still vs walking in circles with your
horse. If you are walking circles with your horse, this acts
more as a Driving Game because it’s likely that when you
stop, your horse stops too. This means your movement is
stimulating, causing or supporting your horse’s continued
movement. It’s your horse’s responsibility to maintain gait
without coaxing from you.
2. Keep your hand in neutral. Rather than holding your
hand and arm up stiffly and leading or pulling your horse
forward on the circle, let your arm hang down and ‘rest’
while holding the end of the rope. This will also put some
elasticity in the feel because your arm will lift and drop as
your horse moves in and out on the circle, and pretty soon
he will learn to be more consistent, leaving your hand
hanging down in neutral.
3. Have some fun! Playing on the ground is a warm-up and
so you need to let your horse express himself and then progressively give him things to think about rather than get
Education
too concerned about the shape of his body and how he’s
carrying himself right off the bat. In fact, when you make
circling more interesting, he’ll naturally start to use himself
better, but if you are too particular too soon that’s more like
training (vs. warm-up) and can result in your horse getting
tense, dull, disinterested or disconnected. Put the relationship first and everything will keep getting better.
Put the relationship first and
everything will keep getting better.
Think about how you can make the Circling Game more
interesting yet still achieve the benefits of it; things like…
• Walking from point A to point B while your horse keeps
circling. This is called “Traveling Circles.”
• Asking for upward and downward transitions on the circle;
you can even ask for faster and slower speeds within the
gait. Put a little energy in front of Zone 1 to slow down
(light, vertical wiggle of the rope or Carrot Stick) and behind Zone 5 to speed up (with your stick and string, softly
at first). And when it comes to introverts, asking them to
go as slow as possible can be really fun and good reverse
psychology that actually makes them want to go faster!
• Putting an obstacle in the way, like a pole, a jump, barrels,
something to go through/between, a tarp, hill, water, etc.
• Changes of direction — at walk, trot or canter — with
simple or flying changes.
• After a lap, half a lap, two laps, six laps... do something
unexpected, like asking for some sideways, or send him
over to touch something with his nose or feet. This works
especially well for left-brain Horsenalities™ but could be a
little too surprising for right-brain Horsenalities™!
4. Make it a game! When your horse doesn’t do what you
want, it’s common to get frustrated or mad. But as you
develop your skills as a horseman, you know that getting
emotionally reactive only makes the horse worse. We need
to learn how to have it be fun rather than frustrating, so
here is something for you to consider:
Stand in the center, relaxed, and dare your horse to break
gait or change directions! That’s quite a different feeling: “I
can’t wait for my horse to break gait” as opposed to, “Gosh
dang it, stop breaking gait!”
When your horse breaks gait, do something about it; not
before he does it, but after. Now, that doesn’t mean you
attack him; it means you take the appropriate action:
• If your horse is an extrovert, he will most likely break up
into a faster gait. When he does, instead of trying to stop
him, encourage him. Gently flick your Carrot Stick and
String way back in Zone 5 as if to say “Yeah! You need to
go faster, let me help you!”
• If your horse is an introvert, he will most likely break down
into a slower gait and when he does, instead of trying to
send him forward again, ask for a change of direction. If
he’s a Right-Brain Introvert, ask gently for the right gait
as he makes the change; and if he’s a Left-Brain Introvert,
once he’s reversed direction, tag the ground in Zone 5
just as he passes you – that means you need to run to
that spot.
I’m going to emphasize this again: don’t do anything
unless your horse actually changes gait. That means
if he gets faster or slower but stays in the same gait, do
nothing or you’ll find yourself micromanaging rather than
teaching him to uphold his responsibilities to maintain
gait, maintain direction.
In both cases, making it a game keeps the smile on your
face and helps the horse maintain a positive attitude
rather than getting scared or resentful. Think of it from
your horse’s point of view: “How can I keep my human
quiet and relaxed there in the center?”
In summary…
Longeing is boring, but the Circling Game is interesting. This is because it can easily be modified to become
more calming or stimulating, to get your horse mentally,
emotionally and physically fit for riding or to develop his
skills and teach him to be calmer, smarter, braver and more
athletic. Let’s make circles more fun and meaningful!
The Steady
Rein
by Linda Parelli
Riding FreeStyle is very valuable for both the horse and
rider. It improves a horse’s confidence and self-carriage and
teaches responsibility (maintain gait and direction) without
micromanagement. It is also relaxing, as compared to
Finesse, which is more concentrated. For the rider, FreeStyle
improves confidence, develops an independent seat and the
ability to communicate with your body rather than the reins.
However, if you don’t work on improving the quality for
your FreeStyle riding, you might find that your horse runs
around heavily on the forehand or goes hollow-backed with
his head in the air, neither of which is healthy or progressive.
Riding FreeStyle does not mean flopping around on the
forehand, and with the help of the Steady Rein you will
learn how to help your horse get calmer (more steady!),
carry himself better and even improve the quality of his
gaits. This is something Pat Parelli has always done when
he rides FreeStyle (but I only just figured it out!). You can
also see reiners do it, and even dressage riders do it (they
call it a “half-halt”).
I call this technique the Steady Rein because you use it
to steady the horse when he speeds up a little or drifts off
course. I find myself saying “steady… steady…” in my head
when my horses do this, which is why I call it the Steady
Rein! It’s a fantastic way to warm your horse up and to
practice riding FreeStyle Patterns, and you can do it in a
hackamore or a snaffle, even a curb bit.
The Steady Rein
Use a short casual rein and keep your hand down on
your horse’s withers until you have to make a correction,
such as to slow your horse down or put him back on track.
When you pick up the rein to steady your horse, you’ll
do it until he gets back on track with the right speed or
direction, and then release it the moment he does –
putting your hand back down into neutral. Not only will
this help your horse get calmer and more focused, it turns
you into a better leader because you stay focused on what
you want and give your horse clear direction and inoffensive correction when he strays.
Here’s how it’s done:
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more with your body rather than your hands and that, by
the way, is the goal of good riding!
1
1. NEUTRAL: Use a short casual rein; put a loop in your
reins, hold them where they cross and put your fist onto
your horse’s neck, close to your saddle, so it is in neutral.
Make sure your reins are long enough to not restrict your
horse if he wants to stretch his neck a little. They should be
loose (no contact) but not long and flapping around.
2
2. STEADY: When you want to steady your horse, smoothly
pick up your hand and bring it straight back towards your
body at your hip, making sure to keep even pressure on
both reins. Steady your horse when he gets a little faster
than you want, and steady him when he starts to veer off
course, and remember: bring it straight back to your hip;
don’t pull it over in the direction you are trying to go!
When steering your horse with one rein, it tends to turn
your horse’s head and bend his neck but not necessarily
affect his direction of travel. Have you ever experienced
your horse looking right but heading left? The key is to
keep your horse’s neck straight and redirect his body and
that’s what the Steady Rein does. It also teaches you to ride
3. RELEASE – RETURN TO NEUTRAL AGAIN: Once you’ve
steadied your horse and felt a change, put your hand down
into neutral again — immediately. (See photo 1).
Do this as often as required, but always return to neutral
again, trusting your horse to maintain gait and direction. As
Pat has taught us: “Trust, but be ready to correct, not more
one than the other.” If you hold your hand up, your horse
will think he’s doing something wrong, so make sure to put
your hand back down into neutral every time your horse
does the right thing. You can always pick it up again.
Steadying Gait & Speed
Use the Steady Rein when your horse speeds up and
changes rhythm. You can use it in any gait — walk, trot,
canter, even gallop. Hold steady until you feel him regain
the speed and rhythm you want, then release by putting
your hand down again. As you reward each try and little
change, your horse will get calmer and more responsive,
and pretty soon he’ll maintain his gait better than ever.
Using the Steady Rein to correct changes in rhythm and
speed will not only improve your horse’s way of going, it will
prevent things getting unwieldy and out of control. It also
improves you as a rider because you become more perceptive
to little changes and learn to do less sooner to correct them.
Note: Use the Steady Rein to correct changes in speed,
but know you might still need to use one rein to get more
control if it gets too far.
Steadying Direction
The Steady Rein is the perfect way to correct your horse
when he veers off course. Rather than steering and correcting him with the reins, you’ll learn how to use your
body more effectively and teach your horse to listen to it.
As such, it is perfect for your FreeStyle Patterns - Follow
the Rail, Clover Leaf, Bulls Eye, 180s, etc, as well as for trail
riding and hacking out. Remember: The less you use the
reins, the more they use their brains!
As you ride straight forwards, make sure all your “eyes” are
focusing in the same direction — imagine you have eyes
on the front of your shoulders, your belly button, hips and
knees. When your horse strays off course he will first run
up against your body; focus, and if he continues to push
through that, simply pick up your hand and steady him,
bringing the reins back to your belly or hip but making sure
Don’t steer with your reins, steer with your body and feet.
While Marion is riding with a neutral rein, Hot Jazz begins
to drift away from the rail.
Marion applies the Steady Rein and weights her stirrup
nearest the rail to guide Jazzy back toward the rail.
Marion releases the Steady Rein and returns to neutral as
Hot Jazz returns to his original course.
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you don’t actually steer with them. Focus all your “eyes”
back to the track where your horse is supposed to be, press
a little weight into the stirrup (do not lean; just weight your
stirrup) on that side and, when you feel him recommit to
the direction, put your hand down in neutral again.
Using the Steady Rein to correct your horse’s direction
helps you learn to do less sooner and improve your focus,
but most of all, it will improve your body language. When
you learn to use your body instead of just your hands, you’ll
find yourself using a lot less rein while your horse gets
more relaxed. This is also a great step towards learning to
ride without a bridle!
And here’s another nice benefit: your riding style gets
much neater! Your hands will get quieter because you
are not constantly steering and correcting right and left.
You’ll even learn to ride circles and corners by turning your
shoulders and weighting the inside stirrup and then using
the Steady Rein if your horse doesn’t follow.
Steadying Your Horse’s Posture
Once you become good at the Steady Rein, which actually
doesn’t take long at all (just one to three sessions), you can
start using it to improve your horse’s posture. This tends to
develop quite naturally because as you steady your gait,
your horse gets more rhythm, so he relaxes and will feel like
lowering his neck and stretching his top line. So now you can
use the Steady Rein to correct your horse’s head being too
high or his neck being too short. You simply steady the horse
without changing the energy in your body, and release when
he tries to reach his nose forward and stretch his neck down.
It doesn’t take much to see how the steady rein is going
to help your horse move with better posture. It also nicely
prepares him for Finesse and steady contact on two reins,
because this is actually a kind of “half-halt”. Your horse will
begin to understand how to reach for the bit instead of
avoid it, to use his topline, and become more graceful in
his way of going.
Above: Using Steady Rein to ask the horse to stretch.
Below: Returning to neutral as the horse stretches and rounds.
A Bit of
Bridling
by Terry Wilson, 3-Star Parelli Professional
Take bridling to the next level — Level 3, that is — by
practicing bridling from your knees. Can you ask your
horse to accept the bridle and bit with softness? Before
you begin, make sure you can halter your horse from your
knees. He should be able to keep his head down for you
without feeling anxious or trapped.
If your horse can’t keep his head down, begin by practicing using the Porcupine Game to lower his head. Apply
pressure to the lead rope straight down toward the
ground, and remember to use your phases! Release with
the slightest try and take the time it takes for your horse to
lower his head lightly and easily. Once he’s an old hand at
that, you can work on haltering from your knees, and then
work your way up to bridling from the knees. Try to turn
everyday tasks into new challenges!
Terry Wilson is a 3-Star Parelli Professional based in Pagosa
Springs, Colorado, who teaches across North America. For more
information, visit his website at www.terrywilsonpnh.com.
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2
3
Start with haltering from the knees. Use the lead rope over your horse’s neck as a back-up in case you need to ask him
again to lower his head (1). Then pass the halter beneath his neck and reach over with your other hand (2) and halter (3)!
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2
4
5
3
Now try it with the bridle. Ask your horse to lower his head; you can use the reins over his neck to help if you need to, or use the
Porcupine Game with your fingers (1). Hold the bridle up and ask the horse to accept the bit (2); you can use your thumb in the
corner of his mouth to encourage him to open up and take the bit. Then gently lift the bridle and slip it over the ear on the far
side (3), followed by the ear on the near side (4). Make sure the bridle is properly fitted and buckle the throatlatch (5).
Strength
of Bond
by Geneviève Benoit, 3-Star Parelli Professional
My two mares have been living alone together for 2
years, and prior to that, with my third mare; they were all
very bonded. When Jolie passed away in 2009, Easter and
Menina’s pair bonding increased; separating them had
become extremely stressful, just like trying to abruptly
wean a foal from its mother.
Last year, when Kalley Krickeberg took over as Head of
Horse Development at the ranch, I asked her a question
about my two horses and the pair bonding that unites
them. She gave me some ideas to think about, a concept
really, and I set out to build a program to increase my
horses’ self-confidence in order to start building their
confidence in being apart. She mentioned what I had seen
Pat do several times during his events with his dogs and
horses – give them a job, stand over there and wait, as a
means to build responsibility, which would eventually
translate into confidence.
I set out to build a program
to increase my horses’ selfconfidence in order to start
building their confidence in
being apart.
photo by Coco
Within a couple of weeks, I had made great headway with
my program. Easter (a Right-Brain Introvert) understood
her responsibility – ‘Stand over there and wait’ (in this
case on the pedestal), and Menina (a Left-Brain Extrovert)
understood she could be ridden quite a distance away and
not worry since Easter was holding her spot. She would
even let me know if Easter thought about leaving so we
could run over there and put her back.
Recently, I had to move my horses to a new barn where
they were to be turned out with a herd of ten horses. What
a great opportunity! I’ve been spending time at the barn
watching my two interact with the rest of the herd – first
treated as outcasts and driven away, and then gradually
building new bonds and being accepted. My two mares are
still a herd of two, but they are also now part of the larger
herd and want to be with the other horses.
Education
Geneviève with Kalley Krickeberg
Then we integrated a new horse into the group, a horse that
has lived in the barn for months but had never been allowed
out with the others. She wanted so badly to be with them,
and when the owner let her go, she galloped into the herd
only to be promptly driven away and chased off. At some
point, she ran through the wire in a panic while she was
being pursued by one of the geldings. This mare had never
lived in a group, so this was quite an adjustment for her.
Yet, she followed the horses right back inside, and will
always choose to be with the herd – even if they bite and
kick her – rather than having to stand alone in the barn.
Strength of bond is natural to horses.
Horses are herd animals, and survival of the herd is what
they live for. They play and interact to choose their leaders,
to earn the right to reproduce, and to survive. Horses think in
terms of we. “We” is a unit: they think, feel and act as a unit first.
Humans are predators; we think in terms of you and I.
“We” in Humansville is the idea of collecting “you” and “I”
to try to accomplish something together. It is against our
very nature to act a unit; it takes effort, desire and thought
to be able to achieve this successfully. Business leaders
spend inordinate amounts of money trying to learn how
to build and motivate teams within their organizations. As
humans, we have to consciously set aside our own desires,
egos and emotions to buy into the needs of the team and
act as one. I am a great example of this; I have lived on
my own for years. I have no children, I travel alone and I
run my own business. The only time I get to practice “we”
is with my horses, or during my stays at the Parelli ranch,
and it is not natural; it takes a lot of effort on my part. And
this “we” is still an assembly of “you” and “me,” the moments
where we feel as a unit are the exception rather than the
rule. Those moments are very special and satisfying, but
they are rarely the norm in daily human life.
Now for horses, that is a natural way of being, it is
programmed in their genes and they don’t have to
think about it. In fact, it’s much harder for them to be
individuals, which is why they can exhibit so much stress
when left alone or when lacking leadership. Horses
naturally want to interact as a unit with the herd.
As I watched my herd of two in the bigger herd,
they acted as a unit for the first few weeks, in perfect
synchronization and never leaving one another. They are
only now just starting to act as individuals, building bonds
with other members of the herd, and showing interest
in being apart from each other for longer and longer
periods of time.
That is one strong bond to be breaking on a repeated
basis! Here is the lesson my horses are teaching me: Pat
and Linda’s vision and mission is not about “you” and “I.” It’s
about we. Parelli principles underlie everything they do, so
this should not come as a surprise.
Horses think in terms of we.
“We” is a unit: they think, feel
and act as a unit first.
If we in Parelli become a bigger herd, build more presence
and show the way, we have a much better chance of
thriving. We have the opportunity to influence mentalities
that have been resistant to change, to show that there are
methods that don’t rely on violence or force, and to spread
knowledge throughout the equine world. If Pat’s vision
and program are to survive beyond our lifetimes, we must
become stronger, bigger, and synchronized.
The recent changes at Parelli have challenged us, but we
must keep this in mind – they were made for the benefit of
the herd, not the individuals. The higher purpose is about
building a strong team that will act as a unit to change the
world. If we want to continue being a part of that world, we
need to focus on communication and collaboration. We
can’t point fingers and take on an “us vs. them” mentality.
We need to take on a leadership role and show the way.
And that might just be the pathway to becoming better
leaders for our horses and our peers, and getting closer to
achieving true unity.
Let’s Use Those Abs!
Your abs are an essential part of creating great posture.
Look at it this way: if you are not using your abs, you are
probably slumping and slouching or tightening and
arching your back. Either way, the way you hold your body
will affect your horse’s ability to move!
If you refer back to your Savvy Times from November
2010 and February 2011, you will find my articles on how to
access your abs for better posture. Better posture will also
require that you also find your elusive hips, so stay tuned for
that one! In this article I am going to give you some ideas
on how to use your abs to help you “talk” to your horse. My
passion is to help horsemen discover the power of using
the non-verbal physical in a non-predatory way.
Review: Your Abs
When I am talking abs, I mean the Transversus Abdominus
(TA), which is your core muscle. This deepest layer of abdominals is essential for both stability and suppleness in your
spine. The TA spans from your pubic bone up to the bottom
of your rib cage and wraps completely around your spine.
(See the photo at right.) While there are many muscles that
fire for riding, it is going to be the TA that is the most important because it literally holds your body up. Most people use
their back muscles to do this and that is why they often feel
stiff and even experience backaches when they ride.
Using your core abdominal muscle will take you out of
your tight lower back and hip flexor muscles, the things
that might give you hip and back pain when riding! It will
eventually teach you how you can generate energy that
flows from the center of your body and up through your
by Janice Dulak
spine. This is the first part of what I call the rider’s “circle of
energy,” and is essential to riding with Finesse. But for now,
let’s have a refresher on your abs.
Your TA is what ties your torso into a whole unit. For
simplicity’s sake, I divide the TA into three parts: lower,
middle and upper. Once you know how to isolate each
part, you will recombine them to create your posture and
influence how your horse moves!
Your lower abs can be thought of as the muscle fibers
that are between your pubic bone and a line about two
inches below your belly button. Your lower abs will help
level the pelvis, which is essential for good posture and
therefore a good seat on your horse. These fibers, when
The Transverse Abdominus: Your core muscle.
1
Education
Relaxed Abs
2
Lower Abs activated
engaged, will help you “lift” your pubic bone up toward
your ribs — not unlike what Michael Jackson does in that
famous “Oww!” move! When you fire your lower abs, your
lower back will stretch and your tailbone will sink toward
the ground. As you do this, know that it’s the equivalent of
your horse tucking his hindquarters underneath him. (See
photos 2 and 3 above.)
When your lower abs are engaged, you may also feel
a stretch at the top of your thigh in the front at your hip
joint (where your thigh bone ties into your pelvis). This is
your hip joint opening and is the motion your hips need to
allow for your horse to move unimpeded underneath you.
(I say this because it is common to lock your hips, and that
can make your horse stop!) As you learn to “lift” your pubic
bone with your lower abs, you learn how to gently open
and close your hip joints, rather than lock them.
Your middle abs are what I refer to in Pilates as pulling your
stomach “in and up.” By literally “pulling your belly button up
to your backbone” you will feel how your lower back will fill
out, relaxing and lengthening your spine. As you are reading
3
Middle Abs activated
4
this, go ahead and pull your belly button to your back
bone… and now, exhale and pull it in more... and just when
you think you can’t pull it back any further, try pulling it in 5
more inches! Really! (See photos 2 and 4 above.)
Feeling your middle abs in this way will help you understand exactly what core stability is all about, and how
important it is while your horse is propelling you forward
in space. Your middle abs are responsible for keeping your
back muscles from overworking so you can keep your body
upright without stiffness and will help you keep your horse’s
back supple. They will also be key for balancing him on his
haunches. Remember: What you do in your body, your horse
can do in his body. That also means what you cannot do in
your body, your horse cannot do in his!
Your upper abs are the fibers that cross the front of your
body from one side of the rib cage to the other and extend
from about two inches above your belly button up to the
bottom of your sternum. You can find these by thinking
of “knitting” your ribs together. (If you are a cook, think
“trussing a turkey!”) This action is essential to stabilize and
Upper Abs activated
5
“pedestrian.” Meaning, once I stood at the barre, my body
had to organize itself in a way that was conducive to moving
correctly for the ballet movements. Now, when you get on
your horse ask yourself the question: Am I sitting on my
horse in a way that is conducive to my horse being able to
move? Remember that Linda says (and so do I!): whatever
you do with your body, your horse does with his body.
After mounting, notice how your pelvis sits in the saddle.
If you are like most people, without thinking, you will
probably automatically go into “pedestrian mode.” You will
drop your pubic bone down onto the saddle and allow
the lower back to hollow with your seat bones pointing
backwards. If this is the case, think about what you are
automatically “telling” your horse what to do! This posture
suggests to your horse that he hollow his back and let his
hind end go out behind. (See photo 6.) If you have “told”
your horse to hollow his back when you just sit in the
saddle, can you imagine what you are asking him to do
when you start walking? (See photo 7.)
connect your upper body (shoulders, neck and head) to
your core. (See photo 5 above.) These muscle fibers will
also help you to turn your horse without hollowing your
back (and his!) and also become a key player for connecting your arms to your core.
When you are able to fire your upper abs in conjunction
with your mid and lower abs, you will have control over
your key postural muscles. Now it is time to think about
using them for riding!
Experiment with your abs to affect your horse
Now that you have the awareness of your body being
connected with your core muscle, you can practice how
each part affects how you stand, walk and sit on a horse.
I would recommend you “play” with each part of your abs
standing and walking. Notice how your body feels when
you engage each part separately or in combination with
one or the other. There is no formula here. Every body will
have different weakness or tightness that will cause them
to feel what happens differently. It will be up to you to
decide what you are feeling, and then, ultimately, when
your ride, it will be the horse that will tell you that what
you are doing, or not doing, is right or not!
After “playing” with the three zones of your abs on the
ground, the first experiment in the saddle will be to notice
how you sit in the saddle. As a dancer, I could not stand
at the ballet barre with the posture of what I refer to as a
6
7
Education
Consider now that you have the knowledge to sit like
a rider instead of a pedestrian. Engage the three parts of
your abs to the extent it takes to pull your posture into one
united whole as you walk your horse. Notice the feeling
first in your body, but more importantly, as you play around
with this new way of sitting and walking, note how your
horse’s posture changes. (See photo 8.) Do you feel his back
come up underneath you as you begin to fill out your back?
Does he begin to soften in his jaw and connect with you?
Discovery
When I first began to experiment with what I knew about
the body, I took on the attitude of asking my horse questions. While at the walk I would pull in this, or poke out
that or put my leg here, or hold it there, or sit like this or sit
like that. At each moment that I would change something,
I felt it was a question. I would wait with that moment
and do nothing until my horse answered me. Sometimes
it was, “No, that is not quite right.” When that happened, I
would change my body in some small way and ask again.
Sometime she would again answer, “No.” But then when I
got it right, her body would soften and in that moment of
her softening, I discovered what it was that I did to allow
her to relax and move without impeding her movement.
So for now, what you can do is take the time it takes to
find these new ways of using your body and use them in
the spirit of asking your horse the question: Is it better if I
do this? Your horse will tell you. Keep experimenting with
these three parts of your abs to supple your spine and
create good posture and let your horse tell you if you got
right! And even if you can’t feel the difference yet, keep
working on engaging your abs to achieve better posture
without stiffness — a strong core and supple back. Once
your horse says, “Yes,” then it is time to move on to the next
piece of the posture puzzle: the hips! Stay tuned!
Janice Dulak is the author of Pilates for the Dressage Rider
and is a Master Instructor Trainer for Romana’s Pilates®. She
has been instructing Linda in how to improve her posture
and ability to naturally engage her body when riding
in collection.
Pilates for the
Dressage Rider
In this revolutionary book or
DVD, Pilates Instructor Janice
Dulak offers a selection of
exercises best suited to assist
the dressage rider in his or
her overall fitness. Featuring
detailed instructions and input
from physical therapist Katrin
Haselbacher, Pilates for the
Dressage Rider is a must-read
for dressage students.
8
Now available on
www.Parelli.com
photo by Coco
The Value of Think Time
Moving Forward by Slowing Down
“When he’s blinking, he’s thinking. When he’s licking his lips,
he’s digesting a thought.” — Pat Parelli
by Teri Sprague, 4-Star Parelli Professional
In a day and age where instant still is not fast enough,
it is easy to understand why this horseman’s tool is so neglected and yet, when utilized, it often saves time overall.
What is it? Think time!
Licking is probably the most overt sign that a horse is
processing mentally, but there are other signs: blinking,
lowering the head, shaking the head, sighing, blowing,
rolling eyes, and yawning, among others. Processing
occurs most often during the teaching and controlling
stages of learning, particularly if you have had to be firm or
provocative. It generally happens faster in extroverts than
introverts and, though it is beneficial for all Horsenalities™,
I think it is more critical for introverts. When you see the
licking (or some other sign), you will know they are ready
for more. What signs does your horse most often present?
Sometimes students tell me their horses don’t lick;
however, if encouraged to wait – without exception – these
horses have licked or shown some other sign of processing.
If the lips have many wrinkles, there is likely a lick in there
waiting to come out. Another sign that the horse needs you
to wait is if they are staring/not blinking or looking sleepy.
A common immediate precursor to licking is softening of
the lips frequently accompanied by twitching of the lips.
Introverts often do a “secret lick” where you only see the
jaw or chin moving; others show lots of tongue.
With extroverts, it is common to see the lick in 7 to
10 seconds and it rarely takes more than 30 seconds.
Introverts, however, rarely lick in less than 30 seconds and
it often takes two to five minutes. I have waited many times
for 20 minutes... and even as long as an hour and a half.
What benefit could make it worth the wait? Besides the
rapport it builds, waiting for the horse to process actually
speeds up the training/teaching program. As Pat often
says, “Take the time it takes, so it takes less time.”
