Pat Parelli recently ruffled feathers when he presented a demonstration at the Royal Festival of the Horse in England while working with the eventer Robert Whittaker's horse Catwalk. Apparently it was offensive enough to cause people to walk out in disgust, as well as confront Parelli directly and post video on Youtube. That isn't the whole of the problems Parelli may be facing however.
Still fresh on everyone's typing fingers as they confer in public forums online about exactly what happened at the Royal Festival of the Horse, Parelli hasn't been the only person people are scratching their heads over. Robert Whittaker has also been added to the conversation as people ask, “how could he just stand by and watch this being done to his horse?” Albeit not everyone is pointing a finger and faulting Robert though, as clinician Chris Irwin posted a video online inviting Whittaker and Catwalk to let him help work through their problems. It has since been removed so I unfortunately can't share it with you right now. Part of me shied away from the idea that Irwin may be swooping in to benefit from this bad situation, but the other part acknowledged that there really is no uncriticizable way to reach out and try to offer assistance in just such a situation. So, I'm still divided on the issue.
I was there Friday evening and would like to report what I experienced. From the point in the evening that PP ‘led’ the horse round by its tongue (he also had a halter on Catwalk and this was prior to the gumline and leg tie up) I started to feel uncomfortable. I have been interested in PP's methods and was in no way ‘anti'. I have seen him at several other demos and not seen anything like this. I have heard many of his sayings…..'dignity of the horse, love, language, leadership, its about the relationship, what would the horse's mother think if she could see how it was being treated' etc so was doubly very uncomfortable with how things unfolded as I was not expecting what I saw.I think PP started working with the horse about 7.30 pm and I walked out at 9.30 pm being unable to stand any more. Other people had left before me. After a period of trying to desensitise the horse to hands up near his head, using the pad to mimic something going back and forward across his ears PP tied up his leg and continued to try to get the bridle on. I was surprised at this and started to be concerned that the horse may fall over and hurt itself (bearing in mind it was in an arena with temporary railing and other obstacles in a strange environment so feeling even more unconfident that it might have done elsewhere).
PP was still unable to get the bridle on and kept pushing it up to its head whereupon Catwalk kept just shaking his head and the bridle would fall off. After about 20 mins of this he produced a thin black rope from his pocket and put that on by attaching it to one side of the Parelli halter, through the upper lip resting on the gum, out the other side and through the halter. PP then pulled Catwalk’s head down with the line, made him back up, led him round and repeated this for a while. (I was in a front row seat by the way). After some time doing this he started to try to put the bridle on holding Catwalk’s head in place with the gum line. Catwalk still raised his head away from the bridle though at no point in the whole demo was Catwalk ever aggressive. At this point I began to worry about the effect of all this hauling, pushing and pulling on Catwalk’s gum as it had been going on for seemingly a very long time.
As there was no improvement in Catwalk’s acceptance of bridling, PP then tied his leg up again and continued to hold the gum line and the rope on his leg and try to get the bridle on. Catwalk went down on his knees at one point, and later did indeed rear up and run away. LP came into the arena and she pulled on the rope round Catwalk’s foreleg while PP held the gum line and tried to get the bridle on. Still Catwalk attempted to avoid the bridle and I could bear no more as nearly two hours had elapsed in total and I would guess heading for an hour with the gumline on. I walked out and joined another audience member, and then two more who asked a Parelli official to intervene. He of course refused, said we didn’t understand what was going on, and asked us to step outside. We moved to outside the arena and remonstrated with the official again.
We then decided to speak to PP and ask him why he was doing this to Catwalk. We went to the back of the arena and when PP came out asked to see inside Catwalk’s mouth. He peeled back his top lip and there was bright red lesion. After putting forward our views for 10 to 15 minutes (!) and yes, we were now incensed, PP apologised for upsetting us and asked what could he do? We all said, please, just never do this to another horse ever again. The reports of the other posters who were there with PP are correct. We were then given our money back.
The next day we went to the BHS stand and asked if a vet could look at Catwalk as he was due to be used again in a demo and we wanted him checked. The BHS phoned the organisers (Festival of the Horse) who arranged for a vet to look at Catwalk. Within a hour or so the vet reported back via the BHS rep that he had examined Catwalk, yes, there was a lesion and that Catwalk would not be used in the demo the next day. (Alice Bell, Festival of the Horse 02476 858276 and Andrea Jackman, BHS 01686 627050).
Seems the world falls into two camps….you either think this is all okay or you don't. I didn't.
