I’m so excited about the horsenality report! (For a quick overview of horsenality, see my Parelli Reference page.)
In typical Parelli fashion, the packaging is beautiful and sturdy, the paper is strong enough to stand up to years of use, and it’s all in color. It does give one more pleasure and more sense of value than just getting an online PDF the moment you finish the questionnaire, though of course I’d like an e-copy as a backup. Maybe I’ll scan all 50 pages.
The Box
The Horsenality report is the first stage of a three-part project. The next stage is a Personality report; I don’t know if they’re going with something already standard, like Myers-Briggs, or if they’re devising their own. I do know that Linda is working with people from the online dating industry, who have extensive experience in database publishing and personality matching. The final stage is the Horsenality-Personality Match report.
Opening the box
While Parelli does understand that it is a media and publishing organization, it took a while for them to realize that this is a database-driven software project, so it has taken longer than they expected to pull it all together. The Savvy Club forum has a few threads already about whether the report is worth the retail price, which is something like $395 for Horsenality and $795 for the complete match report. Given that they have [iy decades of horsenality research and at least two years of software development into this project, this is not actually as outrageous as it sounds.
But I do hope the price becomes more accessible over time as they recoup the costs of development. I figure that the first few hundred Gold and Silver members who got the report for free are also the beta testers, and our opinions will sway the next batch of people about whether they are willing to pay a a months’ barn bill for such a report.
Contents of the box
After reverently opening the box, I flipped straight to page 6, where they show Rocky’s horsenality type. Right Brain Introvert, Mild Spirit, is the diagnosis. I’m ecstatic! It took me almost two years to settle on RBI as his innate horsenality, and now I have confirmation. One of the characteristics of the RBI is “hard to read” which was one of the final ah-ha moments for me in settling on RBI, as was just becoming more savvy about reading horses in general.
RBI, mild spirit
This assessment is based on the answers I gave on the intake form. I suddenly can’t remember how many questions it had, though I remember being surprised that it was so brief. 40 questions? 70?
The genius though is that you did not get to have a middle answer. The choices were along the lines of Always | Sometimes | Rarely | Never. Just like the Respect mastery manual, in which I wanted to say “yes, but” or “no, but,” there was no room for excuses. Nor did I overanalyze every question. I went with my gut instinct, as advised, and didn’t have to change very many answers in my “did I click what I meant to click?” check.
The questions also asked about the same or similar behavior in more than one way, which meant it was possible to answer both Sometimes and Rarely about shades of the same trait.
So far I have only read the quick overview, as I wanted to get outside at the right time to help Leslie blanket the horses and to ride Rocky down to the turnout (again, with fewer stops and wiggles, and more awareness of my part in that wigglyness). I know I’ll be blogging a lot more about horsenality this year as I delve deeper into it with both Rocky and Salsa (LBE).
Horsegirl on a Journey 
I, too, received my report and I don’t know if I’m that excited about it. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent 7 years with Cricket, bringing her from a totally un-started 2yr old all the way into L4 groundwork and L3 riding. I know her incredibly well. Maybe I need to blog about it. Maybe I’m just disgruntled because it’s telling me to do things I know I need to do but don’t do often enough. Hmm, must think this through.
I’ve been unsure of my judgment of Rocky’s horsenality for so long, it felt great to have the validation. And in fact the detailed overview made me laugh because it mentioned that he is so close to the center and has dots in so many quadrants that he is very challenging, hard to read, can switch from one to another in a breath, and is only barely more RBI than the others. Which is what I’ve said all along, that he’s at least tripolar, and maybe even quadpolar. I feel a deep sense of relief that even with my best attempt at answers, even the Parellis see that he’s “very unusual,” to quote the report.
The real help will be in the horsenality-personality match, I think. How do I modify my innate LBE self — who used to go RBI or RBE around horses, from unconfidence, though not so much anymore — to better understand and help Rocky the RBI? I’ll be blogging on this more, I know, but the thoughts are careening around now that I’ve read the whole thing.
“Maybe I’m just disgruntled because it’s telling me to do things I know I need to do but don’t do often enough. “– exactly. I printed out that Do/Don’t article from one of the Savvy Times a while back, with the full page on each horsenality, and I read it and studied it, but did I refresh myself before every play session? No. I’m getting better, just not “there” yet on every aspect. Trying … LOL
My report pegged Cricket as a mild (not in the center but just out) LBI – which I’ve been pretty sure about. I just don’t know how much value it has for me outside some generalities. I need to re-read and ponder (for anyone wondering I, too, am a LBI.)
Hello! I would like to know if you still have Parelli Report, I would be interested in buying it. Thanks