A couple of years ago I had an extreme Right-Brain
Introvert come to me for training. I began riding her and
introduced the concept of the indirect rein. I got in position
– eyes, bellybutton, leg, rein – and she froze. I waited... and
waited... and waited. Finally she figured it out and tried to
move. I released and rubbed on her until she licked her lips.
I repeated it two more times on the first side and then made
three requests on the second side. It took 30 to 40 minutes
to do both sides. The next day, when I made the first request,
she responded as if she had done it a thousand times: calm,
trusting, motivated and willing. Take the time it takes. Save
yourself time and build a great relationship!
Teri Sprague is a Licensed 4-Star Senior Instructor and has been
teaching Parelli since 1995. She is available for Level 1-4 Clinics
around the nation. She also gives private and group lessons at
her home facility near Ft. Collins, CO. She specializes in building
confidence in riders and horses using imaginative applications
of the empowering psychology, principles and techniques of
Parelli Natural Horsemanship. Contact her at ts4pnh@yahoo.
com or www.terisprague.com or on Parelli Connect!
Education
We Need a New Word!
courtesy photos
I was teaching a young horseman not long ago and was
trying to explain how we were waiting for the horse to
“blow.” The youth’s eyes got big and scared and it took me
a moment to realize that she thought the horse was going
to “blow up!”
How about putting on your thinking caps and coming up
with another word for the type of blowing that we mean
when the horse is coming off adrenalin, relaxing and/or
showing signs of processing?
Email me at ts4pnh@yahoo.com or post your suggestions on my Parelli Connect page.
www.parelliconnect.com/members/101
Can You?
Think Time by Horsenality™
EXTROVERTS: 7-10 seconds usual, up to 30 seconds
common, rarely over a minute. Fast licking with lots of
tongue, may continue for a long time.
INTROVERTS: Rarely under 30 seconds, 2-5 minutes
common, up to an hour and a half. Secret licking
common, may start, stop and start again in short bursts.
Find out how long it usually takes your horse to lick his
lips or show some other sign of processing.
Ask your horse to do something new or something he
knows in a new, more precise or faster way. When you
get an improved response – stop, release, and wait! Start
counting while you wait. Make note of how many counts it
takes for the horse to lick his lips or show some other sign
of processing. This will give you a baseline on how much
time it takes for your horse to process. Once you have this
baseline you will know how long you usually need to wait
for your horse to be ready for a new request.
Do this on a regular basis. You may notice that as you
repeatedly wait for the lick, it actually starts to take less
and less time for it to happen. Your horse is learning to
learn. When a lick happens, don’t immediately make
another request. Wait a few more seconds and/or rub the
horse. Otherwise, your clever left-brain horses will quickly
learn that licking activates you and they may hold it in in
order to keep you neutral.
Finding out how long it usually takes your horse to lick
will help you plan your sessions to allow for think time.
The benefits of waiting for the horse to lick include
building rapport and respect and actually speeding up the
teaching process.
Official Graduates
Congratulations to the new
Levels Pathway Graduates!
June 28, 2011 – September 2, 2011
Level 4 Graduates
(On Line + FreeStyle + Liberty + Finesse)
Humphrey Dirks, Netherlands
Stephanie Gaunt, UK
Russell Higgins, New Zealand
Alecia Howard, USA
Sharon Lindy, USA
Bonnie McIntyre, Australia
James Roberts, UK
Level 4 On Line Graduates
Sandra Baertschi, Switzerland
Lisa Bradley, USA
Susan Castel, Australia
Sara de Vries, UK
Gayle Dugri, UK
Erin Fowle, USA
Robin Harris, USA
Faith Head, Canada
Cath Langley, UK
Pam Maccario, USA
Shelley O’Doherty, Ireland
Daniel Pfefer, USA
Dawn Roth, USA
Fleur Van Wollingen, Netherlands
Whitney Van Zyl, USA
Jennifer Woods, UK
Rose Wooldridge, Australia
Paula Wroath, UK
Level 4 FreeStyle Graduates
Elena Bacchini, Italy
Alan Conighi, Italy
Fiona Darling, Australia
Aubrie Fuiten, USA
Clare Heywood, UK
Alyson Hicks-Lynch, USA
Cathrin Maric, Austria
Daniel Pfefer, USA
Marion Storz, Germany
Shana Walters, Australia
Level 4 Liberty Graduates
Lisa Bradley, USA
Marianne Gotfredsen, Denmark
Hanne Herberg, Norway
Clare Heywood, UK
Kirsi Kesaniemi, USA
Mieke Lannoo, Belgium
Pat Moses, USA
Sigrid Ritlan, Norway
Vicky Van Accom, Belgium
Level 4 Finesse Graduates
Margaret Hart, Australia
JoAnn Johnson, USA
Lori Northrup, USA
Shelley O’Doherty, Ireland
Daniel Pfefer, USA
Level 3 Graduates
(On Line + FreeStyle + Liberty)
Lisa Allan, New Zealand
Linda Anderson, USA
Patty Barnes, USA
Elizabeth Beard, USA
Jen Bell, USA
Nicola Bessell, UK
Ilona Betteridge, UK
William Bird, USA
Betty Jo Bock, USA
Hanna Brandt, Canada
Adele Buckley, Ireland
Janine Buckley-Hewing, UK
Jane Bushby, Australia
Fouad Chedraoui, USA