Some of the original video posted is rather rough but gives a general idea and lucky for us, still available to watch on Youtube.
Another first-hand account was one of the first publicized.
It all started well and the savvy riders were great, then Pat was introduced and he gave what I would expect to be the same talk on the princibles. Then Robert came in and gave a rough outline on his recently owned 7 year old jumping stallion Catwalk, and the fact that it was almost impossible to bridle him. Robert was not willing however to show us just how he did, but did though mention that he couldn't do it in a nice way.Then the bay stallion was brought in, he was stunning and so well behaved cosidering the atmosphere and no doubt, his feeling of isolation from the other horses waiting outside.
It started well and Pat continued his talk as he led the stallion around the areana on a long rope. He talked of relationships, perceptions and of course the principles of love, language and leadership. Then he pulled it's head down as his is the Parrelli thing I guess? He then tried to touch Catwalks head and ears unsuccessfuly I might add and so became a little more forceful in his approach and asked to be brought in a saddle pad which he then slid up and down a distrssed Catwalks neck and over his face. This went on for a while and then he asked for music. The room went silent, all viewers went dumb as they watched him use a gum line as a twitch and a 22ft rope wrapped around the fetlock to the knee to haul Catwalks leg off the floor to render him unable to move while he tried to force the bride onto a now very distressed and frightened horses face!!
Catwalk hopped away and went down on his remaining knee and backed into the jump and the fence rails. Linda who'd had her face in hr hands up to this point, then raced around from her chair at the side of the arena and joined him in the fight, pulling at the rope while Pat continued to force on the bridle. The distressed horse managed to break away momentairily and run for the exit and safety. They caught him and started the whole process again where the horse stood.
I have to confess that at this point, we were unable to watch any more and had to walk out.
Elsbells
To all of this disconcert, the Parellis responded with an “Open Letter” response which was likewise released through Youtube. It seems rather impersonal given the amount of uproar the situation caused but you can make your own assessment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzOqBZRjYoY
Still, with all of this following on the heels of the video that was made viral showing Linda Parelli mismanaging the training of a partially blind horse the Parelli team seems to be on a run as I was alerted to yet another video of Linda showing off her fear and distrust of horses, posted on Barn Mice. In it she teaches a student how to effectively hit with the snap while leading her horse.
Note – the video and page on Barn Mice has since been removed for unknown reasons…
Not wanting to be entirely one sided and unfair, I'll also post Parelli's official video of the demonstration. What I find interesting is there are mere seconds of the evening demonstration in which all of the abuses were reported from. Where did the rest of that demo go? On the cutting floor I suppose, with good reason?
Where will all of this controversy land the Parelli camp? It wouldn't surprise me if they reach an eventual meltdown, and I wouldn't even miss the presence of this training style. Some have hinted (and others have bluntly stated) that they feel I am anti-Parelli. The truth is that I see Pat Parelli as one of those televangelists who pushes and promotes his religion, but behind closed doors it really just boils down to the money. He'll say anything he needs to in order to sell to his viewers and supporters.
My opinion of those who go along with Parelli is likewise similar to the religious people who follow televangelists – there are a choice few who I respect, not because they follow this person but because of all of their own redeeming qualities as an individual and who, despite following the crowd, are able to rise above and excel IN SPITE OF rather than because of. These people I also have admiration for because they are so naturally talented and skilled that they could do the same with anything else they put their mind to. But, the majority are simply following along because their fear, misunderstanding, lack of education (which is not equal to lack of intelligence) or whatever other reason you want to put forward, finds themselves drawn to the magic and promises made.
In my eyes, the whole Parelli entity is nothing more than a religion, a cult, etc. There are leaders at the top, people of various levels following them, there is a sort of “bible”, lets not forget the “miracles” which are performed at public demonstrations, and plenty of people lining up to vehemently defend the method and its leaders. Still, it is not alone. There is a long standing list of Clinicians who could fall into this category but may not be of the same public exposure as Parelli.
For those who missed the video of Linda Parelli with the one-eyed horse I'm including it again here for convenience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIjDkqkNXFw
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I appreciate your efforts to provide the full picture. However, you never tell us what Pat says about the horse and how he explained what he was doing. This makes it very hard to be objective.
I sure don’t like being called a cult member. I am 62 years old and run a successful business. Appreciating good horsemanship does not make me a cult member.
