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
Horsegirl on a Journey 
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. 🙂
Hi Regina: I’m a Parelli PNH student since around 2007 and I started looking at purchasing an Atwood Parelli yearling and have searched everywhere looking for info about AR’s program and came across your blog. I’m confused about when the “yearlings” that are for sale are finished with their Parelli pre-school, do you know their age? My current levels horse who was restarted by Berin MacFarlane needs a more confident rider and I’m thinking now to get a new partner. How is your new AR baby and what does it feel like to have a horse who already knows Parelli?
Norma, I’m sorry, I just now saw your comment! I’ve been so buried with work I’ve taken a hiatus from this blog. That’s about to change, though. 🙂
Atwood foals are born between January and July — they space out the due dates so that the humans can provide each foal with individual attention during the pre-weaning period, rather than have 25+ foals all at once. I do not know if the July babies get listed on the “yearlings” page in January when they are only 6 months old, or if Atwood lists them when they actually turn 1. You could write to Atwood and find out though! They’ve very nice people.
I need to write a whole post about having a horse who has never known anything but Parelli. River’s confident, likes humans, expects to be treated with equal doses of love, language, and leadership. She has some things that need work, as all horses do and of course she’s only 2, but she understands what we’re trying to do and does it. She doesn’t fill in like Rocky does — he sees my signal, reads my mind to see what I really want, and does what I really want. River sees my signal and responds to what I’m actually signaling. So she’s teaching me how to be more precise, and Rocky’s heaving huge sighs of relief at my newfound clarity. LOL
River has no “baggage.” She’s not had any negative experiences with humans. She withstood a 5.5-hour pre-purchase exam with numerous x-rays (because I’m once bitten thrice shy) and was (mostly) cooperative and willing (did I mention she’s 2? LOL).
River is a dominant, mild/medium spirit LBE. Rocky is a mild/medium spirit RBI. I’m having to learn FAST, to keep my place as River’s leader, and I’m taking lessons with Erin Murphy to do so (http://www.equinepartnersinc.com).
Because I’ve been working like a madwoman, I haven’t spent enough time with any of my horses. When I can start blogging again you will learn more than you ever wanted to know about having an AR horse. LOL
Hi Regina, I miss Parelli playtime, let me know if anyone wants to ride or play. I have no contact with parelli students and I ride alone alot. I live on Dogbar road in GV on 4 acres and have a trailor to go places. Sundays and Tuesdays are my only horse days. I’m not sure where to go to ride accept Empire, I’ve actually gone down Dogbar where there are gravel trucks and speeding motorcycles and my Level 2 arabian is amazing. Our time in the dessert doing lots of Parelli has surely paid off, esp when the water truck went by us, he’d never seen one of those before and lately we were granted access to 30 acres across the street, super rugged mountain, getting hill training in.
Looking for places to ride around here.
Christine
nevadajoe58@gmail.com