Gina Chianello, USA
Janine Clarke, Australia
Dani Condie, USA
Alan Conighi, Italy
Mary Anna Conti, USA
Jessica Coyle, Australia
Anouk Dahrs, Netherlands
Cheryl De Bie, UK
Aurelie De Mevius, Belgium
Anne Dirksen, Sweden
Karen Dodd, USA
Katya Edridge, UK
Helen Edwards, UK
Sue Edwards, UK
Pernille Elmsdal Thomsen, Denmark
Jessica Emmerich, Germany
Karin Falk, Sweden
Tracy Farrington, UK
Kailey Fischer, USA
Laurie Foster, Canada
Aubrie Fuiten, USA
Tricia Giz, USA
Kevin Glenister, Canada
Lisa Gray, USA
Kat Green, USA
Jacqui Greene, UK
Sue Ellen Haning, USA
Nereda Haslam, Australia
Susan Haubenstock, USA
Faith Head, Canada
Hanne Herberg, Norway
Alyson Hicks-Lynch, USA
Mary Hodgson, UK
Grace How, Australia
Sylvia Hurlbatt, Australia
Karen Janus, Australia
Jim Johnson, USA
Mary Lou Johnson, USA
Darlene Judd, USA
Heike Jung, USA
Vicki Kenny, New Zealand
Kirsi Kesaniemi, USA
Diana Koistinen, USA
Tina Kolhammar, Sweden
Mieke Lannoo, Belgium
Kellie Leyen, Canada
Robin Lindsey, USA
Debra Love, USA
Tabbetha Lueth, USA
Mina Lunde, Norway
Catharina Martensson, Finland
Joann McBride, USA
Rachel McMillan, Canada
Margaux Miller, USA
Evelyn Mills, Canada
Susan Moore, USA
Maureen Mulherron, Canada
Nicky Mummery, Ireland
Stephan Neu, Germany
Katrine Nielsen, Denmark
Dagmar Odenwald, Germany
Sarah Olney, UK
Brian J. Ousby, UK
Wendy Paterson, USA
Tracey Perkins, United Arab Emirates
Juli Piovesan, USA
Gea Riemis, Belgium
Debbie Riley, UK
Karen Roberts, UK
Veronique Roberts, Canada
Tricia Rohlfing, USA
Christina Sander, Germany
Jeanette Schevers, Canada
Stephanie Schwabe, USA
Kim Shannon, USA
Michael Simmons, USA
Matylda Smith, USA
Marta Sobczak, Poland
Michel Stroobant, Belgium
Angela Taylor, UK
Sharon Tiesdell Smith, USA
Courtney Trares, USA
Joanne Trout, USA
Ellen Valagene, USA
Fleur Van Wollingen, Netherlands
Gabby Vassar, USA
Jessica Vassar, USA
Anita Veimo, Norway
Shirley Villarreal, Australia
Lacy Warner, USA
Jeff Wheale, Canada
Amanda Whittaker, UK
Morag Wightman, UK
Holly Williams, USA
Cindy Wilson, USA
Barbara Abfalter, Australia
Laura Adams, USA
Linda Alvey, USA
Kristy Amado, USA
Chloe Amos, Australia
Roxanne Argyle, USA
Amy Austwick, UK
Belinda Bass, Australia
Gloria Mei Beaupré, Canada
Jane Bennett, Australia
Pam Billinge, UK
Shay Bloomquist, USA
Monique Bristow, USA
Tracy Brown, USA
Holly Broyles, USA
Jacqueline Buckley, Ireland
Nancy Carpenter, USA
Laura Cloukey, USA
Corrinn Davis, USA
Anita Demoski, USA
Julie Deportemont, Belgium
Leigh Dickerson, USA
Aimee Downs, USA
Marianne Florman, Denmark
Becky Franklin, USA
Heidi Funk, USA
Sharon Gilkeson, USA
Eleanor Gillan, Ireland
Esmeralda Gonzalez, UK
Wendy Goodburn, Australia
Maika Haimann, Germany
Sharon Haines, UK
Bev Hall, USA
Jean Halls, UK
Hannelore Hauke-Radermacher,
Germany
Pamela Holt, USA
Hilary Jackson, Australia
Sjoukje Janssen, USA
Linda Jansson, Sweden
Gail Jensen, USA
Pauline Jones, Australia
Pia Jung, Germany
Lizette Karstrom, Sweden
Winnie Killebrew, USA
MaryAnn Lau, USA
Lenchen Leonard, USA
April Longuski, USA
Frida Lundback, Sweden
Jutta Luschmann, Austria
Joan Mahaffey, USA
Claire Manion, Australia
Melanie Martin-Dent, USA
Elizabeth Martinez, USA
Robbie Maus, USA
Karen McClelland, USA
Margie McGrew, USA
Penny McLain, USA
Suzy Meathrell, USA
Marge Meriwether, USA
Kate Morton, UK
Ann Neirinck, Belgium
Marianne Nordal, Denmark
Lisa Overhuel, USA
Jaimie Overton, USA
Liesbet Peeters, Belgium
Jane Perez, USA
Mikkel Perlt, Greenland
Kurt Podszuweit, USA
Zuzanna Poprawski, USA
Debbie Prowting, UK
Kylie-Ann Robb, USA
Terence Roberts, UK
Sandy Roggow, USA
Andrea Sattler, Austria
Branden Schwinge, USA
Tina Secor, USA
Karen Shrum, Canada
Julie Smart, New Zealand
Nancy Stabs, USA
Maree Stewart, USA
Doll Syminton, Australia
Cathy Thesing, Australia
Maria Tomlins, Australia
Roberto Trentarossi, Italy
Lisa Trueblood, USA
Carrie VanDeHei, USA
Pete VanDeHei, USA
Bonnie Vogel, USA
Han Wagemans, Belgium
Katie Wahlheim, Australia
Michelle Walsh, USA
Deni Whiting, USA
Linda Wood, UK
Chloe Amos, Australia
Hannelies Bongaerts, Netherlands
Alita Brooks, UK
Jacqueline Buckley, Ireland
Leigh Dickerson, USA
Maxine Easey, UK
Michele Feckoury, USA
Rebecca Frisk, Sweden
Esmeralda Gonzalez, UK
Wendy Goodburn, Australia
Sharalee Goodwin, Australia
Faye Gregory, USA
Julia Hollyoak, Australia
JoAnn Johnson, USA
Jeannie Kapraun, USA
Leslie Laing, USA
Glen Malam, Australia
Iris Malzkorn, Germany
Ruth Manning, Australia
Ralph Moses, USA
Kimberly Naugle, USA
Stephanie Olson, USA
Ninie Perlt, Denmark
Kurt Podszuweit, USA
Melissa Reimers, USA
Kylie-Ann Robb, USA
Julie Smart, New Zealand
Becky Thompson, France
Beth Weaver, USA
Kara Weinraub, USA
Barbara Wilkins, USA
Level 3 Liberty Graduates
Dana Abernathy, USA
Silvia Aigner, France
Danna Ayers, USA
Regina Ball, USA
Karen Barker, UK
Nicola Beech, UK
Maria Blumenthal, Ireland
Jacqui Briggs, Australia
Jonathan Browne, UK
Eidin Burns, Ireland
Gerry Cotterell, UK
Jewel Cousins, USA
Mandy Dederer, Australia
Sibylle Durr, Switzerland
Marianne Florman, Denmark
Linda Flowers, USA
Lee Ann Fouert, USA