Actually, (with a slight grin) I wasn’t trying to present the full picture. 🙂 Pat Parelli released a video ‘open letter’ about the whole ordeal essentially writing it off that those watching simply don’t understand and what they ‘imagined’ to happen wasn’t what occurred at all. If you do a simple google search this will probably rank high on the first page for the terms “Parelli” and “Catwalk”.
What I find difficult is that using a gum line and tying up a leg to address any issue is acceptable depending upon the reasoning that Pat Parelli chooses to release. No offense meant to you personally Seth, the path you choose to take with horsemanship is your own and you only need answer to yourself on the matter to find your path.
And as to my remark about the Parelli training camp being cult-like, how else can one explain it? Cults gained a bad rap from many of the radical ones out there but there are cults in just about every facet of our lives if one looks close enough.
Cheers
Seth, I think it’s possible to appreciate good horsemanship while still being objective. After reading the eyewitness accounts and seeing the video that showed clips of what he was doing, I feel that PP explained himself quite well with his actions. As students of anything, we have to use critical thinking when observing and especially implementing training methods. I’ve had a couple bridling sessions with one of my horses that took about an hour and were mostly about waiting for my 17.2hh Perchy to surrender (I’m 5’3″ and one thing I know about draftees is, you can’t make them do anything they don’t want to!). Now he helps me get his bridle on! I’m not a professional trainer or rider, but I understand that a good human-horse relationship must be established on trust first. Forcing and hurting horses doesn’t establish trust. Parelli, like other trainers, has some good methods and he’s made them accessible to backyard equestrians. But like my mom says, “you’ve gotta eat the meat and spit out the bones”. We have to reject what isn’t good, lest we do become as cult members who don’t question things we see that are wrong when the guru dances.
I would just like to say thank you! I have been to Parelli clinics and watched is TV shows and I am sorry but the only thing that man is accomplishing is showing unqualified people that they should train a horse. I am not saying there aren’t horse people in the group, but he seems to think he is a god. I have worked with horses all my life and have been with several different trainers to fit my horses’ needs. Even some with TV shows of their own. From going to the Parelli clinics all I can say is I am not impressed. I will admit he is a great business man, however he is a complete novice when it comes to horses. I have had beginner students that have done better than he. And that is very apparent in the clinic he gave where he was drug around the arena because he didn’t pay attention to where his lunge line was. No there is not a video of it because he obviously would try to hide the mistake. But even if it was a mistake a true horseman would have taken the chance to tell his students to not make the same one, insead he acted like nothing happened and went on with the clinic.
Pat Parelli and Linda Parelli have become lazy in their cover ups and the world is starting to see it. For us that saw through him in the beginning we all knew it would come. However there are still people who swear by his tactics. I would still like to know how many people he has seriously hurt because his methods do not work!!
The video of Linda Parelli with the one-eyed horse is disgusting! That is horse abuse! And she should be arrested!! The horse wasn’t doing anything I believe in disciplineing him when he does something bad. But this was unnecessary and down right cruel and abusive! That poor horse I feel so sorry for him or her.
I agree horse abuse in the blind horse video. I’m thinking the whole time why would you use a startling visual cue to ask the blind horse to do something as simple as backing up? Why isn’t she using touch and voice (uncompromised senses in this horse) in a reassuring manner? Parelli franchise is targeted on the “do-it-yourself” owner. If the Parelli materials weren’t available two results: Some owners would find a reputable trainer, (yay!)some would become even more abusive in the handling of their horses…it’s a dilemna for sure…
There are methods that work well but there is always one animal nothing will work on. I think trainers should show both failures and successes. The trick is to let people know no method is 100% perfect and another method may work better on that particular animal
I’m not sure I agree that there is an absolute case of the “untrainable horse” out there, but I do agree that no method works 100% of the time. The rub comes in that most of the methods out there are being promoted in order to turn a profit, not as a means to help as many horses and equestrians. In that case it would seem that showing failures would hurt the bottom line in their business model, hence why they aren’t shown or hidden away.
Really a shame because as you said showing both could really improve the way equestrians approach training, training methods and horses who don’t easily fall into one of the popular methods.
Is anyone familiar with Ray Hunt? I attended a workshop with him, and he was very gentle and incredibly successful with horses. He had a gal with a wild mare (BLM rescue) riding her within two days’ time, and all of this without one buggy whip, without one scolding, without a single kind of punishment. All only encouragement- and trust-based training. It was truly wonderful–and impressive.
He’s a very popular man in NH circles. Most/many of the bigger name clinicians will cite him as their main teacher/inspiration. 🙂
Ray Hunt is one of the originals. Kind and smart and humble. Prob still working to counter the Parelli blitz.
