Horsegirl on a Journey

The tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg, but I’ll keep adding to this so that the blog makes slightly more sense to those of you who just read ’cause you like me or Rocky but don’t have horses or don’t study Parelli™.

The words and diagrams on this page are all mine, except where otherwise noted. Please don’t blame Parelli if I didn’t get something right. Parelli Natural Horsemanship™ is a trademark of PARELLI NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP, INC. which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.

Parelli Natural Horsemanship

The ultimate way to train a horse is to train its human.

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 and Pat Parelli

Seven Keys to Success with Parelli Program

1. Attitude
2. Knowledge
3. Tools
4. Techniques
5. Time
6. Imagination
7. Support

Horsenality

The Parelli program uses a “horsenality chart” to help students categorize certain behaviors so we can respond appropriately. It’s not meant to label the horse forever as one horsenality type. It’s a key that we learners can use to figure out how we can best communicate with the horse in that moment – “the horse that shows up” – no matter what that horse was like yesterday, last week, an hour ago, or what he’ll be like in the future.

Parelli.com has an interactive page to give you a high-level summary of how the program categorizes horse behavior. Click each of the quadrants in the chart to read a blurb about each horsenality. You can also download the horsenality chart (PDF). Much of the new program material refers to horsenality and the strategies we need to learn to recognize and respond appropriately to each one — particularly for those horses that can show all four horsenalities in three seconds flat.

In this blog, I tend to use the abbreviations and the terms as a shorthand rather than describe in detail how Rocky was being in any given session. I also note from time to time that he is tri-polar.

Left brain generally means thinking, not scared, maybe dominant or challenging, ready to solve puzzles, ready to engage. Right brain generally means prey animal instincts kick in, with fear, inability to think, unable to tune in to human. Each state of mind requires the human to use different strategies to center the horse so he can become a willing, trusting, exuberant, curious, confident, and playful partner.

Here’s a little slogan for each horsenality, to give you a sense of what I need to be ready to engage at any moment, and what I mean when I use these abbreviations in the blog posts.

• LBE – Left Brain Extrovert. “Play with me!”
• LBI – Left Brain Introvert. “What’s in it for me?”
• RBI – Right Brain Introvert. “Be gentle with me!”
• RBE – Right Brain Extrovert. “Focus me!”

Partnership Priorities

I made this diagram to help me visualize the priorities for each play session, based on Linda’s article in the May 2009 Savvy Times, “The Ultimate Training Formula.” The diagram uses the placement and colors of the horsenality chart: 1 – RBE, 2 – RBI, 3 – LBI, 4 – LBE. Having this diagram in my head helps me do a quick check of our levels in each quadrant before and during our session, so that I can get better about applying pressure and release appropriately, and learn when to be provocative and when to be reassuring.

Eight Principles of Horsemanship

1. Horsemanship is natural.
2. Don’t make or teach assumptions.
3. Communication is two or more individuals sharing and understanding an idea.
4. Horses and humans have mutual responsibilities.
5. The attitude of justice is effective.
6. Body language is the universal language.
7. Horses teach humans and humans teach horses.
8. Principles, purpose and time are the tools of teaching.

The Eight Responsibilities

For the horse:

1. Don’t act like a prey animal.
2. Don’t change gait.
3. Don’t change direction.
4. Look where you are going.

For the human:

1. Don’t act like a predator.
2. Have an independent seat.
3. Think like a horse.
4. Use the natural power of focus.

The Seven Games aka Horse Language and Psychology

We humans learn more from these games than our horses do, I think; the horses already know the games and just need to learn how each individual human plays them. The descriptions below are only to give you an idea of each game’s purpose and power, and are nowhere near the entire story.

1. Friendly Game. Builds trust and confidence between horse and human.
2. Porcupine Game. Teaches horse to move away from steady pressure. Teaches human to be consistent, fair, and able to read the horse and adjust steady pressure accordingly.
3. Driving Game. Teaches horse to move away from rhythmic pressure. Teaches human to be consistent, fair, and able to read the horse and adjust rhythmic pressure accordingly. Also teaches human the difference between rhythmic pressure and rhythmic motion (and non-rhythmic commotion!).
4. Yo-Yo Game. Teaches horse to go in a straight line, with backward as good as forward. Teaches human to be particular without being critical.
5. Circling Game. Teaches horse to maintain gait and direction with relaxation, rhythm, and contact. Teaches human to be patient and to have feel.
6. Sideways Game. Teaches horse to move sideways as good as he moves forward and back, in both directions, and both away and toward human. Teaches human to adjust to the horse and use all the games and strategies to teach something complicated.
7. Squeeze Game. Builds confidence, respect, and curiosity in both horse and human.

Stick to Me
A game in which the horse has to keep a zone of his body within a specified distance of a zone of your body, no matter where you go or what you do, without any ropes or strings or other fastenings between you. The easiest level is probably his nose or shoulder at your shoulder. A more advanced game would be his hip at your hip. Think of it as ballroom dancing, where if you drop the lead, your partner can wander off to the snack table without saying goodbye. And where you stay utterly tuned in to your partner so you can sense their suggestions and guide the dance that way so they have more fun.

Equipment
This is the Getting Started equipment kit from Parelli. It could also be called the End Result equipment kit, because once you get through the four levels in the foundation program, this is all you will ever need.

Phases

1. Suggest
2. Ask
3. Tell
4. Promise

Zones
Zones help us refine our communication and troubleshoot what’s happening when we’re asking for A but getting B. For example, if you are applying pressure in zone 4, the hindquarters will do something — and if what you really wanted was to move the nose, probably you should apply pressure to zone 1 instead. (Illustration found randomly on web. If it’s yours, let me know!)

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Savvies

The Parelli term for the categories of ways we play with our horses, each with its own set of achievements and challenges. Everything we do with horses fits into one of these, and the Parelli program emphasizes the importance of progressing from one to the next and attaining the right balance of all four.

1. On-Line. Horse and human communicate on the ground with the help of a rope, typically 12 ft, 22 ft, or 45 ft long.
2. Liberty. Horse and human communicate on the ground without a rope.
3. Freestyle. Human rides horse, only making contact (with leg, rein, etc.) when guidance is necessary. Example: trail riding.
4. Finesse. Human rides horse with steady contact. Example: dressage.

Free Tips and News

You can view a free video tip each week without joining the Savvy Club. This will give you a sense of how the Parellis teach:

parellisavvyclub.com

The weekly newsletter includes a question and answer as well as news, events, follow-ups on horses and people in the program, and special deals on courses and materials:

Parelli e-News

Parelli Patterns

A program of specific things to do, in a defined progression, to give you and your horse a purpose every time you play. Playing without a purpose can confuse or unsettle a horse, because you don’t seem very leaderlike if you’re aimless and casting about for something to do next; some horses take this as a sign to take over your herd of two, because someone has to have a point and you obviously don’t. It takes four to seven sessions for a horse to learn a pattern, and each of the four savvies includes 11 to 30ish patterns, charted on a map so you can check off each session and know exactly what to do next time. Of course this isn’t ALL you do, but it provides a structure that builds confidence in both the horse and the human.

Here’s a commercial: