Natural Horsemanship - The Parelli Method

Natural Horsemanship - Overview

The Parelli Method of horse training teaches expertise and success with horses based on the way horses relate and communicate in their natural world – hence the term “natural horsemanship.”    

The natural approach to horse training is effective with all horse breeds, all disciplines and all styles of riding including Western, dressage, jumping, cross country, drag hunting, polo, racing, or simply happy hacking. It’s been embraced worldwide by horsemen and women of all disciplines and skill levels, from first-time beginners to international competitors and Olympic medalists.

Based on respect for and love of horses – and understanding horse nature and psychology – the Parelli method enables anyone at any level to have fun with horses and achieve amazing results...naturally. Parelli horse training avoids using force, fear, harsh bits or mechanical training aids in favor of love, language and leadership or, said another way: relationship, communication and trustworthiness.

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.

The Basic Principles of Parelli Natural Horsemanship

It’s quite a challenge to try to summarize 28 years of natural horse training knowledge and experience into a single document, but we took a shot at distilling it down to 10 key principles, so here goes:

1. Horses Are Fine Just The Way They Are – The Parelli Method isn’t really horse training per se because horses are fine just the way they are.  What we do is more human training because it’s the human in the human-horse relationship that needs to learn how to relate naturally to the horse. The Parelli method teaches you how to work with your horse in the most loving, effective and efficient way possible for lasting results and success.

2. Four Keys: The basic principles of Parelli Natural Horsemanship can be summed up in four words: Relationship, Understanding, Communication, and Trust.

3. The Relationship between you and your horse is the foundation of the Parelli method – and that relationship must become your primary consideration in everything you do with your horse.

4. Understanding means:

   • Understanding that horses are prey animals and that pretty much everything they do or don’t do is based on their survival instincts.
   • Learning to see the world from the horse’s point of view – this includes figuring out “what’s in it for them” when asking something of your horse.
   • Understanding your horse’s basic personality type so that you can work with him in the most effective way possible, given his particular psychology. The Parelli method for figuring out your horse’s personality and psychology is called Horsenality™.  Much of the Parelli program relies on understanding and learning to work with your horse’s personality including both his positive and negative traits. The Horsenality tool teaches students how to “read” their horses and incorporate the best strategies for managing behaviors and achieving success.

5. Communication.  Relationships are based on understanding and communication. To have a good relationship with your horse, you need to understand him and be able to communicate with him. Through the Parelli method of natural horsemanship, you will learn to communicate with horses the way they communicate with each other. Pat Parelli spent years keenly observing horse communication systems, how relationships were established and how trust and leadership were developed. He translated what he learned into the Parelli Seven Games which is an amazing and revolutionary system for teaching people how to communicate with and relate to horses using horses’ own natural communication methods.

6. Trust. Horses are herd animals and are therefore instinctively comfortable following a leader.  The Parelli method teaches you the secrets of becoming your horse’s trusted “alpha” so that the horse feels safe with you and will willingly do what you ask. Trust is established in a number of ways including:

   • Putting the relationship first
   • Learning to communicate in the horse’s own language
   • Keeping the horse safe and calm in the face of what he finds fearful
   • Establishing a good relationship on the ground before you attempt to get on his back

   The Parelli Seven Games not only teach you how to communicate with your horse, but are also important for establishing trust in the human-horse relationship.

7. The Four Savvys - Becoming Horse Savvy The Natural Horsemanship Way
   For you and your horse to really enjoy each other and work together in ways that are joyful, fun, seamless, safe and natural, the Parelli method focuses on helping students become truly horse savvy.  Rather than using artificial aids or quick fixes for your horse problems, Parelli natural horsemanship helps students develop true understanding and expertise by teaching these Four Savvys:
   

   • On Line - groundwork
   • At liberty - the horse is free of physical restraint
   • FreeStyle - riding without contact, either a loose rein, or bridle-less and bareback – the ultimate FreeStyle!
   • Finesse - riding with contact, refinement and precision

8. The Proper Use of Reins
   One of the keys to fluid and natural horseback riding is to learn the proper use of reins. This will significantly change your riding dynamics with your horse, correct his head tossing behavior and improve the relationship as a whole. The Parelli method advocates using two reins for communication and only one rein for control. If you hold a horse back with two reins, it is almost guaranteed that he'll toss his head or push on the bit because he becomes more claustrophobic and it engages his hindquarters. Using just one rein disengages the hindquarters. Free tip: Teach your horse to bend his nose to your leg at a halt, then progress up to the walk, trot and canter and see that you can get it soft. Ride around the arena rail and use the rein nearest to the rail only. This way the rail will help keep him going straight. You'll find that as you run your hand down the rein and start to bend him, he'll make smooth downward transitions to the halt. Ultimately this becomes quite refined. You'll be able to hold two reins and just activate one rein to make smooth transitions while keeping the horse straight.

9. Horse Problems
   There’s no such thing as a “bad” horse. Any and all horse problems – even the most difficult and challenging – can be resolved using natural horsemanship methods.  The Parelli method can transform any horse into a calm, relaxed, trusting, understood, respected, well-treated happy horse, and any rider into a calm, relaxed, trusting and natural rider.  Parelli Natural Horsemanship improves the world for horses and the humans who love them – and brings more joy to both.

10. The Seven Keys to Success – Are we cheating here if #10 has seven components? Probably yes, but we’re going for it anyway. Pat Parelli says there are seven keys to success as you progress through the Parelli natural horsemanship Program Levels. The keys are:  Attitude, Knowledge, Tools, Techniques, Time, Imagination, and Support.  Learn More About The Seven Keys To Success.

So there you have it:  The Ten Principles (or 17, but why quibble?). Now, a few other things:

Horse-man-ship

Why do we hyphenate horse-man-ship in much of our material? We’re attempting to communicate a concept, plant an idea, convey a message. It’s too easy to gloss over a word you’ve seen a thousand times and assume you know what it means. But horse – man – ship, hmmm, what does it mean when it’s written like that? It means a few things:

• It’s not all about the “man” which is usually what people think of when they see the word horsemanship. We’re asking you to remember that it’s also about the horse.  In fact, the “horse” comes first.
• Horsemanship is about a relationship: the horse-man relationship. In true natural horsemanship, both parties are partners. Equal partners. A hyphenated whole.
• “Ship” at the end... what’s that all about? Two things: one, it’s sort of an abbreviation for relation-ship. And also, what is a ship? It’s a vehicle that takes you from one place to another, that takes you on a journey just as natural horse-man-ship does. An oddly broken-up word. A moment for conscious thought and meaning. Never a bad thing.

The Natural Horsemanship Journey

The Parelli program of natural horsemanship was founded in 1981 by lifelong horseman Pat Parelli. A former rodeo bronc rider, horse trainer and all-around horse lover, Pat created the program based on his keen observation of horse behavior, psychology and communication. Early on, he realized that horses already had all the skills they needed to thrive and relate with their kind. It was adding the human element that complicated things. Pat discovered that a life-changing human-horse partnership is possible once people begin to “think, feel, act, and play like a horse.” This becomes a lifelong relationship journey.

Horse lovers around the world who follow the Parelli program have found the greatest gift is discovering that Parelli enhances not only their relationship and communication with the horse, but touches every other relationship in their lives.

“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.”

“People realize this is what they’ve been looking for in all their relationships,” adds Pat. “It’s balanced with love, language and leadership in equal doses. The program and their horse give them a living model so they can practice and become fluent in their abilitiesin all relationships, not just the horse relationships.”

Today, Linda and Pat Parelli routinely travel the world sharing the Parelli program with everyday horse lovers and audiences as elite as Her Majesty the Queen of England. The Parelli RFD television show and our horse events and courses at the Parelli Centers attract huge numbers.   

We invite you to join us on the journey to horse savvy the natural horsemanship way and help change the world for horses and horse lovers worldwide. Click here to become a member of the Parelli International Horse Savvy Club.