In our ever fast paced world no one has time for anything especially to properly train a young or misdirected young horse. Of course Catwalk can learn to be bridled but not in 2 bloody hours, it takes time consistency and trust. Do you learn to trust in 2 hours especially when you have been mistreated for years?? And this video what the hell are they trying to teach this horse, if a smart human like myself can’t figure it out how the hell do you think a horse is gonna???
My impression of a lot of Parelli methods are concluded in confusion, not just this scenario.
But of course the Parelli argument is that their methods work on every horse with every rider, as long as the horse/rider can overcome their stupidity in not understanding the Parelli methods. lol A bit circular if you ask me.
My impression of a lot of Parelli methods are concluded in confusion, not just this scenario.
But of course the Parelli argument is that their methods work on every horse with every rider, as long as the horse/rider can overcome their stupidity in not understanding the Parelli methods. lol A bit circular if you ask me.
I have always found it “interesting” that what people call natural horsemanship is anything but. And the Parelli camp is the worst of it. I have trained and retrained several horses. All without tricks, games and abusive techniques. I have little respect for the followers, supporters and users of this snake oil
The name “natural horsemanship” is contradictory, as predatory species (humans) generally stalk/hunt/kill/eat prey species (horses) in nature. So I guess it makes further sense that the actual methods used by NH trainers are often contradictions as well. 🙂
And here lies the problem with negative reinforcement of any kind, not just PP. If you don’t get what you want, you must escalate, you can’t walk away and rethink about the horse’s particular needs or learning (at least not without further reinforcing the behaviour).
Education on animal behaviour, cognition and learning is sorely missing from most people who own any sort of animal, and particularly harmful to horses.
Catwalk showed signs of changing then would use another tactic Parelli is saying… Catwalk is a stallion, stallions do that with some handlers… um, not so good ones.
Aileen, I agree that Catwalk could possibly be an aggressive horse (pure speculation). Watching the better quality video (promotional version) I found it odd how nervous looking Pat and Catwalk’s rider appeared to be with him – hand movements seemed quick, sporadic, jumpy.
Or maybe they had too much caffeine? 🙂
I don’t believe it’s a stallion behavior per se though, but more commonly seen in stallions as a result of the way they’re traditionally housed/handled. Unfortunately most stallions live a very isolated and unsocial life compared to other horses, heavily disciplined for minor errors out of fear or trying to “dominate” them, etc. I can hardly blame a stallion to develop odd behaviors given the life they’re often forced into (I’d be one aggressive horse myself in the same lot.. 😉 ).
“Unfortunately most stallions live a very isolated and unsocial life compared to other horses, heavily disciplined for minor errors out of fear or trying to “dominate” them, etc. I can hardly blame a stallion to develop odd behaviors given the life they’re often forced into (I’d be one aggressive horse myself in the same lot.. 😉 ).” – very true
My only thing is… If you saw a “cowboy” using these same methods on a working horse, there would be a huge uproar. But since these people use the words “natural horsemanship” no one thinks twice about it.
This is horrible. These poor horses are so confused and distrustful. There is absolutely NO trust building in this what so ever.
How sad.
thank you for sharing your though about parelli. it nice to see there are other peopel who think and feel the same! in my sight, this is just one Methode – but there are millions of horses outthere….
Yes, it is extremely irresponsible for Linda Parelli’s observers to not report her to the local police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It is our duty to report her to the police to protect the future horses she surely will beat the same way she beat this one. Their pain is on us if we do not report her. The future handlers of this horse and the future horses will be less safe as the horse reacts in fear to handling as the horse remembers Linda’s previous handling and rightfully fails to trust its handler in future situations in which trust is critical to safety. “How to Beat the He** Out Of A Horse” is what this so called lesson should be called. I’m sorry the owner was too ignorant to not intervene. Linda Parelli in this video literally commits crime. When people ask me why I do not include Parelli methods in my equestrian teaching curriculum, I am able to honestly point out this video and the conflicting words said by the Parelli’s, using those words as an example of a lie that fooled many people for a while, but not forever. The Parelli’s have now been shown to be a “tell people what they want to hear” lying, greedy, money sucking pit of sadistic, self-centered, deliberate ignorance. They failed to realize that there are many, many people in this world that have three times their IQ and can tell s*** from shinola in half a New York second. May they be treated they way the horses they train are treated. No, its not that I don’t understand the parellis supposedly complex method. I grew up riding and studied psychoanalysis in college, along with physics, differential equations and various other complex subjects. I understand exactly what they are doing and it is crime, cruelty, lies, fraud, abuse and endangerment. Like the sign on the steep slippery slope down the mountain said, “BEWARE”. (WAKE UP AND STAY AWAY FROM PARELLI!).
