Welcome to the blog “Villen”

There are difficult videos to watch of all trainers. I just saw one from another trainer that disturbed me even more than this one…but, sometimes drastic measures need to be taken. Seeing a 3 minute clip doesn’t tell the whole story…..I think we all need to have some grace while watching others work with horses. Horses are amazing animals and great horses have been trained with rotten trainers just as rotten horses have been turned out by great trainers! Use what works for your particular situation and learn from all you see.

I am glad you like my blog, I’ve enjoyed our discussion and am happy to have you here.

Cheers,
Erica K.

Horsemanship is certainly an art and going through any packaged program won’t make one a horseman…but, it is the first step for many. I applaud all of the horseman in all disciplines who try their best to teach people. Horses know what they know…we need to learn from them and, like it or not, the Parellis have developed some good tools for the average person to work with. What they may call “Savvy” is simply “good horsemanship” to most. Do they make mistakes? Yep..don’t we all? I could do without the marketing hype but I suppose they need to make a living! lol

Anyway, I don’t want to start a debate about what qualifies “good horsemanship” or not…

By the way…you have a really nice site here. Good writing, great photos…glad I stumbled across it.

Jeannie

You’re welcome.

I do get that the horsenality labels are changeable, but then if they are being redefined why give them at all? The issue I see is that by giving a label at all it brings us closer to making assumptions. Not only that, but often what is going on with the horse is our own issue anyways and we are projecting. The brain likes to skip over ‘small details’ and labels are one way of doing that. When we see a red cup it is only a red cup, but if we look closer at the details there are more colors in that cup than just red, various shades of red along with the reflected colors of objects nearby. But if we only say “the cup is red” that is all we will see.

I understand why the Parelli’s use this system, because they are trying to wholesale teach something which is an art as something which is merely actions and tact (or saavy). It is a difficult line to walk.

In the last two paragraphs I made my own observations, but also remarked about different things which could have been done. The beginning of the post I made a sweeping introduction about my initial impressions of Pat’s methods, which were unspecific feelings, though later I went on to sum up just what those feelings were once I had gained enough education to put those feelings into words as far as horsemanship goes. Did you read through the whole post?

Cheers,
Erica K.

I still don’t think you understand the horsenality thing….it is actually quite helpful in knowing how to react to specific behavior. It is not at all stagnant and a horse can flip back and forth along the spectrum in the flash of a second. Yes, people like to label things but, if those labels are used as a tool while not “canning” a horse, then where is the harm? If you have children, you know that you would deal with a child very differently depending on whether he was tired, sick, upset, distracted, exuberant, etc. It is the same sort of thing with the horsenality theory. Horses don’t always respond in ways we anticipate so we all must adjust accordingly. PNH does address this and doesn’t profile the horse and set his nature in stone.

I agree, there is no perfect horseman out there though some would like to claim that title. We are all in this learning together. Pat credits numerous horseman in his path of learning and Linda has been actively taking lessons with Walter Zettl (sorry, probably didn’t spell his name correctly) to correct lots of problems in her riding and horsemanship.

Criticism is important and anyone in the spotlight, is indeed held to a higher standard. I think it’s fair to criticize but empty criticism only incites polarity. I’d rather discuss “what could have been done differently” rather than…oh, they/their methods are weird/I don’t like them. I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and, it makes for lively blogging….afterall, it *is* your website and you can post what you will.

I don’t think your post really came off as a slam but, it’s always easier to point and complain than it is to try to understand other methods. I believe they all can be helpful at some point in our life’s journey.

Jeannie

You are correct about one point, I confused the Parelli’s horsenality with the technique which was going around largely from 2001-2004? in which horse personality traits were being pointed out by the horse’s hair whorls and head shape. Call it a weakness of evening writing? My apologies for the error.