Sandra Gockenbach, Germany
Cindee Hage, Australia
Maika Haimann, Germany
Jean Halls, UK
Alex Harrison, UK
Cheryl Harrison, USA
Tanja Heis, Switzerland
Karissa Hendricks, USA
Ann Hepworth, USA
Adrienn Hoglund, Sweden
Odette Insoll, UK
Sarah Jensen, USA
Rebecca Jeyaseelan, Australia
Todd Johnson, USA
Natalie Jones, Australia
Jeannie Kapraun, USA
Lucie Klaassen, Netherlands
Mitzi Koch, USA
Marianne Kristensen, Denmark
Barbara Kruger-Davis, Australia
April Longuski, USA
Chris Ludwick, USA
Jutta Luschmann, Austria
Hakan Magill, Australia
Ruth Manning, Australia
Maya Martens, UK
Tina Mataya, USA
Duncan McDonald, Australia
Suzy Meathrell, USA
Marge Meriwether, USA
Sylvie Murray, Australia
Steve North, UK
Liesbet Peeters, Belgium
Elisabeth Perritaz, Switzerland
Sonja Pressel, Austria
Charlotte Rancourt, USA
Kim Rienks, Canada
Terence Roberts, UK
Gretchen Rohde, USA
Brenda Schollaert, Belgium
Karen Shrum, Canada
Lisa Simpanen, Canada
Olivia Siverts, USA
Angela Stabs, USA
Karin Suel, Germany
Doll Syminton, Australia
Ea Selmer Trane, Denmark
Wilma Van Wyngaarden, Canada
Bonnie Vogel, USA
Katie Wahlheim, Australia
Linda Wood, UK
Virginia Wylaars, New Zealand
Rossella Zambelli, Italy
Level 2 Graduates
(On Line + FreeStyle)
Phillipa Allen, Australia
Kristy Amado, USA
Kerstin Axelsson, Sweden
Gemma Barnes, UK
Heather Baskey, Canada
Kim Behrens, UK
Emily Bibb, USA
Doni Bird, USA
Linn Bjerkseth, Norway
Michele Bjork, USA
Jacqui Briggs, Australia
Monique Bristow, USA
Lori Bruno, USA
Daniela Buner, Switzerland
Mac Burkett, USA
Nancy Burton, USA
Margo L. Campbell, USA
Rebekah Carnall, UK
Chris Carter, USA
Geri Cavanagh, USA
Mary Clare Collen, USA
Charlotte Cottrill, USA
Jewel Cousins, USA
Steve Cowell, Australia
Mary Lou Cralle, USA
Sarah Czech, USA
Allie Davidson, Canada
Corrinn Davis, USA
Cosma Davis, USA
Lili Dawson, UK
Tracy L. DeGreen (Kuehn), USA
Christine Demierre, Switzerland
Kathy Derais, USA
Marc Dinnerstein, USA
Andreas Dold, Germany
Thomas Duif, France
Susan Durjan, USA
Stina Ernstsson, Sweden
Brenda Fazzani, UK
Jackie Feckoury, USA
Lee Ann Fouert, USA
Aurelie Foulon, Switzerland
Susan Garrido, UK
Cheryl Garza Funk, USA
Teresa Gaskill, USA
Mireille Gehlen-Verburgh, Netherlands
Jacqueline Gilpin, UK
Ursula Goetz, Switzerland
Petra Graak, Germany
Izabela Green, Australia
Hayley Haar, Australia
Lori Hackman, USA
Sara Haley, UK
Marianne Hall Angeras, Sweden
Jean Halls, UK
Dagmar Haluska, Canada
Stacy Harrington, USA
Weston L. Harris, USA
Ginger Hassenzahl, USA
Esmee Heath, UK
Helle Helmersen, Denmark
Emily Hess, USA
Jytte Holst, Denmark
Catherine Hooper, UK
Linda Hoover, USA
Beverley Horton, UK
Terri Howard, USA
Cindy Hudson, USA
Linda Jansson, Sweden
Rebecca Jeyaseelan, Australia
Cora Johnson, New Zealand
JoAnn Johnson, USA
Janina Jolley, USA
Kaylee Kapraun, USA
Kerstin Karstrom, Sweden
Callie Kasprzak, USA
Jenna Kennedy, USA
Matthew Kenny, USA
Winnie Killebrew, USA
Rosa Kolhammar, Sweden
Betsy Koncerak, USA
Niel Kuhner, USA
Cat Lambert, USA
Eric Lammertsma, Netherlands
Lenchen Leonard, USA
Gabi Lobers, Germany
Meg Anne Lynner, Italy
Mari Maclane, USA
Janice Macnamara, UK
Glen Malam, Australia
Rebecca Marcy, USA
Bethany Martin, USA
Judy Martin, USA
Elizabeth Martinez, USA
Duncan McDonald, Australia
Jackie McKee, USA
Candra Mingus, USA
Kiana Minkie, Australia
Pamela Moran, USA
Linda Morrison, USA
Kate Morton, UK
Becky Mraz, USA
Antonia Neff, Germany
Helena Neff, Germany
Patricia O’Brien, USA
Miklos Jozsef Olah, Hungary
Aina Olaussen, Norway
Jaimie Overton, USA
Lisa Oxnard, UK
Sonja Pressel, Austria
Debbie Prowting, UK
Mandy Punnett, New Zealand
David Rentfrow, USA
Emma Rujic, Australia
Gerry Rushton, UK
Toni Schmid, USA
June Schmidt, USA
Karmen Schwegel, USA
Lesley Sears, UK
Jennice Sjoholm, Sweden
Marilyn Southern, Australia
Eve Spencer, USA
Angelica Stabs, USA
Allison Stahl, USA
Renate Steger, Germany
Katherine Stockwell-Brown, USA
Marion Storz, Germany
Donna Taylor, USA
Marsha Thomas, Canada
Lisa Trowse, UK
Lisa Trueblood, USA
Roberta Veatch, USA
Mariann Waade, USA
Sonya Walker, Australia
Trish Watkinson, Australia
Susan Kaye Weaver, UK
Kara Weinraub, USA
Margery Wentworth, USA
Judy Wiesbrook, USA
Karol Williams, USA
Wendy Winstead, USA
Shelly Wolfe, USA
Linda Wood, UK
Sieglinde Zottmaier, Switzerland
Victoria Allen, USA
Pier Claudio Antonini, Italy
Lloyd Argyle, USA
Emilie Ariagno, France
Keira Arthur, Australia
Laurie Barger, USA
Katrien Berte, Belgium
Merete Borrevik, Norway
Pam Brandon, USA
Linda Buchanan, Bahamas
Chip Cary, USA
Julie Clarke, Australia
Georgia Corbett, Australia
Jayne Cowell, Australia
Valerie Creveling, USA
Vanessa Culemann, Germany
Sharyn Curnow, New Zealand
Karen Daniel, USA
Jacquelyn Davidson, USA
Sandy Demazet, France
Richelle Doerner-Corson,
New Zealand
Cristina Drachmann Uva, Denmark
Tereza Dvorakova, Czech Republic
Christi Emery, Australia
Yvette Fenning, Australia
Elena Ferrucci, Italy
Amanda Flores, USA
Naara Foots, Australia
Jacqueline Franklin, UK
Tamara Franks, USA
Audrey Fuentes, USA
Christine Garrett, USA
Sherry Garrett, USA
Joanne Gillett, UK
Jane Graybill, USA
Bethany Groleau, Canada
Garrett Hamlin, USA
Kate Harris, Australia
Tina Hawley, USA
Fleur Heath, Switzerland
Lisa Heitzler, Germany
Alison Herberts, UK
Maureen Hoague, USA
Anita Hoskins, USA
Carrie Hufnal-Miller, USA
Ellyn Hutzky, USA
Carna Jackson, USA
Jackie Jennings, UK
Sue Jennings, UK
Annette Johns, New Zealand
Edwina Johnson, UK
Barbara Ketchum, USA
Claire Klima, UK
Yvonne Knight, USA
Carol Koltz, USA
Lynne Kronvold, USA
Caroline Lemire, Canada
Melissa Levy, USA
Tracy Lumley, UK
Lisa Mahorney, USA
Hilary Martin, UK
Sarah McComb, Australia
Margaret McCooey, USA
Wendy McFarland, UK
Paula McGrath, Ireland
Bettina Meier, Switzerland
Lexa Mercer, USA
Diane Mignault, Canada
Mary Miller, USA
Siegfried Mittermair, Italy
Ebby Moffat, UK
Geraldine Molle, France
Martina Mueller, Switzerland
Suzanne Murphree, USA
Lorraine Newlyn, Australia
Nelly Nguyen, France
Nancy Niemi, USA
Annika Noreus, USA
Colleen Nye, USA
Helen Grace O’Hanlon, Ireland
Ulrike Obermüller, Austria
Sandra Pedersen, USA
Ricki Penna, USA
Amanda Phelps, UK
Sophia Rehmann, Germany
Adaline Roll, USA
Sandra Russell, UK
Lori Sala, USA
Deborah Salmon, USA
Jyoti Schaer, Switzerland
Kristin Schmidt, USA
Marina Schuller, Austria
Tonia Shatzel, USA
Amy Sheppard, UK
Angelina Skripic, Italy
Jennifer Snitko, USA
Kurt Somweber, France
Taylor Stephens, USA
Marianne Stilson, USA
Yasmine Sun, Australia
Mike Thiel, USA
Adrian CliveTravis, UK
Jane Travis, UK
Jennifer Tryggvason, USA
Blandina Valenzuela, USA
Candis Veach, USA
Jacqueline Walder, Austria
Josie White, UK
Jennifer Whittle, UK
Tammy Wiehl, Australia
Alice Wilkey, USA
Isabel Williams, Canada
Maureen Wills, Canada
Bethany Wilson, UK
Holly Wilson, UK
Sydney Woodfield, USA
Kerry Astar, USA
Barbara Baron, USA
Nina Black Reid, USA
Heidi Catlin, UK
Elisabeth Grans, Sweden
Sue Greif, USA
Cathy Jo Gunvalson, USA
Sarah Lynden-Bell, Australia
Barbara Murray, Spain
Elisabeth Perritaz, Switzerland
Star Redlich, USA
Helga Schriegel, Germany
Dave Sears, UK
Jane Sweeney, USA
Kristy Wyatt, USA
Mona Zaidi, USA
Level 1 Graduates
(On Line)
Nancy Adel, USA
Yvonne Akar, UK
Greta Albrigo, Italy
Sue-Ann Aubut, Canada
Shelby Back, USA
Loretta Balzamo, Canada
Elizabeth Barnard, UK
Sandra Baumann, Switzerland
Rachel Beaumont, UK
Mary Frances Bender, USA
Paige Berty, USA
Maria Blazeby, UK
Kathrina Bognar, Australia
Jane Brotherton, UK
Henrik Bruhn, Denmark
Elle Byers, Australia
Nicola Byrnes, New Zealand
Diana Castellano, USA
Lorraine Cater, UK
Monique Christiansen, Denmark
Meagan Clark, Australia
Lynn Collecutt, New Zealand
Sarah Collen, USA
Marianne Colvin, USA
Tolly Cottam, UK
Vanessa Cousins, Australia
Dorothy Curtis, USA
Lynette Daly, Australia
Melissa Dunbar, USA
Susan Dunbar, USA
Lydia Eisenbeis, USA
Tori Ellison, USA
Sara Falk, Sweden
Steffi Fallenbeck, Germany
Elizabeth Frazier, USA
Wendy Ann French, UK
Thordis Fridriksson, UK
Becky Friend, USA
Mandy Gagnebin, Switzerland
Joanne Gariepy, Canada
Julie Grace, USA
Jim Graybill, USA
Sue Greif, USA
Deborah Groshong, USA
Jasmin Grossegger, Austria
Joanna Halliwell, UK
Susanne Hallstrom, USA
Linda Hamm, USA
Michael Heggen, USA
Barbara Ann Hodkinson, UK
Cindy Huff, USA
Lorie Hull, USA
Rowan Keech, UK
Maria-Christina Keiling, Germany
Iris Khom, Austria
Laura Khom, Austria
Betty Knape, USA
Nicole Kohut, Canada
Mary Krauss, USA
Christine Krohn, USA
Lisa Lagadec, UK
Erin Lampe, USA
Greg Lang, Canada
Debbie Leary, USA
Katja Leoni, Italy
Susannah Lloyd, UK
Jude Lynock, UK
Cynthia Malphrus, USA
Jean Marshall, USA
Jade McLeod, Canada
Chris McWatters, Australia
Alison Medway, UK
Leonhard Neff, Germany
Terri Noftsger, USA
Horace Noland USA
Madeline O’Dowd, Australia
Meghan O’Sullivan, Canada
Katja Regina Ohm, Germany
Martine Parsons, Australia
Emily Pellow, Australia
Betsy Pepper, UK
Helen Pepper, UK
David Pharis, USA
Victoria Preston, USA
Hannah Rankin, Australia
Heidi Rau, USA
Charlotte Reid, USA
Charlotte Rennie, UK
Anna Rickford, USA
Holly Rickford, USA
Pat Roberts, Australia
Linda S. Rourke, USA
Simone Sains, UK
Joanne Sawyer, Bahamas
Andrea Schneider, Germany
Mindy Schroder, USA
Joseph Schulz, USA
Nori Shaw, USA
Andria Sherrow, USA
John Silvela, USA
Erica Sloma, USA
Meghan Smith, Australia
Sharon Smith, UK
Sarah Spiller, USA
Fiona St. Clair, Australia
Anna Stiegler, Austria
Alexandra Suarez-Spanswick, UK
Natalie Svensson, Sweden
Katja Thieme, Germany
Beckie Tollmann, USA
Sam Tomlins, Australia
Ruth Tozer, UK
Roxanne Valliere, Canada
Angela Vassar, USA
Elizabeth Vassar, USA
Anne Walther, USA
Paxton Watson, USA
Cathy White, USA
Jacque White, USA
Katie Williams, UK
Shirley Wirth, USA
Michael Wise, USA
Mary Wormell, UK
Kristy Wyatt, USA
Gail Yardley, UK
Tommi Young, USA
Tracy Young, USA
Every effort is made to ensure this list is accurate.
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name, or misspelled it, please let us know right
away by emailing savvytimes@parelli.com.
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An Education in the - Parelli Natural Horsemanship

Transcription

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