What the Parelli’s are doing is not natural horsemanship! Natural horsmanship is all about pressure and release. I don’t know what the heck these two are doing!
The video of Linda Parelli is disturbing. You can clearly see the horse does not understand what she is asking of him and he looks to be shutting down. Her and her husband should not be around horses, let alone passing themselves off as trainers!
I personally like Warwick Schiller and Monty Roberts way of training. I use both of these men\s training methods, depending on what comes up, and have seen great results with my two horses. Just takes patience and tiny baby steps and before you know it you really start seeing the results.
It is almost impossible to say anything negative about PP or any method of training. People for whatever reason are not willing to listen and seem to need to come to their own decision on what they like or dislike. I really believe that a person only understands what they do at a certain level that they have achieved. What I mean is that a person only knows a certain amount based on their education or experience. I truly believe that most “Great” horsepeople will basically do the same things based on their lifes experiences with horses. There is no shortcut to success. Understanding of horses along with feel takes a certain amount of time to achieve. Some learn a little quicker than others it seems but you are not born with knowledge.
Lastly, I want to say that I really feel that in the large picture, it is a small percentage of people that understand and have a knowing of horses. The rest of the people are either working at it or are not really committed. It has been said that life is like a parade. People are divided into three groups. There are those that are in the parade, those that are standing watching the parade going by and those that either are not aware there is a parade or don’t want to come to the parade.
Pat Parelli does what he does to make a living and his end justifies his means. If you can’t see what he is or what motivates him, it means you are not smart enough yet and need to look or learn more. I hope for horses sake that people that are not committed to learning stay away from them.
I have never been a fan of the Parelli’s for a couple of reasons. The two most important are: 1) I have an innate distrust of anyone who packages “one size fits all” horse training and then sells it like a snake-oil salesman, and 2) I think training horses should be geared to getting them ready to ride, not giving fearful people something else to do with a horse besides sit on its back – and that’s what I see with a lot of horse clinic groupies.
I have worked with problem horses (in addition to “nice” horses for going on 40 years now, and I started out in the “old days” when people who broke bad actors were very tough on them, and I observed many times the result of using the old ways with horses. Those results were both good and bad. What I learned from those experiences is that there is a better way to work horses nowadays – much kinder – but I have always suspected there would be some rogues that would fall through the cracks with what I like to call “be nice” training. The other thing I learned from all this is that generally, if you have to use really abusive methods to make a horse cooperate, it is highly unlikely that horse will amount to much of anything even after he is “broke.” The large majority of those proved to have some sort of soundness issue when all was said and done.
To my point: Any time you are working with this type of horse, you have the question in the back of your mind: Is this the one that won’t come around, that won’t see the light? And then you see the light bulb go on, and the look in the horse’s eye changes, and his body language changes – all very subtly – and you know you are over the hump and things are going to get better (usually not without a few bumps in the road, but you are on the way to training the horse).
I think Parelli is a good-enough horseman, and he sure has found a way to make mega-bucks with his method. The problem with working problem horses publicly is when things go wrong, you’ve put it all out there for everyone to see. His best defense now would be some video of what he claims is happening now: the horse bridling easily and going out and showing.
Lip cords and nerve lines are fairly benign tools compared to what many trainers have in their arsenals and use behind closed doors. So in my mind the question becomes: What do we do with horses that will not respond to “be nice” techniques, and where will they go if they are rogues and nobody can handle them? At this point in my life – and for quite a few years now – I simply will not work with a horse that truly wants to become physical and violent with a trainer – and please note, in my experience those are very few and far between. But the whole incident with Parelli does bring that question to my mind once again.
By the way, none of this is intended either to condone Parelli’s methods or to condemn.
I guess I am old fashioned. I learned to be a horse person before natural horsemanship came along. i learned to handle horses, ride and show jumpers/some dressage from people who had worked with horses for generations-american and european. Horsemanship was something ALL riders had to learn-period. Then a movie called “horse whisperer” came out and now everyone is an expert. And these horse handlers are now “clinicians.” Good grief. I don’t even want to be in the business anymore. The entire sport has been invaded by frauds and charlatans. It’s nothing but a bunch of new age, psychobabble applied to horses. I simply can’t bear it anymore.