My name is Regina. I got my first horse, Rockstar, in October 2007. By November, I learned about Parelli Natural Horse*Man*Ship and began my journey with the Level 1 home study course.
The Parelli method allows horse lovers at all levels and disciplines to achieve: success without force, partnership without dominance, teamwork without fear, willingness without intimidation, and harmony without coercion. ~ Linda & Pat Parelli
A year later, I moved more than 400 miles so that I could rent a bungalow on a small natural horsemanship ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
This blog is my personal journal of a lifelong love of horses and my commitment to pursuing excellence in horsemanship every day. My goal is to have the best relationship it’s possible to have with my horse — and then improve that into the realm of impossibility. I also want to be able to canter bareback.
“It’s more than just about the horse,” reflects Linda [Parelli]. “It really dips into the personal development side of things. You learn about yourself, you learn about communication, about leadership, about truthfulness, about consequence and responsibility. You learn about love and imagination. The horse becomes the animal that tells you the truth about yourself in all these categories.”
To learn more about Parelli Natural Horse*Man*Ship, visit Parelli.com.
To contact me: horsegirlonajourney@gmail.com
Hi Regina, I usually don’t reply to things I read on the web but I can’t resist. You are SO on the right path! (Without try there is no do-Yoda). I am a Parelli student as well. At 54 I thought I’d better learn some true horsemanship to be safe. To make a very long story much shorter I bought a 20 yr old Arab gelding who was underweight, unconditioned, unsound and mentally disconnected. For somereason I took on this project after years of just doing dressage with leased horses. Started Parelli and within 6 months he began a change to becoming healthier mentally and physically. I started riding bareback last Feb and over the next year I’ve progressed to a balanced seat. I never cantered in my entire life outside an arena until now. Hours and hours of walking and bending, troting and backward sircles, turns on the forehand you name it– with lots of work just in a halter, etc. and now? I am riding bareback, no halter, just a string and we are cantering out of the arena in the big wideopen land adjacent to his boarding area. So if 54 yr old non-flexible fraidy cat can do this you can too. Just play with it and have fun. Good luck! What has helped me so much in addition the the Parelli study has been to get Bill Dorrances True Horsemanship Through Feel. In order to really understand some of the basic concepts of Parelli I think you have to go to the true master–Mr. Dorrance is the God. When you know where your horses feet are you will understand what it all really means. It sounds simple but will take you a number of years to really understand.
You go girl!
Deanna, thanks for the encouragement! Some days it feels like the goal is unachievable … others it seems right around the corner, albeit not exactly effortless. I am afraid to trot bareback because my learning process is so uncomfortable for him, and he has a HUGE trot. I am actually trying to figure out how to MacGyver some sort of simulator (a barrel on springs?) so I can practice in my body before subjecting his to it … LOL
I will order Bill’s book now.