As for the other points… the idea that the Parelli’s are not putting the horse in a box by presenting a judgement on the horse’s personality period is proof against that call. Many people put heavy weight in horoscopes/signs/etc, but would it be fair of me to judge what type of person you are based on your astrological sign? Would I be putting you in a box? I know that I would certainly feel trapped in if everyone were to judge me based on certain criteria 100% of the time. How does that allow for growth if you already ‘know’ my potential and the way in which I think, act or react? The right-brain / left-brain and intro-vert / extro-vert argument I have a difficult time swallowing. Certainly it is an easy sell. Why? Because people can relate to it. You point out x and y traits and give them a name and if someone feels like they have those traits they say, “a ha! That must be what I am!” because humans love to label and identify things with names. We put names on everything… even if it hinders rather than helps us. In some ways it is what helps us to organize and make sense of our world. It can also keep us from seeing the trees for the forest. It can blind us from seeing more detail by assuming that a maple tree is always a maple tree. But, I digress.
I do not doubt that Linda has grown over that 7 years. Simply working with horses for that period of time requires growth and change. Regardless, as a professional this is one thing that you risk – critique, public or private. Anyone who puts themselves out for others to see does just that. I do not expect everyone who reads my blog to agree with me or to even enjoy the blog, and it has been my own experience that trying to please people only hurts you in the end and reduces the quality and value of your work. I won’t agree that Linda has grown to a place of perfection over that 7 years, or that I approve of her anymore now than I did when I was first exposed to her work alongside Pat. If you look hard enough you will certainly find people critiquing most anyone. Public opinion isn’t always correct. A million people can be wrong… it is what makes fads and decides popularity contests. Think back to what seemed important in high school, does it still seem important? Probably not, but why was it so pressing for you at the time?
Another point about being critiqued. It is an invaluable tool for improvement. Some of the greatest people do not shy away from critiques but rather embrace them. There were no personal attacks towards Linda in my post, simply my observations. Nothing a person does in life is always perfect, and critiques can help us if we choose to use them. It is through isolation of ideas that we stop moving forward and stagnate.
If my own opinion came off as a slam, then so be it I guess. Is my own opinion of any less value than another person’s just because I am not in support? No, and that is the beauty of living in a Democratic nation (for me at least), rather than a nation such as China where my opinion might very well be blind-sided if it is out of alignment with that of the controlling interest’s.

Cheers,
Erica K.

As for the video.. the portion, taken out of context, is, indeed ugly and could have been done differently but, that was filmed almost 7 years ago and Linda’s expertise has come a LONG way. There is much more to that video that the person purposely didn’t post because it explains what is going on (by the way, posting this video is a violation of copyright laws I might add.) I don’t see anyone fussing over the behavior of so many other “professionals” who treat horses far worse at clinics or on film.

I am not going to say that Parelli is the end all and be all of horse training but it isn’t fair to knock something so hard without knowing more about it. There are horrible horse training stories attributed to the best training methods and there are wonderful stories found from the worst of training methods. Use what works for you but don’t slam other’s view and opinions.

Jeannie

haha, glad to be opinionated… and hopefully bring about more conversations. IMO, they are essential to any learning endeavor!

I have audited Parelli events, and am familiar with their ‘horsenality’ theories. I cannot help but connect the idea of attributing a personality to a horse based on their facial features, hair whorls, etc with also attributing a stereotype about a person based on their facial features, hair tendencies, etc. Actually, if I recall correctly that was food for some of the early ethnic cleansing and scientific ‘proof’ that certain people were inferior or superior by skull size and such. Truly though the scientific community as a whole would classify ‘horsenalities’ to the same realm as astrology, Chinese horoscope, reading tea leaves, etc. While people may believe in them and see some tendencies, there is no way to test and prove them as fact.

Any method could also claim that those who have not had success are simply inept in some fashion (i.e. unwilling to change) or haven’t had enough training, not just Parelli. A beautiful loop-hole? And finally to counter your mention of not knowing Linda Parelli well enough to know she is unafraid in the video… I have a question in response. Does knowing a person on a closer level help or hinder your ability to see their actions without prejudice? Can knowing the person more intimately cloud your judgement? You know the old saying of rose colored glasses…

I appreciate the conversation!

Parelli horsemanship is so far from being one rigid method that it is close to the other end of the scale. If you learn the various “horsenalities” they teach and how to handle each one you will see that.

The people who have trouble with Parelli horsemanship are people who have either had insufficient exposure to it, or who are unwilling to change themselves, and keep approaching their horses with the same old mind set.

Anyone who says that Linda is afraid of the horse in the video does not know Linda very well.

Thanks for being so opinionated. It’s a great way to start a conversation.