s!down04.parelli.com/savvytimes/magnov2011.pdf · pat’s new super-horse, merlin, is magic’s...

BREAKING NEWS!

BREAKING NEWS!

These and other great new products

online at www.parelli.com

After three years of intensive dressage training with world- renowned dressage master Walter Zettl, Linda Parelli has unlocked the secret to getting horses to willingly accept bit contact.

A truly revolutionary breakthrough, the Game of Contact addresses several riding issues in a natural way. If your horse has inactive hind legs, tongue displacement, choppy stride or any number of other issues related to contact, this DVD is an essential addition to your library. Comes packaged with the Study Manual that Linda gives to all riders in her wildly popular Game of Contact Clinics.

MEMBER PRICE $229.99 USD

3•••• The Game of Contact with Linda Parelli

You asked for it, and we’ve delivered! Parelli Natural Horsemanship brings you three brand new DVDs designed with your specific horsemanship interests in mind. The Game of Contact features Linda Parelli at her best, describing in detail her revolutionary methods for developing collection naturally. Colt Starting features Pat Parelli and his detailed, entertaining & effective teaching method. And on Hit the Trail, join both Pat and Linda as they take you, step-by-step, through everything a trail ride entails. Each DVD features instructional demonstrations, thorough education, and enthralling and humorous stories from Pat and Linda. No matter where your horsemanship journey takes you, these brand new Parelli products will take you there with the knowledge you need to make it a successful trip!

Now On Sale!Parelli is proud to introduce three exceptional new

products designed with your goals in mind!

New Topic-Specific Education!

4Subscribe to our weekly EMAIL NEWSLETTER for updates on sales, education, events, teaching breakthroughs and new product releases at WWW.pARELLI.CoM

Join Pat & Linda as they take you on a trail ride through the stunning Colorado wilder-ness. You’ll learn directly from Pat and Linda all that you need to know before you set out on the trail, then how to put your newfound skills to use on the spot when you need them most.

Covers trailering, trail etiquette, natural obstacles, essential groundwork, in sadlle preparation, water crossings, spooky situations, gear selection and more.Runtime: 4 hours, 30 minutes


Taming and starting horses is the founda-tion of horsemanship as a whole. As Pat

says, make the first ride as if he’s been rid-den a thousand times... and ride your horse

for the thousandth time as though it was his first. Getting the smallest details right

is critical to becoming a horseman. Taming and starting colts shows you where you fall short quicker than perhaps any other stage

you go through with your horse. Now, for the first time, Pat’s renowned step-by-step

young horse development program is available for at-home study and self-devel-opment support for any serious horseman.

Runtime: 9 hours, 10 minutes


3•••• Hit the Trail with Pat & Linda Parelli

Colt Starting••••4 with Pat Parelli

4Subscribe to our weekly EMAIL NEWSLETTER for updates on sales, education, events, teaching breakthroughs and new product releases at WWW.pARELLI.CoM

Features

20 | Magical Merlin

Pat’s new super-horse, Merlin, is

Magic’s mirror image. Learn more

about Pat’s new partner!

26 | Meet the east anglian savvy team

Parelli Professionals in East Anglia

join forces to help create a better

world for horses and humans.

56 | Motivation in Horsemanship

Staying positive and progressive is

essential in horsemanship and in life;

Neil Pye explores the how and why.

62 | the steady rein

With the help of the Steady Rein you

will learn how to help your horse

get calmer, carry himself better and

even improve the quality of his gaits.

Linda Parelli explains how.

News 6 | Dear Friends

8 | New Products

10 | Manufacturing Happiness

12 | An Update from the UK and Ireland

14 | An Education in the Theory Behind Natural Horsemanship

16 | All the Latest from Parelli Australia

18 | Summit 2011

20 | Magical Merlin

22 | Tame Your Wild Horses

coMMuNity26 | Meet the East Anglian Savvy Team

30 | Global Community

34 | Partner Profiles

36 | Northland Natural Horsemanship Games

39 | The Hero’s Journey

40 | Learning to Speak a Common Language

42 | Staying Savvy in Norway

44 | Persistence, Parelli, and Amy’s Dream

educatioN50 | Trail Riding

52 | Seven Games in the Saddle

56 | Motivation in Horsemanship: Patience, Attitude & Values

59 | Developing Mental Fitness

60 | Circling is Not Longeing!

62 | The Steady Rein

66 | A Bit of Bridling

68 | Strength of Bond

70 | Let’s Use Those Abs!

74 | The Value of Think Time

76 | Official Graduates

ISSUE 33 | NOV 2011

20

26

56

62Cover photo by

Ninie and Mikkel Perlt, GreenlandOne of the winning photos from the

“Where in the World are the Parelli Ponies” photo contest

4 | Savvy Times November 2011

the Parelli Member Magazineissue 33, November 2011

www.parelliconnect.comwww.parellisavvyclub.com • www.parelli.com

[email protected]

FOUNDERS Linda & Pat Parelli

Coco, Officlal Parelli Photographer

All photos are courtesy photos unless noted

©2011 Parelli Natural Horse•Man•Ship.

Huge thanks to all the members of our worldwide team, who do their best to be “the best me that

they can be” every day. we value their commitment to supporting horse lovers worldwide in whatever way they can.

Laura AitkenMichael AlwayElizabeth AndriotDaniel ArzuCoco BaptistJenny BeynonAlilia BlodgettOlin BlodgettElizabeth BrewerMark BrownRenee BurchAaron BurnsKimberly CarmanBetsy ChavezRosa CisnerosAmanda d’EmeryShannon Davies

Brian DrakeSusie DrakeKat GreenPaul HahnJosh HughesSara JohnsonGlenn JoslynAnn KiserJim KiserKalley KrickebergBerin MacFarlaneLiz MarchandAlain MartignierKaffa MartignierRob McAuliffeMegan McAuliffeStephen McCurry

Harry MehlmanCarlos OropezaNicole PfeifferRyan PfoutsMatt PhelpsLaVerna PhillipsNeil PyeTammy ReidJeff RobelLaura RomeRyan RoseHillary RoseMolly SandersConnie SchanzenbakerSteven ScheppelmanCarol SchofieldSue Shoemark

Maree StewartScott TeigenBill ThackerSharon Tiesdell SmithAshley TippettsMiguel VeraPatricia VeraBrett WalfordRodney WatesJason WattGale WeberMark WeilerDani WildayEmilie WoodJose ZamudioOmar Zamudio

www.parelli.com | 5

Newsphoto by Coco

6 Dear Friends / 8 New Products / 10 Manufacturing Happiness / 12 An Update from the UK and Ireland14 An Education in the Theory Behind Natural Horsemanship / 16 All the Latest from Parelli Australia / 18 Summit 201120 Magical Merlin / 22 Tame Your Wild Horses


by Linda ParelliDear Friends,

Can you believe it is November already? Wow, time flies when you’re having fun! What a great year we’ve had! There have been a lot of changes for us this year, and we have so many new projects and products in the works that we can’t wait to tell you more about, so stay tuned! You know how it goes… good, better, best!

wild Horse tamingThis used to be something Pat did all the time, but until

recently it was a thing of his past… until the Reno event that is! What an amazing three days that was. Watching these wild mustangs being delivered into the arena and then getting to see every single moment of their interaction with people was spellbinding. You could have heard a pin drop throughout every session, an incredible sign of how focused the audience was.

I’ve seen Pat be the first to contact many a wild horse, but this was the first time I saw him coach his top level students through it. I too was spellbound, and on two levels: observing the teacher, and observing the Horsenality™ of each mustang. That is always fascinating for me, because now that I can read the horse, I’m even more interested in the approach the horseman will take.

Everyone did an amazing job — and no pressure! You are dealing with a wild horse for the first time in your life, not only in front of your mentor but a few thousand spectators across the globe as well, thanks to the live web streaming! Kalley, Berin, Jake, Rhett, John, Ryan and James (who came all the way from England for this) were incredible. Not only did they learn huge lessons, they applied what they knew so well and were not afraid to ask Pat for tips and guidance along the way. And the results spoke for themselves: the wild young horses that arrived on Friday were now ap-proaching the humans, saddling, riding around, loading in trailers… and while it was not without its dramas here and there, every horse came through with more trust in the human and its dignity in tact. (See the photos on pg 22).

And watching Pat in action never ceases to amaze me… his passion for horses is only outweighed by his passion for teaching. Allowing these wonderful young horsemen and women to learn while keeping them safe was incred-ible, and his ability to stay outside the corral for as long as possible is testament to his passion as a mentor – it is too

photo by Coco

www.parelli.com | 7

News

Pat got to know him a little on the ground, then saddled up and played in the arena. What a lovely sight! They started with simple things like Follow The Rail and transitions, and finished with flying changes and a stop that made you gasp. Then onto the cows. What expression Merlin has, with all Magic’s talent and none of her baggage.

So Merlin got on the trailer with us as we headed back from the famous Pitchfork Ranch in Texas, and Pat had already come up with his name. What better successor for Magic than a black horse called Merlin! Look forward to seeing him very soon and especially on tour in 2012 (For now, you can learn more about him on pg 20).

Looking toward 2012In closing the year, we have such great memories and

moments to hold in our hearts. The Florida campus will not operate going forward, as we have huge plans to accom-plish in these next years for you, and we also look forward to our instructors doing more for you out there in the field. (The Pagosa campus still pumping in the summer!)

As I write, we are putting the finishing touches to our exciting 2012 tour schedule where I am the headline, and Pat participates more as the master horseman and mentor that started it all. So I look forward to seeing you “on the road” and hope you can bring friends and acquaintances with you to experience just how amazing life can be with horses when you keep it natural and do it with savvy. See you on Parelli Connect!

Yours naturally,Linda

easy to take over the horse, but in doing that, you rob the student of the opportunity to learn their most powerful lessons. He delivered as promised: “It will be beautiful, exciting and educational.” Amen to that.

the summit tear-Jerker!Wow, what a great event. Liberty and Bridleless Riding

are two things Parelli has become world famous for, and to watch our students exhibiting this so beautifully, as well as sharing with you some of the secrets of success, was an absolute joy for us.

The incredible views from the Big Top covered arena straight out to Pagosa Peak (some 14,000 ft high) already give it all a magical feel, and with some of the most moving performances, many of us shed more than a tear of joy and wonder. So what was I thinking when I brought Remmer out to see everyone again?! Tears became sobs and I could barely speak as my lovely partner of some 14 years came in and played around with West Point before coming to me and then joining me for a little walk around the arena. I am so grateful to everyone who contributed to his amazing recovery from his severed tendons. Even better than having him join me was feeling the surge of love and joy from everyone there for this wonderful horse. Thank you all so much.

Pat’s New MagicThose may be big words, but when James Gholson of the

Pitchfork Ranch told him about this really special horse he has, Pat took notice. Why? Because he has always really admired James’ way with horses, so to cut a nice story a little shorter, James brought the horse to for Pat to see.

As Merlin (aka Rufoleno) came off the trailer, Pat about fell on the floor. His likeness to Magic is uncanny. Black, soft star on the forehead, very similar build but a little taller (he’s 15.1, Magic 14.2), a gelding and Left-Brain Extrovert – Magic’s opposite. I could tell Pat was smitten, although he was trying to stay left-brained!

photo by Mackenzie Kincaid



A Matter of TrustWalter’s philosophy of natural horsemanship applied to

dressage radiates throughout his DVD series A Matter of Trust.This series, containing ten DVDs, walks the viewer

through the process of developing your dressage horse, from the very beginning stages of understanding theory and classical dressage philosophy to how to execute high-level maneuvers, such as the pirouette and passage. Each dressage movement explained in this series is broken down into an easy-to-follow, step-by-step process that builds up the horse’s mental, emotional, and physical fitness. A Matter of Trust also includes important rider tips to help improve effectiveness and clarity in communication with the horse.

It is particularly impressive that Walter is able to weave a natural horsemanship foundation throughout the series, all the way through Grand Prix dressage movements. The entire series emphasizes that, “The goal of dressage should be to bring the horse and rider together in harmony.” Walter maintains that the basis of a great dressage part-nership is trust between horse and human, where the horse views the human as his natural leader.

No matter what your discipline of choice may be, A Matter of Trust is sure to improve your understanding of not only classical dressage, but also healthy horse and rider biomechanics at any level.

The Walter Zettl Collection“A gentleman and a scholar” is the perfect way to describe

Walter Zettl. This soft-spoken, educated, and kind man is on a mission to spread classical dressage worldwide... a mission that is directly aligned with the Parelli vision of creating a better world for horses and humans. For this reason, Walter has been giving lessons to Pat and Linda Parelli since 2006 to educate them and their students in the refined art of classical dressage.

Walter’s library of books and DVDs are excellent resources for Parelli students, particularly those studying concepts in Finesse and the Game of Contact. And now these resourc-es are available in the Parelli webshop: the complete DVD library A Matter of Trust, plus books Dressage in Harmony and The Circle of Trust. Call your local office or order online now at http://bit.ly/nRgYB7.

www.parelli.com | 9

News

Books We Savvy Beautiful Jim KeyAt the beginning of the 19th century, the idea of an animal having thoughts

and feelings of its own hadn’t really caught on. Though horses were still used as transportation then and were an everyday sight for people around the world, our understanding of them was limited at best. They were labeled as “dumb beasts,” to be used and discarded on a whim.

Challenging that perception was a horse called Beautiful Jim Key. Bred and raised by ex-slave, Civil War veteran and self-taught veterinarian Bill Key, Jim was truly a wonder of his age, and proved to a skeptical public that animals could be taught with kindness rather than punishment. Jim could count, spell, read, sort mail, use a telephone and cash register, cite Bible passages and do math. He performed in front of massive crowds and helped to breathe life into the fledgling humane movement, with millions of his young fans signing the Jim Key Pledge: “I promise to always be kind to animals.”

Though Jim’s story faded into obscurity over time, Mim Eichler Rivas’ history revives the legend and reminds us just how much our four-legged friends are capable of. www.beautifuljimkey.com

Celebrate Horsenality!™In April 2011, more than 6,000 horse lovers traveled to a

lively, fun-filled and thought-provoking Parelli Celebration at the LG Arena, Birmingham. Now you too can share in the excitement of this revolutionary event!

Delving deep into the life-changing concepts of horse- and human-personality profiling, this educational and entertaining documentary will change the way you look at your horse — and yourself — forever.

Stepping into the spotlight, Linda Parelli explains her pio-neering work in developing a model for horse personality typing that allows everyone, from novice horse enthusiasts to Olympic riders, to better understand the motivations of their particular horse. Putting the model to work, both Pat and Linda showcase a variety of challenging training issues with horses of divergent Horsenality™ types. Along the way, they show owners how to master their own Humanal-ity™ habits for improved success in and out of the saddle.

With guest appearances by top Parelli Instructors Wally Gegenschatz, Silke Vallentin and Mikey Wanzenried, you’ll be wowed and inspired by all that can be accomplished with your equine partner when you have the tools, knowl-edge and heart for success.

The UK Celebration 2011 program is available on two-disc DVD or Blu-ray and runs 189 minutes. Order yours today from the Parelli webshop: http://bit.ly/p43qxS


by Scott TeigenManufacturing Happiness

The next time you’re out with your horse, take a look at your 12-Foot line. Then take a look at your Savvy String. If you look closely at each of these pieces of equipment, you’ll find a small number stamped onto the leather poppers.

“Every braider in the manufacturing department has their own individual stamp number,” says Emilie Wood, Parelli’s Manufacturing Department Team Leader. “If you see a 0, that’s Jose. If you see a 1, that’s Miguel, 2 is Omar, and 3 is Daniel.”

It’s this sort of personal touch that makes the Parelli Manufacturing Department unique. The sheer volume of product they churn out in a day is staggering; seeing 500 12-Foot lines being produced in one day is not out of the question. To make that figure even more impressive, consider that there’s no assembly line here. Each employee works individually to create the products you and your horse have come to depend on.

While individual work helps the Parelli Manufacturing Department function like a well-oiled machine, there’s an

undeniable sense of camaraderie that extends beyond Manufacturing to the entire Parelli Central office. That’s right: Manufacturing is located at the Parelli Central office, just one room away from where your orders are placed, your Parelli Connect questions are answered, and events are planned, and a few short miles from the Pagosa Springs Campus. After all, We Are Parelli.

“We have a really great team,” says Wood. “It’s very fun for me, seeing everyone help each other when they need it. Everybody is more than happy to go the extra mile for the team. If we decide something is a priority, if it’s needed in the UK or Australia, I can tell them ‘We need this as soon as possible,’ and it just gets done. It’s wonderful to see.”

Like everyone else at Parelli Natural Horsemanship, the Manufacturing Department is excited about the future. Of course, their approach to change is a little more hands-on — literally. They’ve been hard at work producing our new line of colored halters, lead ropes, and the rest of our recently introduced products to their usual high standards.

Emilie Jose 0 Miguel 1 Omar 2 Daniel 3

www.parelli.com | 11

Visit www.parelli.com today to check out the 2011 Celebration of HorsenalityTM on DVD or Blu-ray as well as our new bareback pad colors, blended ropes, equipment, education and more!


by Beth Barlingthe UK and Ireland

So yet another summer has drawn to a close here in the UK – and it’s been a busy one!

At the UK campus at Stoneleigh Park, the course season ended at the beginning of September with the second Fast Track course of the year and with another batch of budding Parelli Professionals and horse development specialists in the making. The course was punctuated with the second and final Parelli Games day for the year, when another enthusiastic bunch of horses and riders arrived to join the Fast Track students for a few hours of challenges and savvy spotlights. The participants were supported, as always, by a large number of spectators, although no one anticipated the surprise visit from a curious fox who calmly made his way across the middle of the playground!

around and aboutAround the country, Parelli Professionals and students

had a busy summer too. Visiting instructors arrived from all over the world, with Jackie Chant and Russell Higgins from New Zealand and David Lichman from the United States all touring the UK and neighbouring countries for several weeks. Our own UK-based instructors had packed

teaching schedules too and also managed to get out and about to give demonstrations to the public. 3-Star Parelli Professional Sharon Crabbe held a Get Started day at Willow Moss Farm in Lancashire (with a little help from the Lancashire Savvy Sisters!), while fellow 3-Star Professional Lyla Cansfield drew a crowd of 150 people at Willow Farm Equestrian in Kent, with all proceeds going to support the 50 rescue horses cared for there. In addition, 3-Star instruc-tors Alison Jones and David Zuend put on a great show at The Mare and Foal Sanctuary in Devon on August bank holiday Monday.

A couple of Parelli instructors swapped places and hopped “the pond” as 3-Star Parelli Professional and Horse Development Specialist James Roberts headed over to Nevada to take part in Pat Parelli’s Wild Horse Taming Naturally Event. At the same time, Canadian Paralympian and 4-Star Parelli Professional Lauren Barwick brought her two horses, Fergi and Paris, over to the UK to take part in two international dressage events as part of her journey towards the London 2012 Olympic Games. Lauren competed at the CPEDI 3* Hartpury Festival of Dressage in Gloucestershire, where she placed second on Paris with 74% and third on Fergi with 72% in the Grade II Freestyle competition, helping her Canadian Para-Dressage Team win third place overall. Further north, Lauren took part in a 2-star event where both horses placed first and second over the three days – well done Lauren, Fergi and Paris!

Elsewhere around the UK, Parelli Professional Claire Burgess hosted a stand at the Blackwater Country Show in Essex, while in Hampshire, a team of instructors took the New Forest Show by storm. Held over three days in the heart of the New Forest, one of the UK’s most ancient woodlands and oldest national parks, the show attracts over 100,000 visitors annually. This year, UK Parelli Profes-sionals Rachel Evans, Sharon Crabbe, Stacey Atkins and

An Update from pho

tos

by C

lair

e Sp

elli

ng


News

Vicky Manser took part in a daily demonstration led by visiting 4-Star Parelli Professional Jackie Chant.

It took weeks of preparation, but the effort was definitely worth it. Each demonstration drew a couple of hundred people, with nearly a thousand gathered around the ring on the last day. “Interest ranged from first timers to local Parelli fanatics! All of the sound booth crew, ring judges and organisers were watching, fascinated too,” said team leader Rachel Evans, a 2-Star Parelli Professional based in the nearby Meon Valley. “Apparently we jammed the walkway next to the arena as more and more people stopped to watch what we were doing!”

Across the Irish Channel, Parelli instructors and students were out in force at the Dublin International Horse Show, where Professionals Miguel Gernaey and Chris and Sarah Brady manned a booth for five days, answering questions from visitors and welcoming new members to Parelli Connect.

Stoneleigh Park wasn’t the only place to host Parelli Games, as two regions hosted their first events. In the south, the Savvy Sussex group held their inaugural Games and barbecue on a former polo field at the home of Ruth and Simon Worley, while the East Anglian Savvy Team ran their highly successful Games and spotlights day in Suffolk, raising over £1000 for the Parelli Horsemanship Fund.

the year ain’t over till it’s overAs if that wasn’t enough, there are lots of exciting things

yet to look forward to this year.In September the first ever UK instructor course took

place at the Parelli campus at Stoneleigh Park, where we welcomed a group of new 1-Star and 2-Star junior instructors. We are fortunate to now have over 50 Parelli Professionals in the UK, meaning that access to some

hands-on support should never be too far away. Oh how things have changed in just a few short years!

This autumn the UK Parelli team had a presence at the Horse of the Year Show at the NEC in Birmingham (4-9 October) and will be at Your Horse Live at Stoneleigh Park (12-13 November). We look forward to meeting friends old and new, with plenty of instructors on hand to talk with, and plenty of show specials to be enjoyed as part of the retail therapy experience!

We’ll also be running another series of our popular horseless workshops at the UK campus at Stoneleigh, starting in November and running through February. One of the workshops provides an introduction to Parelli and will form part of the training for the NPTC qualification which UK Manager Laura Aitken writes about on page 14, definitely something to consider as the evenings draw in and we get to spend less time out with our horses and more time inside learning. Other workshop topics include tool savvy, getting to grips with auditions, leadership, fluidity and Parelli saddles, Horsenalities™ and Humanalities™, plus a fun workshop for kids. By the time you read this, the schedule should be available on the Parelli website and Parelli Connect, so make sure you book your place now as the workshops fill up fast!

what’s happening in your neck of the woods?We hope this article gives you just some idea of the

great things that are happening in the UK. And this is just a selection of things that are happening... there really is a sense that not only is Parelli live and kicking in the UK and Ireland – it’s thriving! If you’re in the UK or Ireland, let us know what you’re planning by dropping me a line at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you. Until next time, keep in natural!


by Laura Aitken

An Education in theTheory Behind Natural Horsemanship

In 2009, Parelli developed an exciting partnership with City & Guilds Land Based Services to provide a Natural Horsemanship qualification that was recognised officially within the UK.

City and Guilds Land Based Services aim to promote competence and professionalism in the workforce of the land-based and related industries by the encouragement of continuous learning and the recognition of skill. They provide qualifications in a wide range of areas from Animal Care to Machinery.

With the Parelli home-study program already helping thousands of students across the world to achieve success with their horses, it seemed like a natural fit, so the Foundation Certificate in the Theory Behind Natural Horsemanship (in association with Parelli) was born. The name is quite a mouthful, but what does it involve?

Terry Roberts, one of the first students to complete the course, talks about his experience.

“There are three specific and very relevant learning modules – Horsenality™, Seven Games and Safe Ride – and these provided me with an excellent foundation for putting the relationship with my horse first. You’ll learn how to recognise different types of horse and then apply the relevant training strategy, learn how the Seven Games build trust and confidence between you and your horse and how you can apply Parelli methods to riding.

“The modules really helped me to realise why communi-cation, understanding and psychology are so important to a successful partnership with any horse and the ultimate aim of a qualification gave me purpose to my learning.”

When you have completed your learning, you can then sit the assessment at the Parelli Centre in the UK. Providing you pass, you will be awarded with a City & Guilds qualification. There is also a very useful Q&A session, which allows candidates to ask any questions of the Parelli team.

“I would highly recommend this learning for either anyone just starting out with Parelli or even for someone who has been studying Parelli for a while,” says Roberts. As I always find out when I undertake any Parelli Learning, I always discover something that I didn’t know before and you can never learn too much!”

Another student, Sarah Olney, realised the experience didn’t just help her horsemanship.

“Not only have I gained an invaluable knowledge of the theory behind Natural Horsemanship, but I have also learned useful skills which are transferable to every day work and everyday life with confidence and assertiveness. It was a journey undertaken at my own pace.”

The course and assessments run throughout the year at the UK Parelli Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire and is open to everyone (you will need to be able to attend the centre for the assessment). In January 2012, we are also holding a workshop to support you with this course.

If you would like to register for the course or find out more information just contact the Parelli UK team on 0800 0234 813 / +44 2476 692 888 or e-mail us at [email protected]. For more information about City and Guilds Land Based Services please visit their website at www.nptc.org.uk.


Cupolas for Ventilation

Raised Center Aisle!

Construction Begins November 2011800 343-BARN | www.mdbarnmaster.com www.facebook.com/mdbarnmaster

PAGOSA SPRINGS, COLORADO

MDBarnmaster rises to the occasion.Challenge: Eight weeks to provide comfortable

accommodations for high-end performance horses.

Solution: MDBarnmaster Modular Construction!

“The design process was effortless! It was really

important to me to make sure my horses were

comfortable, and the team at MDBarnmaster knew

innately the features I’d be looking for...”

- Pat Parelli


by Megan McAuliffe

All the Latest fromParelli Australia

The Parelli Australia Campus is located in Wilton, NSW, a 45-minute drive south of Sydney in the breathtaking Wollondilly Shire, and only 9 kilometres off of the Hume Highway. The campus is located in a scenic community and provides students an escape from the ordinary to accelerate their relationship with their equine partner and have some fun!

March 2011 saw the first ever Parelli Fast Track course held in Australia. With over 20 participants, students were able to accelerate their learning and dedicate four full weeks to their horsemanship journey. Seven of these dedi-cated students came all the way from Western Australia, travelling nearly 4,000 kilometres (one way) with their horses to spend time at the Australia Parelli Campus. It must have been worth their while, as some have already signed up for Fast Track 2012!

We are currently gearing up for our last set of courses for 2011. Horse Behaviour and YOU is a two week course

designed to take a more in-depth look at Horsenalities™ and developing your groundskills. The Flex Track Course is designed to be a mini Fast Track experience to cater to students with very demanding schedules. These courses will be overseen by Parelli Professionals Kaye Thomas of Victoria, Carmen Smith of Queensland and Rob McAuliffe of NSW. We will have a support team to ensure all students receive the best possible education Parelli can provide. The Campus Faculty members are chosen by their level of dedication to raising their own horsemanship level, hours spent directly with Pat and Linda Parelli, as well as time spent teaching in the field and at the International Parelli Campuses; rest assured, this is PURE Parelli.

The Parelli Australia Campus has seen some recent updates, including new sand footing in the large round arena and improvements to our storage facilities.

We are also in the midst of establishing a final schedule for 2012 course opportunities at the campus, which

Shannon Megan Jamie-Lee

pho

tos

by M

egan

McA

uli

ffe


News

currently include a 4-week Fast Track Course followed by a 1-Star Instructor Course and Instructor Horsemanship Course. Perhaps we will see Linda Parelli return in 2012 to follow up on last year’s mind-expanding look at the Game of Contact. This event sold out quickly last year, and we have no doubt that Linda will raise it to the next level for us in 2012! Please check the website regularly for updates and ensure your email is registered for receiving the Parelli weekly E-news for release dates.

The Parelli Australia office in Sydney is based at our campus and is home to a new group of employees, including Megan McAuliffe, Shannon Davies and Jamie-Lee Carter. Megan, originally from the USA, is a 1-Star Parelli Professional who started working for Parelli in 2003 at the USA Campuses before taking an extended maternity leave to become a mum of two young boys. She is also the wife of 4-Star Parelli Professional Rob McAuliffe. Shannon Davies hails from sunny Queensland and accepted a work opportunity with us after finishing up an Externship Course at the Colorado Parelli Campus, USA. Shannon has professional goals and is currently a 1-Star Parelli Professional Trainee. Shannon enjoys her new career and learning more about the business aspect of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, as well as how beneficial it is to understand all aspects of the business before going out into the field as a Licensed Parelli Professional Instructor. Last but cer-tainly not least is Jamie-Lee Carter, who assists us with the dispatch of goods to customers across Australia and internationally. In her short time with us so far, Jamie-Lee has not only packed up equipment kits to send across Aus-tralia but also over to New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia. Jamie-Lee is only 19 years young and is currently studying

to receive a Certificate; she is looking forward to travelling abroad in early 2012. This team is here to help you with any questions you may have, as well as assist you with purchasing products, registering for courses at the campus or simply updating your member details.

We encourage passionate and dedicated students of the Parelli Program who are looking to learn more about the Parelli culture and business to consider sending a resume through to our office.

Will you be attending Equitana Sydney this November 2011? We hope to see you there! Not only will we have a booth where you can come and talk to our Office Team as well as the numerous Instructors in Australia and New Zealand, but there will also be demonstrations from Licensed Parelli Professionals each day. So stop by the booth, say hello, check out the equipment for sale, get re-energised and celebrate all things equine with us.

Are you aware of the new instructors in Australia and New Zealand? We have over 30 instructors of all different star rating, available to help you by offering lessons, clinics and camps across our region. Have a look at www.parelli.com for a complete list of Endorsed Parelli Professionals, which is updated regularly.

Our storage facilities have been updated for good reason; to make way for all of the new products released by Parelli, including new colours of lines, halters, hackamores, reins and a new clothing line. You can place an order at any time via the Parelli Webshop or call us at the Australia Parelli Office on 1800 460 988. All products are shipped directly from our Sydney facility to you.

We wish you all the best in the New Year and look forward to seeing you at a Parelli event soon!


Santana at Liberty

West Point

Linda and Pat Parelli with Moxie and Sheila

Pat Parelli riding bridleless on Aspen

Ryan Rose riding Glo bridleless while Zone 5 Driving Scamper Linda Parelli riding West Point

pho

to b

y Co

co

pho

to b

y Co

co

pho

to b

y Co

co

pho

to b

y Co

co

pho

to b

y M

acke

nzi

e K

inca

id

pho

to b

y M

acke

nzi

e K

inca

id


2 0 1 1

September 10-12, 2010Pat Parelli Campus, Pagosa Springs, CO

September 9-11, 2011Pat Parelli Campus, Pagosa Springs, CO

P E R F O R M A N C E

LIBERTY & BRIDLELESS RIDING

Liberty & Bridleless RidingSeptember 9-11, 2011

Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Kalley Krickeberg preparing for the 9/11 tribute ride

Caton Parelli bareback and bridleless on Liberty Major

Berin Macfarlane does a backflip from Muppet

Linda Parelli shares an emotional moment with Remmer

Amy Bowers and Sapphire wowed the crowd with a Liberty demonstration

pho

to b

y Co

co

pho

to b

y M

acke

nzi

e K

inca

idph

oto

by

Mac

ken

zie

Kin

caid

pho

to b

y M

acke

nzi

e K

inca

id

pho

to b

y M

acke

nzi

e K

inca

id


MerlinMagical

Registered name:

Barn name:

Date foaled:

Sire:

Dam:

Rufoleno

Merlin

February 22, 2005

Lil Ruf Peppy

Dixie Chic Olena

Have you ever seen someone who looks so familiar, you swear you’ve met them before? Well, if you have, then you know how Pat and Linda felt when James Gholson led Rufoleno, a 5-year-old gelding, toward them at Pitchfork Ranch in Guthrie, TX last September. As you can see in these photos, this horse bears a striking resemblance to Pat’s famed mare, Magic.

“When James led him in, Linda and I almost fell over,” says Pat. “He looked like Magic’s twin brother.”

Because of his similarities to Magic, Rufoleno has been dubbed “Merlin,” after the legendary medieval magician.

“He feels like a Left-Brain Extrovert,” says Pat. “Not only does he look like Magic, but he’s got a great disposition, he’s confident, and he’s very playful.”

Merlin has already successfully competed in reined cowhorse events and is working in advanced levels of FreeStyle riding, and Pat has begun his development in the other Savvys.

You’ll be seeing more of Merlin as Pat continues to develop their partnership. It’s already clear that Merlin is worthy of his namesake, his tribute to Magic.


photos by Mackenzie Kincaid


In July, Pat and a group of his top students traveled to Reno, Nevada to demonstrate Pat’s techniques for working with wild horses. The animals were all geldings, 3-4 years old, and were provided by the Bureau of Land Management, which is responsible for the management of America’s wild herds. With Pat coaching his protégés

Tame Your


and the crowd watching — both from the event center and from around the world via webcast — these wild horses received an excellent start on their taming, and a solid foundation for future partnership with humans. Several of the horses were adopted in the course of the event, and the rest will continue to work toward adoption within Nevada’s prison wild horse training program.

photos by Coco

Wild Horses


The breeding you want,with the foundation they need,

from the brands you trust.

DON’T LOOK BACK . . .And don’t miss out as 2011

comes to a close! The two-year-

olds are saddled and riding,

the yearlings have completed

our preschool program and

the foals are nearly weaned.

Whether your goals for the

New Year include performance,

pleasure or simply making

progress with a great partner —

we have a young horse suited

to your ability and needs.

Come take a look!

Young Horse Development ProgramSpecializing in the development and sale of Atwood bred yearlings and two-year-olds

Atwood Ranch Naturally

A PARELLI PREFERRED PRODUCTPhoto by Jo Danehy

For informationCatherine Sapienza530-865-1525info@atwoodranchnaturally.comwww.AtwoodRanchNaturally.com

ATWOOD RANCH

4400 County Road 200A

Orland, California 95963

Savvy Times 11-11_Layout 1 8/30/11 6:15 PM Page 1


Community26 Meet the East Anglian Savvy Team / 30 Global Community / 34 Partner Profiles / 36 Northland Natural Horsemanship Games39 The Hero’s Journey / 40 Learning to Speak a Common Language / 42 Staying Savvy in Norway44 Persistence, Parelli, and Amy’s Dream

photo courtesy of EAST

The breeding you want,with the foundation they need,

from the brands you trust.

DON’T LOOK BACK . . .And don’t miss out as 2011

comes to a close! The two-year-

olds are saddled and riding,

the yearlings have completed

our preschool program and

the foals are nearly weaned.

Whether your goals for the

New Year include performance,

pleasure or simply making

progress with a great partner —

we have a young horse suited

to your ability and needs.

Come take a look!

Young Horse Development ProgramSpecializing in the development and sale of Atwood bred yearlings and two-year-olds

Atwood Ranch Naturally

A PARELLI PREFERRED PRODUCTPhoto by Jo Danehy

For informationCatherine Sapienza530-865-1525info@atwoodranchnaturally.comwww.AtwoodRanchNaturally.com

ATWOOD RANCH

4400 County Road 200A

Orland, California 95963

Savvy Times 11-11_Layout 1 8/30/11 6:15 PM Page 1


by Beth Barling

Parelli Around the World

This is a story that supports the adage “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” – or in other words, how when people come together in a group, great things can happen. This is the story of the East Anglian Savvy Team.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the region, let’s begin with a little geography. East Anglia is a region in England, the big bump on the east of the country that sticks out into the North Sea towards the Dutch coast. It is an ancient land, first formed as the Kingdom of the East Angles in the year 520, and today comprises the original member counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, and Hertfordshire. Covering some 7,380 square miles, including 250 miles of coastline, East Anglia is well-known for its flat fenlands, reclaimed marshlands, waterways, agriculture and tourism.

The story begins a couple of years ago in 2009, when connections between four Parelli students in the region began to be made: Anthony Greenleaves, Cath Langley, and Jacqui Sharland (all in Suffolk), and Jennifer Woods (Norfolk). “Jennifer and Jacqui already knew each other,”

said Cath, “and Anthony and I had done the Fast Track together and supported each other to do the instructor course.” In January 2011, all four came together at the Parelli campus in Florida to attend the 1-Star Instructor Course and became the first licensed Parelli professionals in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Meet the East Anglian Savvy Team

pho

tos

cou

rtes

y o

f EA

ST


Community

Four heads are better than oneThe four newly qualified instructors were presented with

two challenges: firstly, how to find and present themselves to students (who had gone from having no local instruc-tors to suddenly having four) in the most effective and ef-ficient way, and secondly, how to grow interest in Parelli in the East Anglian area. The answer lay in working together.

“In April this year, the four of us got together with an initial idea of organizing a Parelli Games day,” said Jennifer. “We got talking and things quickly began to snowball —we realized that in order to achieve our vision of growing Parelli in East Anglia, and in the spirit of ‘We Are Parelli,’ it was crucial to work together as instructors and not com-petitively.” And so the East Anglian Savvy Team was born.

Free choiceWhen the four instructors offered their free hours during

their trainee period, this was a great opportunity for students to meet all four instructors and get to know them. For students, knowing that the instructors were working together and not competitively meant that they felt free to select the instructor they preferred to work with, even if it wasn’t nec-essarily the one closest to them. “Students like the fact we’re not competitive. We recognize that different teaching styles appeal to different people. By working together our aim is to best serve the needs of students in our area.”

Beverley Foreman lives in the area and has been a Parelli member for five years. “Over the last few years I’ve felt quite isolated as a student,” explained Beverley. “Now we have support everywhere we look; it’s wonderful. And we can work with all of them; it makes it easy knowing that they work together and are so supportive of each other.”

Making connectionsWith a handful of students dotted around the region, the

team saw that there was a big need to connect students

together to form a group that would get together socially and also provide a central access point for people inter-ested in Parelli and looking for information about things happening locally.

In July, the inaugural “EAST Parelli Social” took place in a hotel in Norwich. The evening was billed as a place to come to meet new friends, share experiences, talk to instructors, and watch a fun communication demo in a relaxing envi-ronment. The aim: to bring the Parelli community in East Anglia closer together. The event was advertised on Parelli Connect and Facebook, and the news spread amongst the students they knew already, but as a first event it was an adventure into the unknown: would anyone come?

When the instructors arrived at the hotel they were shown into a big room. Oh no, would they be able to fill such a big place? They needn’t have worried; that night 18 people came along. Half of them were already Parelli members, but many weren’t, and there were even a few

“In order to achieve our vision of growing Parelli in East

Anglia, and in the spirit of ‘We Are Parelli,’ it was crucial

to work together as instructors and not competitively.”

Parelli Professionals Jacqui Sharland and Jennifer Woods


people completely new to Parelli. New connections and friendships were made, and the group discussed the types of things they’d like to do together.

Beverley Foreman was able to take a neighbour along to find out more: “My neighbour couldn’t stop peeping at what we were doing with our horses, and she soon started with Parelli. We took her along to the inaugural social meeting and now she’s hooked!” Beverley also made some new connections and had several invitations to meet up with other people and their horses – something she’d never been able to do before.

Let the Games begin!In August, the team ran their first Parelli Games and Spot-

lights day. The team worked hard to set up the Games area where there was an arena, round pen, various obstacles and plenty of space for the horses. An area was sectioned off for spectators, where a marquee housed a barbecue, plus tea and homemade cakes, as well as a table loaded with free back issues of Savvy Times, calendars, books and Parelli catalogues. Many people pitched in to support the day, including the instructors’ husbands, wives and other family members.

In total there were 19 horses, with 18 entrants in the Parelli Games classes, and over 30 spectators. Participants could enter up to three classes, choosing from three On Line classes, Liberty and Freestyle. There was a prize draw for three two-hour lessons, as well as one free two-hour

lesson for the best spotlight. In the afternoon, there were optional spotlights – an opportunity for individuals to show what they can do and show the relationship they have with their horse.

The day began with simulations of the games, with Anthony expertly demonstrating the On Line games, with Cath, Jacqui and Jennifer acting as his “conga horse”! Then the Games began, using the official Parelli Games rulebook, with zip ties applied to all lines so that the lightness of the human could be tested. The instructors did the scoring for the classes and were delighted and very proud of what they saw. There was a broad range of experience and expertise amongst the participants, and many of them were taking part in the Parelli Games for the first time. Jacqui explained how they aimed to create a safe environment where people could feel confident to take part at whatever level they were at. “We were really pleased to see how brave people were to give it a go,” said Anthony. “It was great to see so many lovely relationships between people and horses.”

After the Games, there were nine individual spotlights, demonstrating three of the Four Savvys (On Line, Liberty and Freestyle). At the end of the afternoon, rosettes were awarded to the Games participants, as well as rosettes for people who took part in the spotlights.

It was definitely an exciting first experience for Beverley. “I was very apprehensive when I arrived and saw so many people,” she said, “But with the support of the instructors, that soon diminished. I found that every-thing I’d learned I could put into practice.” Beverley even felt confident enough to do an On Line spotlight with some Liberty at the end: “I was a little worried at first, but to know that I wouldn’t be judged or criticized was a very safe feeling; it was completely different than my previous experience of shows.”

Participants paid to enter the Games, and there was a raffle with plenty of great prizes (including horse feed,

photos courtesy of EAST


Community

champagne, a copy of Pat’s book, and jelly beans, to name but a few!) and a bucket for donations. The proceeds from the day went towards the Parelli Horsemanship Fund – an amazing £1000 (USD $1550) was raised. “The day was the biggest success we could have imagined!” said Jennifer. The team is already thinking about making it an annual event.

working as a teamWorking as a team has proved to work well so far.

“Starting out on your own can be tough,” said Anthony. “With four of us we feed off each other’s strengths. We can pool resources, ideas and skills.”

One of the things that works well is having the same goal, explained Cath: “We all share a vision: to cause more people in East Anglia to become interested in Parelli.”

They also know that it’s important to embrace change as more people qualify as licensed Parelli Professionals – there is an open invitation for new instructors in the region to join the team. “Being part of a successful team needs diversity, with a mix of people and skills. It also needs to have people who appreciate diversity and can work with that,” said Jacqui. “Together we can do so much more.”

Their friendship and team spirit is also providing support for their own horsemanship; the team get together

regularly with their own horses to support their own progress and help each other with their Levels auditions. “It’s great having such a support network,” said Jennifer. “They’re brilliant people – I’m loving it.”

Building a foundation for the futureAlthough the team hasn’t been working together for

long, the impact of what they’ve done so far is already apparent. “There is definitely more cohesion across the area as students get to know each other better. And we’ve been able to welcome new people through the social events,” said Jacqui.

This is something the team is keen to do, with plans to do a social event every six weeks, rotating them around the region so that there will be an event close to each instructor on a quarterly basis.

Being part of a group has given Beverley the encouragement she needs to make progress. She is using Parelli Connect to keep in contact with others in the group and tick off horsemanship tasks. “Having local support is really important, especially now I’m just starting in Level 3 – and now I’m doing it with a local friend!”

So that’s the story of the East Anglian Savvy Team. But the story doesn’t end here; it’s just the beginning. Parelli member Beverley is excited about the future: “East Anglia is going to take off with Parelli!”

To find out more about the East Anglian Savvy Team, visit www.facebook.com/Parelli.EAST and connect with them on Parelli Connect.

“We all share a vision: to cause more people in East Anglia to become interested in Parelli.”


Global CommunityThe Parelli Easter Ride in Mallorcatanja Bever, spain

The Parelli Community in Spain is still comparatively small, and even smaller in Mallorca, a beautiful Spanish island in the middle of the Mediterranean. But we are active!

Practically all horse-related activities are outdoors, as there is only one tiny covered arena on the entire 500 sq km island, so apart from a relatively small community of competition-focused horse people — show jumping, dressage, some western disciplines and of course trotting races — riding out is really what people do with their horses. As small as our island is, it is also very diverse; we can enjoy very nice mountain trails, wide open meadows, and, of course, beach rides.

As Parelli people, we love to put a purpose to things. So my husband Lance, also a Parelli Licensed Professional, and I decided to combine both promoting Parelli Natural Horsemanship with a bit of local culture when planning our first official Parelli Ride Mallorca this spring. We had just gotten to know a small vineyard and bodega of eco-logical local wines, which happens to be a short hour ride away from our facility here in the center of the island. The vineyard is on a 120-hectare property with an 18th century mansion that has belonged to an old Mallorcan family for many generations.

So on Easter Sunday, a small group of Parelli friends gathered up, and after a short trail ride safety rehearsal on our property, we headed off through almond orchards, passing fig tree plantations and finally through a small oak tree forest to “Son Drago.”

With our 22-foot ropes, we quickly put a safe tying device together for the horses, surrounded by a group of Mallorcan and Moroccan kids asking if we were “vaqueros verdaderos” (real cowboys).

The Feliu family had prepared a lovely “merienda” for us with coca, the typical Mallorcan pizza-style tart, homemade bread, red pepper sausage and cheeses. Carlos Feliu, who runs the vineyard and produces the wines, told us about the history of the company and explained the different wines to us, actually giving us an entire wine seminar! Not everybody knew that Mallorca wine was produced and exported to ancient Rome!

After an uneventful ride back, the adventure segued into a lovely evening with a super-sized paella, prepared by our son-in-law and professional chef Andreas, which was enjoyed over lots of horsey talk and happy smiles. As a friend of ours commented: Parelli, ponies, paella... perfect!


Community

Live Your Dreameva cavalini, Holland

I discovered Parelli on Cardinal Ranch, in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. I was a volunteer there for a couple of months, to train the horses and guide tourists. Before this trip, I had been skeptical about the Parelli program for quite some time. But eventually I did open my eyes. I had clinics with Don Halladay, did lots of trail rides, and started

some young horses. When I got back to Holland, my eyes where wide open and there was no way back. Parelli is the way I want to live with horses.

I met my partner Roy, and we started living together while I bought my own Paint Horse called Mountain, and sadly my dad died. Last September, Roy asked me to marry him and I said yes. After my dad died, I always knew that when I was going to get married I wanted my horse to give me away.

Mountain is 4 years old and I started him at 2 years of age. He is quite a dominant Left-Brain Extrovert. He was quite a challenge when I started him, and that was when Eefje Veenstra, 2-Star Parelli Professional, started helping me. We are now Level 3/4 students and are learning and progressing every day.

When I decided Mountain should give me away, I asked Eefje for her help. She immediately and enthusiastically said yes. I knew I couldn’t do this without her help. I asked my little brother to walk with me and Mountain down the aisle and we immediately started practicing. We practiced with everything we could think of, because prior and proper preparation prevents things from going wrong!

July 1st was our wedding day. We had everything arranged, including a special permit to get married in open air, with Eefje working with Mountain for the day. It all worked out and was stunningly beautiful; Mountain was great and I know I lived this dream thanks to Parelli and all it brought me.

I am writing this in the train to Paris for our mini-honeymoon. Our actual honeymoon is in September to the Canadian Rocky Mountains... the place where my journey started.

You can make a difference...

...and help change the world.Every day, we hear from students whose lives – and horses – have

been transformed using the Parelli Program. But just as Parelli is way more than riding, it’s also more than just horsemanship techniques. What makes this program truly unique is the sense of community and camaraderie that exists among Parelli students. This all began with Pat and Linda, but it’s become so much more. It’s about you and your growth; it’s about your horses and their stories; it’s about where you’ve been and where you’re going; it’s about all the people who are walking alongside you, sharing the journey. Everyone who studies, teaches and promotes Parelli principles worldwide is an important part of what “Parelli” means. We are more than the sum of our parts – together WE ARE PARELLI and we believe WE can create a better world for horses and humans....

this is our MissionWith your help, to create a better world for horses and humans.

Read the Entire Parelli Horsemanship Fund White Paper at: www.parellihorsemanshipfund.org

Global Business strategist to Lead Parelli Horsemanship Fund

Charged as it is with making the world a better place for horses, the Parelli Horsemanship Fund is pleased to announce its partnership with global business strategist and 2-Star Parelli Professional Lori Northrup.

Northrup will manage the day-to-day operations of the fund, spearhead fundraisers, interface with rescues and therapeutic riding groups and guide the fund’s growth.

“Lori has always been passionate about Parelli. She’s a bright, dynamic business woman and we are honored that she has volunteered her skills to spearhead the Fund’s initiatives,” says Parelli Media Director, Neil Pye.

To make a donation of any kind, please contact Lori directly at 716-474-7580 or email [email protected].

the reality of scale Because of the impact Parelli has had on the relationships

between horses and humans worldwide, many people reach the erroneous assumption that Parelli is a huge corporation with limitless pockets. In truth, we are a relatively small business with a very big dream to help create a better world for horses and humans! Today, 1 in 200 horse owners use the Parelli Program worldwide. When we achieve our next milestone goal and 1 in 100 horse owners worldwide are members of the Parelli Program, we will automatically donate 15% of all member revenue to the foundation (in addition to the 75% of Benefactor member revenue we are committing to the Horsemanship Fund TODAY).

Our ultimate goal, with your help, is to reach 1 in 10 horse owners worldwide using the Parelli Program. When we reach this goal, we will be able to not only educate but also donate significant funds to all of the Horsemanship Fund’s causes. Can you imagine how that would transform the world?!

Like any small business, we have to carefully watch expenses and often have moments where we “soldier on through” in the face of doubt and economic downturn. Many might read the above aspirations and think we’ve gone a bit mad. Those individuals would make a critical misjudgment, however, by not realizing the transformative power that love, language and leadership have with horses and humans alike and how that love can, and has, changed the world already.

So, are we crazy? Maybe. But who would have thought in 1991, when Pat and Linda coined the term “natural horsemanship,” that today it would be a household term in the equine industry? Who could have guessed that communication with horses could have changed the lives not only of a cowboy from California and a girl from Australia, but for a legion of horse owners worldwide who call themselves part of the Parelli Family? No one can guess, but we can get there, with your help; of that we are certain!

your support and involvement is criticalYou are the pioneers of a movement that has already

helped create a better world for horses and humans. Through your support and word-of-mouth efforts, the new Parelli Horsemanship Fund will touch the lives of countless horses and horse lovers worldwide. We can’t do it without you, nor would we want to. Worlds are changed one life at a time. Your efforts and life experiences will be instrumental in helping to change the world for horses and humans. By taking the time to tell your story, by getting involved and encouraging others to reach for their dreams, you will help the Parelli Community advance real change in the lives of horses and humans around the globe.

other ways you can Help:• Be a good example and show others the power of love,

language and leadership for horses and humans alike.

• Spread the word about helping to create a better world for horses and humans by talking about your experiences in the Parelli Program with ALL of your friends, not just the horse owners!

• Get connected and support fellow students and newcomers near you on Parelli Connect.

• Become a fan of our Facebook page and share it with your Facebook friends.

• Coordinate or participate in a fundraiser.

• Buy a Parelli Pony.

• Buy a new horse through the Parelli Dream Horse Program.

• If you already have the Levels Pathways DVDs (Levels 1 through 4), then consider lending the DVDs to a horse rescue or therapeutic riding center near you.

Finally, thank you for your time to read this and we look forward to sharing your positive energy and support. Together we WILL help create a better world for horses and humans!

P.S. Help us spread the word and start your friends on the path to success! Helping change the world for horses and humans is as simple as telling three people about the FREE 30 Day Trial Membership on ParelliConnect.com. As soon as they sign on they’ll have FREE streaming access to the complete Level 1 Educational Program so that can begin their horsemanship journey without delay!

Helping to create a better world...

the New Parelli Ponies Modeled after each of the four Horsenalities™, these adorable soft toys are sure to capture your heart and imagination. And best of all, 100% of profits from the sales of Parelli Ponies will be allocated to the Fund, where they will be helping to find “forever” homes for horses in need, enriching children’s lives through natural horsemanship learning, developing future para-equestrians, and supporting students all over the world by developing the Parelli Professionals and equine educators of tomorrow.


How did your horse come into your life?I was getting out of horses altogether. I was very

discouraged with what I was taught to do with traditional methods. I loved these animals, so how could I continue to treat them this way?! So I was going to love them from afar. But a chance visit to a farm changed my world forever.

The horses at this farm were different. They were interest-ed in people. They certainly didn’t have that ”get me out of here” look, and I wanted to learn why that was. I was invited to hang out, play and learn. I began attending regularly.

During my days there a young, Paint filly began hanging around me. I didn’t pay much attention at first. I really don’t care for Paints much, especially the ones with lots of white on them. This was a medicine hat Paint yearling with blue eyes, and she was at the gangly, “parts don’t fit together” stage. But boy did she want my attention! Lucky for me, I was smart enough to listen to her. Due to her persistence I started to look at her differently. I could see the swan hiding in the “ugly duckling”. I bought her but we both know she picked me.

tell us about the best moment with your horse.There have been so many! She’s very expressive when I

find itchy spots. I’d gotten used to her eyes closing, head dropping and her lip pointing... then she started pointing to where she was itchy! But one time in particular I must have hit a really good spot because she lifted up her back leg and held it up! She’s done it since then but at that time I didn’t know horses would, or even could, do that! I stood there licking and chewing for quite awhile. Another monu-mental time was when I had turned her loose after a play session. We were walking back to the herd together and just before she went over the last hill I climbed up on some farm machinery in order to see her better as she joined them. Instead of leaving me, she sidled over, actually side-passing to position herself so I could get on. I was abso-lutely dumbfounded! Never in a million years did I think that would ever happen to me. It was a huge moment. I was, and still am, humbled to this day. I strive each day to be worthy of those moments. The irony never escapes me that a mostly white Paint — the last horse I ever would have been drawn to — has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Maybe sometimes fairy tales do come true...

Check out Lily’s updates on Parelli Connect!www.parelliconnect.com/horses/7476

Partner Profiles

Send your partner’s profile to [email protected]!

Please limit your submission to 500 words.

Answer any or all of the same questions you see here, and send us

some high-resolution photos of your partner!

Draft x Paint / Mare / 5 Years Old / 16.1hh / Left-Brain IntrovertPlaying in Level 2-3 / Partner of Sue Lanthier, Ontario, CanadaLily


How did your horse come into your life?Cosima was born on 6th October 2003 at 9.40pm in my

paddock. She is the first and only foal I have bred. She is the offspring of my gorgeous Arab mare, Tahlia, and my farrier’s champion Australian stock horse stallion.

At that time, I was suffering a long-winded illness that left me unable to ride for a couple of years. So, rather than watch my horse go to waste in the paddock, I decided to allow her to have a foal. I fully intended to sell the foal, as I certainly had no need for another horse at the time. But, that plan went out the window at about 9.41pm when I walked down to check on my pregnant mare and my torchlight fell upon that baldy face.

what lesson has your horse taught you that you use in your everyday life?

Cosima has taught me to turn frustration into fascina-tion, and to get out of my comfort zone to try new things. She has a greatest outlook on life. Everything is fun and exciting to Cosima. The world is a giant playpen, begging to be explored. She is teaching me to be bolder and more adventurous. For years, her dam (Tahlia) and I have been playing along in our own little Right-Brain Introvert safe and secure way, progressing in small steps in our own time and not getting anywhere fast. But Cosima is challenging me to be better, to get those Levels assessments in and get on with the journey.

tell us about the best moment with your horse.I have two moments that immediately spring to mind.

The first was the instant that my torchlight hit her newborn face and I fell instantly and completely in love with her. The second was a time when I drove out to see my horses at a different time of day than normal. They were way off in the distance up the top of a very large hill. I called out and Cosima immediately flew into a full gallop down the hill towards me. She was going so fast that she couldn’t stop and she shot straight past me. I thought she would keep running all the way down the hill to the feed shed and leave me standing half way up the hill, but she didn’t. As soon as she managed to pull herself up, she wheeled around and galloped straight up to me, stopping with her head in my chest.

what are your dreams and goals with your horse?My dream is to become the person I need to be in order

to allow Cosima to become all she can be. I mainly ride English style, but I have a strong sense that Cosima would rather chase cows than prance around an arena. I hope to take her to some cow-type Parelli clinics in the future, once I have developed into a good enough rider to stay on her for the chase.

Check out Cosima’s updates on Parelli Connect!www.parelliconnect.com/horses/4283

Arab x Australian Stock Horse / Mare / 8 Years Old / Left-Brain ExtrovertPlaying in Level 2 / Partner of Yvette Fenning, Rockhampton, Australia Cosima


by Pat Hunter

Northland NaturalAn exciting idea with small beginnings in a small rural

place became a big natural horsemanship event that inspired more than a thousand people.

In Northland, a sparsely populated area at the top of the North Island of New Zealand, there is a small active group of Parelli students. I am one of those students, and I organise clinics to be held in Whangarei about three times a year

with Russell Higgins, 4-Star Parelli Professional. Whangarei is the only city in the north and has a population of 48,000 people. I also run an email newsletter for Northland Parelli students and a website to update students about playdays and clinics happening in the North.

Around September 2010 I began to think, “We could do some kind of natural horsemanship event — some-thing really inspiring and challenging.” I felt that the more advanced students might like something a little differ-ent to put in their calendar, and we could also showcase Parelli. I came up with the idea of a Northland Natural Horsemanship Games. Soon I was joined by a few other Parelli students who were also excited about this idea, and together we mapped out how we saw the Games.

Our aim was for the Games to be fun, safe, exciting, chal-lenging and inspiring. It would be run using Parelli principles and also it would be inclusive, involving all sorts of horse people. There are many in our area who are doing some kind of natural horsemanship and many in Pony Club and endur-ance clubs who are wanting to change the way they interact with their horses. Often I am contacted by people who don’t

pho

tos

by H

elen

Fra

nce

s

Horsemanship Games


Community

know how to get started. We wanted to reach these people as well as provide for our Parelli students.

It was decided the Games would be a mixture of games and demos, as well as having sponsors and stalls. Commit-tee member and Parelli student Leanne Cameron worked many long hours on the instructions and details for each of the games, which was published online in a booklet form.

The Whangarei Riding for the Disabled charity (RDA) made their whole facility and all their equipment available for us on the day. Conveniently, RDA is situated in the same park as the event. RDA Whangarei is aiming to become affiliated with Parelli; currently Tori is training staff and volunteers in Level 1. Claire Leighton, one of the volunteers and a Parelli student herself, plays with their horses in her spare moments.

Six months of intensive planning and hard work, some media coverage, lots of help from the networking tools on the internet and some fantastic and enthusiastic sponsors, and it was game on!

As it got closer to the day, we realised it was going to be much bigger than we had thought. We finally had quite a lot of entries, we had more than enough money and gifts for prizes from generous sponsors, and it appeared that lots of people were intending to come this year for a look and then enter next year. Two of the three New Zealand-based Parelli Professionals, Russell Higgins and Tori Mur-ray-Elley, agreed to do three demos between them.

There were nine ground skills games and nine horseback games. Each of the contestants could choose from three levels of difficulty by designating that they were going for 5 points, 10 points or 20 points. They could choose a different level for each game. As an example: for 5 points a game might be played using a 12-foot Line, whereas the 10 points would be using a 22-foot Line and for 20 points one might use a 45-foot Line or play at Liberty.

Anyone who succeeded at the points level they had designated won a ribbon. In any one game, we could have several winners or all the contestants might be winners. At the judge’s discretion, one person could win an extra certificate and prize for being outstanding in some way in their relationship with their horse during the game.

Adults and children, horses, ponies and minis were all contestants together in the same games. It was hard to keep your eyes off Tori’s 8-year-old sister Hope Moorehead and her pony Spencer, both of whom have fantastic spirit, focus and determination. They entered every game and took away not only a pile of ribbons, but a major prize at the end of the day!

Our aim was for the Games to be fun, safe, exciting,

challenging and inspiring.


Russell and Tori absolutely wowed the crowd of over a thousand people in their demos. Leanne Cameron, along with her horse Star, showcased what a Level 2 student and her horse could do with a big ball; she and Star did a great job. Star is a Kaimanawa pony — from the wild horses caught in an annual “cull” in the highlands of the central North Island.

The Parelli tent was overwhelmed by people wanting to sign up, especially after each demo. Many people said they were coming back to enter with their horse. “Oh!” we thought. With thirty-four contests this year, we’d already had almost more than we could manage!

The most common comments heard throughout the day were about the horses: “I have never seen so many calm horses at an event before,” “All the horses look so happy,” and, “I want to be able to handle my horse that way.”

We employed the services of around twenty-five volun-teers — mostly friends and relatives — to help us on the day. Some weren’t horse people at all. Those that were did jobs that were around horses. All volunteers wanted to come back next year. They loved the atmosphere, the horses, the demos, and the big thank-you dinner we held for them.

Months after the Games, people were still coming up to me in the street and saying, “I went to the Natural Horsemanship Games — what a fantastic event!” and variations on that.

Many people came up in carloads from further south to see what this event would be like. We even had contes-tants bring their horses from far and wide.

We learned that even though horses have been ready for Parelli since their lives became entangled with humans, now large numbers of people are ready for it too. It is wonderful to have a fully developed educational system to refer them to so they too can learn the joys of being natural with their horses.

Watch it on YouTube!Russell Higgins, 4-Star Parelli Professional, gave a terrific demonstration of bareback and bridleless riding with his horses Oscar and Maverick at the Northland Natural Horsemanship Games. Check out the video of a part of his performance on YouTube!

http://youtu.be/NFo75dMxuoa

photos by Helen Frances

Russell and Tori absolutely wowed the crowd of over a

thousand people in their demos.


Community

All of us are on the Hero’s Journey, where one sets out on a long, frequently arduous path, and is presented with seemingly impossible tasks to complete — slaying a dragon, if you will. As the journey unfolds, the hero must confront and overcome those internal obstacles to success: fear, weakness and self-doubt.

As a Parelli student, you too are on a journey, an expedi-tion of sorts. Yours is defined as a journey with an uncer-tain outcome. There is you, your horse, and the Parelli path to your vision.

The big questions are: How do I maintain my perse-verance when the journey gets difficult or emotionally uncomfortable? How do I find the courage to step out of my comfort zone, letting growth and learning drive my behavior choices instead of fear and my desire to stay comfortable? What are the drivers that can take me to where I want to go as a Parelli student?

Here is a formula for you to consider. For some of you, it will be an answer to that question - The Creating Success Formula: D+V+P>C

So, what do all these letters stand for, and how do I use the formula?

D = Dissatisfaction. A clearly stated and compelling case for change: Why can’t I keep doing business as usual with my horse? (If I always do what I’ve always done, I’ll always

get what I’ve always gotten – some of you have heard that before!) Step 1 is meant to cause some thinking on this. Write it out, pulling no punches, using clear, simple language.

V = Vision. An emotionally compelling and specific articulated picture of an ideal state you want to achieve. Step 2 is writing a statement of intent – what do you want it to look like in the future? What are images or emotional references you can use to add color to your articulation of an ideal state you want in your leadership and partnership with your horse?

P = Process. The path to get from the current state to the imagined future state. Hey! You don’t have to figure out what this step is! Pat and Linda have done that part! Your job is not to figure out the process, but to understand it deeply by informing yourself and exploring through experience, the applications of the Seven Games through the levels.

C = The cost of Change. Mostly the cost of change is emo-tional. Certainly there is some additional cost in terms of time and money, but the greatest cost of any change is emotional.

Here is how this formula works. If the sum of D + V + P is not greater than the cost of Change (C, which is mostly emotional, plus time and some money), then movement to your goal will be simply not happen. This holds true for any human endeavor, from losing weight, furthering your education, or becoming more skilled in being the best leader for you horse.

The power in this simple formula is in doing great, deep and meaningful work on the first 2 steps. Doing this creates a force multiplier that simultaneously propels you away from the unsatisfactory current state, and towards the desired future state.

So – you have your homework to do! Spend some time thinking and writing clearly about both your current state and a more ideal future state. It should not take much time — 30-45 minutes for each of the first 2 steps — and the payoff can be remarkable. Never give up.

Jim Patterson is most famous for being the husband of 3-Star Parelli Professional Kelly Sigler Patterson. A trainer and consultant in organizational and personal development, he has worked with large companies all over the world con-ducting Leadership Development, Executive Coaching and Employee Engagement programs. He has worked with many Parelli Instructors, externs and interns teaching a mini-Play To Win course at both the Ocala and Pagosa Springs Parelli Campuses. He is available to teach Play To Win programs and do personal coaching. Contact him at [email protected] or visit The Looking Glass Group at www.tlgg.biz.

The Hero’s Journeyby Jim Patterson


by Lauren Barwick, 4-Star Parelli Professional

Learning to SpeakA Common Language

Paralympian and 4-Star Parelli Professional Lauren Barwick has been awfully busy — and she’s been sharing that journey with us! As Lauren prepares her new horses for competition and navigates her own life (including her recent marriage to husband Paul; our congratulations to the happy couple!), she’s been keeping us updated with blogs and Facebook updates. This is just one of Lauren’s latest stories for us; if you’d like to read more, check out her blog posts at http://bit.ly/qWBsWA or like her Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/o817CW.

My mares Paris and Fergi – and my Australian Shepherd Sky – have been training in British Columbia now since August 6th. As much as I would have loved to be in Colorado with the Mastery program and my husband Paul, I made the decision to travel home to be with my mother. She had had a heart attack eight weeks earlier, and really needed to have family around.

We have been at a really nice equestrian center that has beautiful arenas, but not a lot of places to really play with horses. There is a square pen that we are allowed to be off-line in, but the footing is quite hard, and I didn’t like having the mares moving around on it.

This has left us with spending a lot of time On Line, which gave me plenty of time to rediscover my patience. Ropes, Carrot Sticks™ and 350 lb. wheelchairs don’t mix well, unfortunately.

Both Paris and Fergi have spent many hours on a lunge line and I feel as if I’m trying to re-wire our communica-tions. It is so much easier starting with a horse that hasn’t been handled at all. Both mares aren’t doing anything wrong - actually, they are doing exactly what they were taught to do - but I keep asking, “Why do you do that? That’s not what I’m asking for,” and they keep saying, “I’m confused; isn’t this what you mean? Why do you keep asking me when I’m already doing it?”

Have you ever had someone speak to you in a different language, and you didn’t understand a word they said?

The problem isn’t that you can’t hear them or that they are

talking too fast; you just don’t speak the same language!

pho

tos

by C

oco


Community

So they say the exact same thing, but only louder. And then, again, they say it louder and maybe even slower the next time. The problem isn’t that you can’t hear them or that they are talking too fast; you just don’t speak the same language! No one is right or wrong, but it can get frustrating. It’s exactly the same when trying to help a horse that has been taught with a different language. It doesn’t matter how loud you get; you have to figure out how to show them what your asking for. I feel for my mares because they both try so hard and sometimes they are doing exactly what they had been trained to do. For Paris, a Right-Brain Extrovert, patterns and consistency are huge. She had learned to go from the stall to the pen, and at the end of the day back to the stall. Don’t deviate from this, or else the world is going to come to an end!

With Fergi, if I picked up that Carrot Stick™ — whether it’s in front of the drive line, behind it, or straight up in the air — it meant go!

I’ve identified where I sit on the spectrum of a “carrot person” being a 0 and “stick person” being a 10: I’d say I am about a 6.8. When it comes down to it, I overdo it and demand obedience. The session has to be effective and there has be results; there was no walking all over me.

Knowing this about myself, I really have to slow down and remember that when things aren’t working out and the horses are doing things other than what I’m asking, there is most likely just a communication problem, and it’s my job to break it down and help them understand what the answer is. I know how to be quick and effective. Now I need to learn to get to a balanced 5 on the scale. I need to learn to slow down, re-organize and wait! This is so hard, because I like to move my feet — or should I say my wheels.

This month, I was having a terrible time with my changes of direction with Fergi. I wanted to be on the 45-foot Line doing them, and I was getting more and more frustrated that she just wouldn’t change eyes and go from left to right! Now, it doesn’t help that my power chair is really slow and doesn’t go backward quickly enough. I have one hand on my remote, one on the rope and one holding my Carrot Stick™. After two sessions of frustration, I decided to use the tools available to me and get really good at the distance I was capable of achieving the best results at. Yes, that meant I had to go back to a 12-foot Line in a small pen, so I had the use of the fence. That made an incredible difference! Instead of shaking a huge rope until my arm wanted to fall off while driving backwards over what felt like the length of a football field, Fergi became more con-nected. And instead of going right-brain, she slowed down and started to ask more questions, which lead to beautiful changes of direction! I almost teared up because of the amount of frustration I had felt the two days before.

Four days later, after being on the 12-foot rope, we moved to the 22’ and they were still lovely!

I know this is a common lesson, and we learn that when we go to Liberty and things fall apart go back On Line. It was just a matter of seeing the situation and doing what was necessary in the moment.


by Anita VeimoStaying Savvy in Norway

Parelli is growing rapidly across the world, and it’s no dif-ferent in our little country: Norway. The very first time we had an official Parelli course in Norway was back in 2004. It was a Level 1 course held by then-instructor Ute Lehmann, and it was a great success. We learned more in that one course than I had ever thought possible. And more impor-tant, from that point on, there was no turning back! Almost all the people from our first course still are into Parelli, and they’re making huge progress with their horses.

And here comes a little secret: my motivation for making the arrangement this first time was not about changing the world for horses and humans; it was a little more personal. Two years prior to this, I met my husband, Bjørn Otto, for the first time in another horsemanship course, and I liked him from the first moment. He wasn’t a guy that rushes into relationships, and he didn’t even notice my interest at all, but he did tell me about the Parelli member-ship program! So when I got home, my first action was to subscribe and start learning about the Parelli Program. My horse “El-Key” was a yearling at that time, so we were in no hurry, but we developed a strong and loving relationship from the very beginning.

A couple of years went by, and being a Right-Brain In-trovert, I still had not found a way to approach Bjørn Otto.

Then suddenly, getting a Parelli instructor here seemed like a brilliant idea! And it was, even though Bjørn Otto didn’t come. That was really perfect, because then I had to do it again! And by the second time, we were already a couple, and now we are married and have bought a nice little farm for our horses and ourselves.

photo by Anett Tveit

pho

to b

y A

net

t T

veit


Community

Since then, there have been sixteen courses with several instructors from different European countries, and other Nor-wegian Parelli students have started arranging courses as well.

We had two courses this year — one Level 1/2 and one Level 3/4 — taught by UK-based instructor Lyla Cansfield. These courses were so popular that they were fully booked almost immediately; it’s easy to make arrangements these days. A few years ago, it was more of a struggle, sending hundreds of e-mails to fill one course.

But being in a Parelli course isn’t all about joy. Rather, it is very much about being outside of your comfort zone. This time was no exception! We all to some degree felt we were swimming in deep water at times. It was a super oppor-tunity to learn that Level 4 is Level 1 with excellence, and to let that fact really soak in. Lyla is also super in reading every human and horse in the arena at any given time. How she managed to come up with one task that let all of us progress in what ever area we need, even though it is a different one for every person, was impossible for me to grasp. But somehow she did it, over and over again.

We thought Parelli courses shouldn’t be all about work for our terrific instructor, so we brought Lyla to a moose farm: an opportunity for her to experience another big prey animal! The one in the picture is “Arnliot.” He is the head bull of the herd, standing 18 hands. I wouldn’t care to meet him in the breeding season, but during our visit, he was very friendly and curious. We had a short and in-teresting lecture about the specific traits of the moose, and some of it sounded familiar. But we also discovered that the horse is the ultimate flight animal. The King of the Forest is much less spirited and more inclined to fight

rather than flight. Seeing this made us even more humble about the gift our horses give us every day.

The newbies in Level 1/2 have started logging savvy hours on Parelli Connect and every one of them are determined to continue their journey and get support in this community of horse lovers. The participants from Level 3/4 are planning auditions or Fast Track courses, so we might end up with some more Parelli Professionals over here before long. When the highlights were listed at the end of each course, it was interesting to learn that they ranged from huge achievements to the small but important details. I’m happy to say that every single person went home with a satisfied smile on their face. I want to thank everyone for being a part of making these days a pleasant experience for everybody, horses and humans! Everybody was kind and eager to give a helping hand in all kinds of situations, and this loving attitude makes all the difference! We will continue arranging Parelli courses, because our desire to help change the world for horses and humans keeps growing all the time.

After the courses were finished and our everyday life knocked on our doors, we’re still filled with a fantastic motivation to keep on playing with our horses, to get our good better and our better best! “Take care of your horsemanship, and your horsemanship takes care of you” is surely a valid statement. I do indeed love my life, and my horsemanship is a big part of that.

photo by Bjørn Otto Braaten

photo by Anett Tveit


by Rebecca Fromherz

“What’s It All About?”Persistence, Parelli, and Amy’s Dream

This is the testimonial of an opera singer and sister who had a front row seat to true transformation. It is a letter to the world that real change is happening, that humanity is “getting it,” and that we are much more than we often believe ourselves to be, both as individuals and as a society. And ultimately, it is a letter of deepest gratitude to Parelli for standing up for the welfare of spirit in the form of horses, so that we humans may learn to wield the power of love in constructive and beautiful ways.

Now, where do I begin?Three months ago, I moved to Oregon to start changing

the world for singers and their voices. You may be wonder-ing to yourself, “Why change the world for a voice?” I didn’t know the answers to this question until very recently, when I witnessed my very special sister Amy — with the help of Pat and Linda and the whole team at Parelli Natural Horsemanship — make a remarkable dream come true.

Last year, Amy approached me at the horse barn during my vacation and said, “I’m ready.”

I could only ask, “Ready for what, Sis?”

”I’m ready to tell my story to Parelli. You’re going to make a video about my life, and I’m going to tell everyone about my dream to go to Colorado.” She wanted to make her dream a reality, a feeling I’m very familiar with.

Along the path of twenty years studying and performing as a classical singer, I’ve learned to survive the sometimes cruel education system and business of music-making by seeing my voice as something separate from myself. “Voice” became an entity, an ideal, a symbol of freedom, joy, exu-berance, and uniqueness. My voice, according to a famous teacher in Vienna ten years ago, is a horse. And the horse, according to Pat and Linda Parelli, is what it’s all about.

A large part of my decision to take on the daunting task of changing the very well-established world of singing was inspired by my sister Amy’s journey with horses and Parelli Natural Horsemanship.

Amy hasn’t had an easy life. Watch “Amy’s Story,” the short video on ParelliTube (http://youtu.be/ec1lFZ4dbJE), and you’ll see what I mean. It’s easy to tear up when we hear stories of people making it through obstacles to create

pho

to b

y R

ebec

ca F

rom

her

z


Community

the most from their lives. It’s a bit harder, however, to think of the countless little details — beyond the overarch-ing stories — that people like Amy have to live through to attain basic freedoms, let alone success. For instance, consider the hours and hours it took Amy to learn to write, when all the children around her got it so easily; or the times in gym class when she knew she couldn’t do what the other students could. Or knowing that her little brother and sister had to defend her — the oldest — from all the kids who didn’t “get it,” who didn’t see her but for her differ-ences. These are just a few of the really hard things.

The “hard things” were what my studies in singing were all about. I asked myself, time and time again, what my sister Amy often asked herself as a child: “Why am I not fitting in?” “Why should I change myself to be what they want?” “Why does it not turn me on to study the things people think I should study?” “Why is this all so hard?”

Like the “normal” world of horses many of us unfortu-nately know too well, the world of music is often skewed. Just as horses are often forced into performance through violence, music students are given tools to “strengthen themselves” without foundation, love, or truth. Product is placed well above process, and careers fall apart more quickly than they begin. Most of the time, we are taught the partial truth: that to become great musicians, we must know our music theory. We must know rhythm and com-position. We must be able to package our thoughts and instruments for presentation for someone “in the know.” We must wear the right makeup, buy the right gowns, and

look, speak, and walk the part. But what gives purpose to what we’re doing? What protects us from harm? What gives a sense of dignity and sacredness to our pursuits?

Parelli people know the answer to these questions. It’s the horse! We learn while studying Parelli that no matter what we do, as long as we put the horse first, all is well. Make a mistake? No worries, go to your Friendly Game! Lose your confidence? Not a problem, try a different tactic and work back towards it. Feel jealousy? Fear? Doubt? Don’t worry! It’s not about you in the first place! How won-derfully freeing, and how incredibly powerful.

I’ve witnessed this power time and time again in the way my parents raised Amy. From the moment I was aware that my sister was ‘different’ according to the world, I started to watch my mom, Robin, carefully as she paved the way for my sister. With the help of her passion and knowledge of the law, Robin made sure that Amy lived up to her full potential. When I asked Robin why she didn’t believe the doctors who told her to put Amy in an institution, she said, “Because I love Amy, I know Amy, and Amy belonged with family.”

My dad Allen also did all he could to meet Amy’s every need. Over the years I’ve watched him follow his passion for building pole barns, arenas, shops and homes, “making it work” with a steady love through long hours and lots of miles, when extra riding lessons led to horses for each of us. Both Robin and Allen created all the new experiences which made Amy who she is today. So much of our child-hood was all about Amy... but who, really, is Amy?

Recently, I’ve been obsessed with the easy things. You see, through all of the struggles in Amy’s life, through all the tear-filled nights, the questions, the anger, and the fear, we were taught about two very simple things: love and life. What kept us going through the tears and the triumphs, through the questions, the guilt, and the chal-lenges? The knowledge of the truth of Amy’s worth.

The doctor’s proclamation at Amy’s birth was one of worthlessness. It was a statement of hopelessness, of darkness, and of death. I cannot even imagine not having

Rebecca (left) and Amy (right) meet Linda Parelli at the 2011 Summit in Pagosa Springs.

What gives purpose to what we’re doing? What protects us

from harm? What gives a sense of dignity and sacredness to

our pursuits?

photo by Rebecca Fromherz


Amy in my life. Knowing that this walking ball of exuber-ance, curiosity, and growing confidence could have been reduced to a shell of a person in an institution makes me feel as protective and as powerful as a wild mother mare. Playing with her and our horses makes me feel like I’m running free in the fields, free from a world where we want to define what is “right” and who is “worthy.” It makes me feel free to be in a place where “what it’s all about” is as apparent as the next breath we take.

Whether “it” is a horse, a voice, or a precious soul like Amy, Parelli people “get it.” Witnessing Amy attend the 2011 Parelli Summit as a special honored guest, I got to see her digest the beauty of a facility built to serve and uphold life in the form the true “stars” of Parelli Natural Horseman-ship: the horses. I saw her accept the hugs of recognition from people who already loved her without having met her. I got to laugh when I heard her compare notes with Pat’s dapper son Caton about whether 4-wheeler or Gator riding is best, and I got to cry tears of pride when she was recognized for being who she is in front of the crowd with hugs from Pat, Linda, and Neil.

I can end this testimonial with a deep sense of knowl-edge that Pat Parelli is teaching us something quite profound in all of his work, and in particular, with his teaching of persistence. Amy is living, breathing proof that with persistence, life and love are possible. And the Parelli program is proof that there is a way to put the “it” first, and create a community that sees love and life, without fail, in its members. I am honored to be a Parelli student. I am honored to be Amy’s sister, and to have been along for the ride on this amazing journey.

In closing, I’d like to share what Amy taught me about voice just a couple days ago when she brought her thank you notes for Pat, Linda and the Team over to show me. You see, still accustomed to looking at the “hard things,” I said, “Would you like me to proofread these for you Sis?” To which she said, “No, I know what I want to say!” So I opened the notes, which were written in Amy’s difficult script. At the end of the letter to Pat and Linda, in bold, strong, clear writing, Amy had simply written, “YOU ROCK!” To which I can only echo — Pat and Linda, and all the Parelli Team and community — yes, you certainly do!

Amy with Neil Pye, Caton Parelli and Pat Parelli during the 2011 Summit.photo by Sharon Tiesdell Smith

Watch it on YouTube!See the video that started Amy’s trip to Pagosa Springs on ParelliTube! Learn more about Amy’s history and all of the wonderful people who’ve helped her in her journey, in horsemanship and in life!

http://youtu.be/ec1lFZ4dbJe

“WE DO NOT JUDGE HOW GOOD A SADDLE IS...OUR HORSES TELL US!” What is your horse telling you about how it feels when you ride?

Parelli Saddles are provided by NATURAL HORSEMAN SADDLES, LLC, exclusively 566 South Skylane Drive, Unit D • Durango, CO 81303 • 1-888-293-4287 • +970-403-1370 FAX: +970-403-1374 • email us at: [email protected]

PARELLI

INSIDE

FREE DVD that explains it!

How Do You Know You’ve Done It Right?One of the keys to successfully fitting your saddle is

making sure that your horse’s shoulders have plenty of room to move freely. The scapulae must be able to swing back underneath the front of the saddle, without pressure that would restrict them in any way.

As you know by now, our extensive research has proven that it is critical that your saddle NOT lock down tight onto your horse’s back shape when he is standing still. Nor should it sit too far forward on his body. Nor should rider weight be dumped onto the forehand.

We have been passionately scientific about designing Parelli Saddle systems to help you and your horse achieve optimum performance and comfort. Shims under the saddle help customize it to accommodate your horse’s particular back shape. You’ll find lots of information and pictorials on www.ParelliSaddles.com/Education to help you diagnose your horse’s shape and what basic shim patterns would be advisable to use. You can also download checklists to help set yourself up for success.

One thing that is critical to include in your personal checklist before you mount up: be certain to check under the front area of the saddletree (especially while the horse is walking forward) to feel all the way back to the stirrup bar. You should be able to feel your horse’s shoulder working freely. NOTE: If you feel under there while he is standing still, it will feel tighter than when the horse is walking, but should still not be terribly tight.

You may need a friend to help you by leading your horse while you do this. If feeling for his left shoulder, reach with your left arm. If you use your right arm, your shoulder could be injured if the horse should move suddenly. There must be some pressure, of course, as the saddletree must support/distribute weight all along its bars, but it must not be so tight as to restrict shoulder action, or else the horse cannot use his body correctly: gaits will be short and choppy, he will likely travel with a hollow back, etc. See the photo above for an example of how to check under the saddletree.

by Letitia Glenn

Our Foundation models:“Natural Performer” Western

“Cruiser” Hybrid Endurance “Fluidity GP” English

(these are the most versatileand athletic for achieving

high levels in the Parelli Program).

Our Sport-Specific models:“Fluidity Dressage” English“Ranch Roper ” Western “Cutter” Western Not shown above: “Jumper” nor “Reiner” (see them on the website)

1-800-747-2164 • ad code h9yxs • pj3dy.spalding-labs.com760 Printz Rd., Arroyo Grande, CA 93420

FLY PREDATORS® and The Little Bugs That Do A Big Job are trademarks of Spalding Laboratories, Inc. Copyright © 2011 Spalding Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horses Fly Predators Cost per Month Delivered

1-5 5,000 $ 18.45 6-10 10,000 $ 28.50 11-15 15,000 $ 38.45 16-20 20,000 $ 47.50 21-25 25,000 $ 56.50 26-49 $2.00/head/mo. + ship. Above 50 head...call for quote.

The Little Bugs That Do A BIG Job™

Spalding Fly Predators®

The Savvy Way To Stop Flies!

"I've used Fly Predators for 33 years and they have done a superb job on my place.”—Robert M. Miller, DVM Thousand Oaks, CA www.robertmmiller.com

The Savvy Way To Stop Flies!“I fi rst heard about Spalding Fly Predators from Dr. Miller in the late ‘80’s. All my life, I’ve looked for the natural way to do things and these Fly Predators were the fi rst time I had a non-chemical way of being effective against fl ies. Since 1989, I’ve had great success with them keeping my property fl y free, at three different facilities and in three very different climates.” —Pat Parelli with wife Linda

Fly Predators have helped keep fl ies to a minimum without pesticides for hundreds of thousands of horse owners over the past 36 years. It’s all most folks need. However, if you have neighbors with animals then their fl ies are likely coming over to bug you too. In that case use traps for theirfl ies and Fly Predators for your fl ies.

No Pesticides, No Larvicides, No Worry Fly Predators are the natural enemy of fl ies, but never bother people or animals. Without resorting to chemicals, you’ll kill fl ies before they emerge. That

way they never get a chance to bother you or your animals or reproduce by the gazillions.

Quick And Easy-To-UseYou simply sprinkle Fly Predators

near all manure areas every three to four weeks during warm months. It just takes a few minutes and you’ve done your fl y control for the month. It’s as simple as opening a sack of potato chips!

Easy On The Wallet TooThe pouch shown above is enough for fi ve horses for one month and costs just $18.45. For most situations, the amount of Fly Predators per horse listed provides excellent control and Fly Predators are suitable for other animals too. Varying climates, starting late, neighboring animals or manure management can affect

quantities required.

FREE Double Bonus Order fi ve months of pay-as-you-go shipments and get double the Fly Predators in one of those shipments for free.

Fly Predators Are The Natural SolutionMany of our customers say they hardly see a fl y all season. Many others say they spent less using Fly Predators than they did before and got better results. “Why Didn’t I Try This Before” is often heard too. Read thousands of customer comments, including those closest to you at pj3dy.spalding-labs.com.

It’s Not Too Early To Order For Next YearFor best results, start Fly Predators before the fl y population explodes next spring. Call or order on-line now and you’ll be scheduled to start at the optimum time for your location plus you’ll receive an extra double bonus shipment for ordering before year end. There’s no cost or obligation now, shipments are simply pay-as-you-go next year.

Are Your Neighbor’s Horses or Cows Sending You Flies? Trap’ em!

Traps complement Fly Predators as they’ll get the adult fl ies coming from the neighbors and the few your Fly Predators might have missed. Get the best performing traps and have them delivered to your door at great prices direct from Spalding. Also check out a new solution for mosquitoes!

I've used Fly Predators for 33 years and

The pouch shown above is enough for

just $18.45. For most situations, the

on-line now and you’ll be scheduled to start at the optimum time for your location plus you’ll receive an extra double bonus shipment for ordering before year end. There’s no cost or obligation now, shipments are simply pay-as-you-go next year.

best performing traps and have them delivered to your door at great prices direct from Spalding. Also check out a new solution for mosquitoes!

spalding savy times Nov h9yxs pj3dy a.indd 1 8/31/11 1:02 PM


Education50 Trail Riding: Fitness & Horsemanship / 52 Seven Games in the Saddle / 56 Motivation in Horsemanship / 59 Developing Mental Fitness60 Circling Is Not Longeing! / 62 The Steady Rein / 66 A Bit of Bridling / 68 Strength of Bond / 70 Let’s Use Those Abs! / 74 The Value of Think Time



by Pat Parelli

Trail RidingFitness &Horsemanship

Growing up in the East Bay area of California, I was able to ride from the stables to my house, which was over 7 miles. And we even had stables at my school, so I would ride there too. For a 10-year-old to be able to use his horse for trans-portation was great; I thought, “This is better than a bicycle!”

That was my first experience with that sort of riding. I wouldn’t call it “trail riding” per se, but it was a start. Then I met a man named Freddie Feriera, who was involved in an organization called NATRC, or the North American Trail Riding Conference. We would join these trail riding compe-titions, where you sort of had to stay in this zone for 25-50 miles. If you went too fast or too slow, you were penalized, and you were judged crossing creeks and things like that.

To prepare for these competitions, Freddie would take us up in the Diablo Mountains for up to two weeks at a time. He taught us everything we needed to know — how to keep the horses safe, fed properly, how to keep them from running away. Every five minutes, he had a new trail tip for us. He was one of those guys whose passion was trail riding, without a doubt.

Freddie Feriera was the man who really got me inter-ested in trail riding, and I take a lot of pride in being able to share what he taught me, because trail riding is a wonder-ful experience if you take the necessary steps.

It’s easy to see what draws people to trail riding. It’s a really romantic image, actually: just you and your horse, out in the wilderness, in a place that you can only get to by walking. There’s just a wonderful feeling of freedom out there. Of course, you can get yourself into trouble if you focus so much on the idea of it that you forget some preparation.

Actually, I did something like that just the other day. I went out on a trail ride with a few friends, and I forgot to bring a saw. Not really something you’d usually think about, but it still would have been a big help. We were out there, trying to blaze trails around trees that had fallen, and all we needed was a darn saw. It would have made the ride a lot safer and a lot more fun.

photos by Coco


Education

Basically, you need to think it through — be prepared for anything you think there’s a chance you’ll encounter. There are a few things that are essential on any trail ride: a raincoat, a way to tie your horse up, and a good sense of direction. If you don’t have a good sense of direction, bring a map and a compass. GPS and phones are great, but you’re never guaranteed to have service out there. With all that in mind, my best advice is to ride in a group.

I consider a group to be two or more people. Whenever you go out into the wilderness, it’s best to have at least one other person with you. You’ll have one more brain, one more mind, to solve problems. Safety is obviously a huge plus, and you’ll have some camaraderie as well. If you’re out there appreciating nature’s beauty, you might as well share it with someone.

Another thing to consider before you head out on the trail is the type of horse you’ll be riding. If you’re still looking for the right horse, breed preference is up to you, but keep the horse’s spirit level and Horsenality™ in mind. In general, Left-Brain Introverts are the easiest to work with on the trail, while Right-Brain Extroverts tend to present the most difficulty. Obviously, nothing is certain, but right-brain horses are more likely to spook out on the trail.

At Parelli, we stress the importance of never-ending self-improvement; along with that comes being open to learning and adjusting your outlook. Over the years, I’ve

certainly come to understand how skills translate across disciplines. The more I’ve learned about performance horses — jumping, dressage, racing, reining, cow horses — and what they do, the more I’ve realized how the skills they use in an arena also apply on the trail.

For example, horses that need to know how to perform a slide stop can be great out on the trail. We’ve got this mountain behind the ranch here in Colorado. It has a lot of this loose shale rock on it, which can be pretty treacher-ous if you’re not prepared. We practice halts when we’re coming down the really steep parts of the mountain, and we use the same basic maneuver as a slide stop — get the horse’s back up and his hindquarters under him.

Also, performance horses really need to be aware of their surroundings and very perceptive of where their feet are. These are the types of traits to look for in a good trail horse, and I found them in performance horses!

Trail riding requires a combination of horsemanship and fitness. Our program teaches horsemanship, the habits and skills you need to become a partner with your horse. Fitness is something you and your horse need to develop throughout your partnership.

You can develop physical fitness by preparing your horse for the elements — as much as you can — in a controlled environment. Increase his endurance by playing at a higher intensity level for longer periods of time. In prepa-ration for NATRC events, we’d be out there three or four times a week, getting acclimated to the elements. I’m not suggesting you should do that, particularly if you’re just starting, but it’s all about preparation.

Mental and emotional fitness are just as important. If your horse is next to a horse trotting faster than he is, your horse might want to race. Play the Seven Games and con-dition him to things that might spook him on the trail.

As long as you’ve prepared yourself and your horse, trail riding can be one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences you share. Just keep “prior and proper prepa-ration” in mind.

The more I’ve learned about performance horses and what they do, the more I’ve realized how the skills they use in an arena also apply on the trail.


by Scott Teigen

Seven Games in the SaddleYo-Yo, Circling, Sideways and SqueezeTake a moment and think back (way back, if you need)

to your early school days. Remember learning to read and write? Once you had a grasp on the alphabet, the next step was forming words and sentences. You can think of the Seven Games in the same way. The first three games — Friendly, Porcupine and Driving — are like the alphabet. The foundation for all of your communication.

In the last issue of Savvy Times, we took a look at the first three games and how they translate in the saddle. Now, we’ll expand your repertoire to include the next four games — the “purpose” games. In keeping with our language metaphor, these games are the words and sen-tences you’ll use to effectively communicate with your horse. Of course, as your communication improves, so do your abilities as a leader.

the yo-yo GameWhen you’re on the ground, it’s pretty easy to understand

why the Yo-Yo Game was given that name. Your horse starts near you, you back him up, and bring him forward on a straight line. Just like a yo-yo. Well, the same concept applies in the saddle as well.

“The reason I call it the Yo-Yo Game is to share the similarities between this game and an actual yo-yo,” says Pat. “When you’re playing with a yo-yo, you barely need to use any pressure to get it to do what you want. Move your finger a little, and it comes right up. Move it again, and it stays suspended.”

In the saddle, this suspension takes the form of maintain-ing straightness, in any and all maneuvers you and your

horse take part in. First and foremost, you should empha-size making smooth and graceful transitions. Pat looks for “snappy departures and smooth transitions.”

“When your horse’s ‘go’ is equal to his ‘whoa,’ and when your departures are equal to your transitions, you’ve got it,” Pat says.

To help explain what these “smooth transitions” look like, he draws on an example we’re all quite familiar with.

“It’s like driving a car. You shift from 1st gear to 2nd, to 3rd, and then to 4th. Then you go back down. It can’t be jarring; it has to be graceful.”

Pat suggests a few exercises that can assist you in making sure your transitions are smooth and you maintain straightness. To begin, practice the following pattern along a fence: walk/trot/walk/stop/back up. Performing this

Yo-Yo Gameph

oto

s by

Co

co


Education

exercise along a fence is important, because the fence acts as a reference in maintaining straightness. Once you’ve practiced with the fence, perform the same exercise in a cloverleaf pattern.

If possible, do this exercise in a freshly groomed arena or in a field with a fresh layer of frost, so you can see your tracks clearly. Perform the pattern from one end of the area to the other, then look back and see how straight your tracks are.

“When they check their tracks, most people are surprised how crooked their horse can be,” Pat says. “It looks like someone rode a drunken cow across the field.”

To correct this, Pat suggests emphasizing the “game” aspect of the Yo-Yo Game.

“Tell your horse, ‘I won’t use my legs to make you go, but I will use my legs if you don’t go.’ It’s the same thing with using the bit — ‘I won’t use the bit to slow you down, but I will use it if you don’t slow down.’ So you make a little game out of it.”

“Also, use the Four Phases when you’re playing this game,” Pat says. “For departures, it starts with a suggestion; then you start to ask by squeezing your legs a little. If that doesn’t work, start flicking your Savvy String in the air. And if he doesn’t respond to that, maintain the pressure with your legs and let your string touch him. The same philosophy applies with the bit and the reins in your downward transitions.”

Naturally, straightness and focus go hand in hand. When you play the Yo-Yo Game on the ground, getting your horse to look at you is an indication of straightness. So when you’re in the saddle, make sure your horse focuses on what you’re focusing on.

“I use my horse’s ears like the scope of a gun,” Pat says. “I ‘aim’ with my eyes, my nose and my bellybutton, through his ears to the point I’m focusing on. Maintain that focus, no matter where you’re going.”

circling GameAs odd as it may seem, the Circling Game also requires a

type of straightness. It’s called “straightness on a circle,” ap-propriately enough, and it occurs when your horse’s nose, withers and tail are all on the same circle line. The bigger the circle, the more gradual the line for the horse.

When playing the Circling Game in the saddle, it’s im-portant to make sure maintaining straightness is your horse’s responsibility. There are plenty of exercises to help emphasize this.

“You can play ‘find the line’ in a freshly groomed arena,” says Pat. “Make an imaginary circle, of any circumference you prefer, and then have your horse walk, trot or canter

along that circle until his hoof prints form the line. Then, play the same game — keeping the nose, withers and tail on the line — without touching the reins. Then do it in the opposite direction.”

As you’ve probably noticed while playing the Circling Game on the ground, your horse is likely more comfortable circling in one direction. In fact, most horses find it easier to circle to the left than the right. As a result, exercises that strengthen a horse’s ability to circle in both directions are key.

“There are plenty of ways to create a good circle,” says Pat. “Take some barrels and place them in a circle, so you have something physical to circle, to act as a reference. If you’d prefer not to use barrels, create a chalk line. In fact, I’d suggest making two chalk lines: take your 22’ line, chalk out a line, and then tie your Savvy String to the 22’ line and create another line. This creates a lane for you to circle through. See if you can keep your horse inside the lane without using the reins, then change directions and do the same.”

When you compare playing the Circling Game on the ground to playing it in the saddle, it’s surprising how similar the responsibilities are. It’s still the horse’s responsibility to maintain gait, maintain direction, and look where he’s going. It’s still our responsibility to think like a horse before we think like a human, have an independent seat, and focus.

Circling Game


In addition, the three “parts” of the Circling Game remain essentially the same whether on the ground or in the saddle, even though the terminology changes slightly.

“On the ground, the first step is the ‘send,’” says Pat. “In the saddle, you don’t start by facing the center, so there isn’t really a send in that sense. However, the ‘departure’ is basically the same — a start to the game. When you tell your horse that you won’t use the reins or stick if he stays on the circle, that’s the ‘allow.’”

“Finally, the downward transition — from trot to walk, for example — takes the place of the ‘bring back.’ This is where a lot of problems arise, especially if you’ve just played the Yo-Yo Game, because he’s just been taught that he needs to maintain a straight line when slowing down. It takes practice and savvy.”

sideways GameThe Seven Games do not exist in a vacuum; they’re all

interrelated. If you’re having issues with your horse main-taining straightness on a circle, for example, you may have transitioned too quickly from the Yo-Yo Game to the Circle Game. Along the same lines, the Sideways Game is a great indicator of your overall horsemanship.

“The better your horse goes sideways, the better he’ll do everything else,” says Pat. “And it goes the other way, too. The worse he goes sideways, the worse he’ll be at everything else.”

With that in mind, how do you get better at the Sideways Game in the saddle?

“You need to expect a lot, accept a little, and reward often,” says Pat. “That’s the biggest issue people run into: not expect-ing enough. We need to be particular without being critical.”

“Even if we’re going slow, we need to make sure the hindquarters are traveling at the same rate as the front end. A lot of times, the hindquarters will be about three feet behind the front end, and the horse is looking in the wrong direction. So really, the horse isn’t even moving sideways. He’s just crooked.”

To avoid falling into the trap of being crooked, rather than moving sideways, it’s vital to maintain balance with your horse. Balance the horse’s front and back ends as you go along. This can be accomplished with the reins, your carrot stick, or both; whatever you’re comfortable with.

“Whether you’re using a stick or the reins, you need to maintain a steady leg to apply pressure in Zone 3,” says Pat. “The vital thing is that the leg cue you give your horse means ‘go sideways,’ not ‘go forward.’ Most horses, when you

apply pressure with your leg, want to go forward, because that’s how they were programmed when they were young.”

“This is one of the intrinsic values of the Sideways Game — with time, it gets your horse to understand the differ-ence between a lateral yielding leg and a forward leg.”

Once your horse understands your cues in the saddle, you’re well on your way to mastering the Sideways Game.

“There’s a natural progression to it,” says Pat. “Empower your horse to go sideways along a fence, then out in the open, then around obstacles. This leads to a sense of exu-berance in your horse, those ‘Oh, I get it!’ moments we all love to experience.”

squeeze GameIf there’s any game that requires you to think like a horse

before you think like a human, it’s the Squeeze Game. Place yourself in your horse’s position, and you’ll understand his hesitancy to really engage in the game.

“Let’s say you’re asking a horse to squeeze through a tight space,” says Pat, “and you’re saying ‘Come on, let’s go!’ He’s thinking, ‘What do you mean, “let’s go?” It’s my head that’s three feet out in front here!’”

Sideways Game


Education

“It’s like if I said to you, ‘Hey, look around that corner and see if they’ve got any more bullets left.’ From a horse’s per-spective, it’s his vulnerability that’s being brought to the forefront. You may be with him, but you’re still behind his withers. Out of harm’s way, as far as he’s concerned.”

The key is to make the game provocative. For example, if you’re out on the trail, find a large puddle and focus directly on the other side. In the same way you would begin playing

the game on the ground — directing your horse through wide spaces at first, then increasingly tight spaces — start with a wide puddle, maybe 20’ across if possible. Then, try to find a 10’-15’ puddle, then a 5’ puddle, and so on. Once he can comfortably cross the large puddle, smaller, tighter puddles are the natural progression.

It’s situations like this that illustrate just how well the Squeeze Game translates to trail riding. Trails are full of tight spaces and unpredictable situations, and getting your horse comfortable in a controlled environment is key.

“It all comes back to polite and passive persistence in the proper position,” says Pat. “You really need to think like a horse before you think like a human. What makes abso-lutely no sense to us might make perfect sense to a horse. They look at the world in a totally different way.”

This is where the Seven Games come in. When you can see the world through the eyes of your horse, the next step is communicating with them. It becomes a dialogue between horse and human. And the Seven Games are the language of that dialogue.

Squeeze Game


by Neil Pye

Motivation in HorsemanshipPatience, Attitude & Values

Motivation starts with a positive attitude. It’s starting every day by asking yourself, “What’s important about today, and what can I do to make today great?”

Natural horsemanship really gets you into this mindset. Pat has this brilliant ability to get you to ponder things you wouldn’t normally think about. For example, consider the Seven Keys to Success. What’s first on the list? Attitude.

The first few times I heard that, I thought, “Wow, what an unusual thing for a horsetrainer to talk about!” I’m sure I wasn’t the only one, either. I’d come to Pat to get my horse fixed, and there he was talking about attitude! Of course, after I heard him talk about it a lot, it started to make sense to me.

Pat always said, “If you want to be successful with horses, you’d better have a positive attitude. And if you don’t have a positive attitude, you’d better be working towards it.” This is vital, because the increments of success with horses can be so slow that — if you’re not a “glass half full” type of person — you’d better take up something else, because horsemanship could drive you nuts.

Along with this positive attitude comes another essen-tial quality: patience. Pat has an expression: “I’ve never seen it take longer than two days” – that really applies to this. I always used to hear Pat use that expression, and I always got a chuckle out of it; when I was teaching, I said it millions of times. It’s funny, but it’s absolutely true. If some-thing isn’t working in three or four seconds, we want to be through with it. We live in a very fast, “fix it now or throw it away” society. Horses, more than anything else, teach us to take the time it takes.

That’s the way it works in nature. You can plant a seed, till the soil, water it and give it sunlight – but you can’t hurry it. There’s a natural process. In fact, guess what happens if

pho

tos

by C

oco

Consider the Seven Keys to Success. What’s first on the

list? Attitude.


Education

you constantly pull the seed out every five minutes, asking “When are you going to sprout?!” You’re going to impede the process more than help it.

When it comes to horsemanship, there’s a change that has to take place in the human before anything else. You need to say to yourself, “I’m really going to take the time it takes, and I’m going to mean it more than just as a Parelli-ism. You know, this isn’t a race. I’m just going to hang in here and look for and reward the slightest try.”

Of course, it’s frustrating at the start. I remember just wanting to yell, “Come on, horse! For crying out loud, get in the stupid trailer already!” But then I’d hear my thoughts, and I’d say to myself, “There I go again…” I’d take a deep breath, sigh, and think, “You know what? I’m just going to stay here for a while. Forget the clock. I’m going to encour-age him, reward the slightest try, and if I’m still here in four hours, so be it.”

The minute you accept that change, you get that sense of peace and patience. Your body language will change, and your horse will sense it. Oftentimes, the most obvious changes occur with people who have tried it the hard way for years, with multiple horses. They’d forced it; their egos had gotten in their way. Sometimes, they come to natural horsemanship as a last resort, but as they’re adopting a more natural approach, they’re also adopting a “take the time it takes” mentality. And they’re amazed with the results.

Of course, the ultimate tests of patience and motivation are those moments when things don’t go smoothly. When setbacks occur, what separates motivated and unmotivat-ed people are their core values, their core philosophy, and what they decide a day is really worth. It’s easy to have a positive outlook when you’re having a great day — you’re just skipping along; everything’s wonderful. It’s how you handle the bad days that really shows whether you’re truly motivated or not. If you think, “Well, today was rough, but I can take something from it that can help me tomorrow,” then you’ve got a truly positive outlook.

There’s something that happens when you verbalize really negative thoughts, especially when you surround yourself

with people that actually encourage and relish your misery. It’s just unhealthy. You’ve got to be particular, not only in the words you say, but especially in the words you don’t say: the conversations you hold between your ears. You’ve got to decide how you think about things. You’ll say, “I’m not depressed. I’m just feeling a bit flat today.”

Isn’t that just semantics? Well, no. If I say, “I’m feeling a bit flat today,” that’s okay. I can deal with that. But if I say, “I’m depressed,” just saying that word makes me feel that way. When it comes to staying motivated, I really try to speak with positive terminology and enthusiasm. At the end of the day, you either project energy or you take it away.

A lot of people, when they come to us at Parelli, come to us because they have a problem. They have a “move away from trouble or pain” mentality. Some people are “move away from pain” types, and other people are “move towards pleasure” types. I’m a “move towards pleasure” person. I’m always looking for ways to have fun, have a laugh, make things interesting. For people that move away

The ultimate tests of patience and motivation are those

moments when things don’t go smoothly.


from pain, the thought process is “how can I remain safe, avoid embarrassment, and stay comfortable?” There’s no right or wrong; it’s just how people are.

For example, a person that is drawn towards pleasure isn’t likely to be rattled by you telling them all the things that could go wrong, whereas it may very well motivate someone whose focus is avoiding pain or embarrassment. However, if you tell me how much fun we’ll have, what we’ll achieve, who we’ll meet — that’s what motivates me.

Now, that’s not to say I haven’t been challenged, or that I don’t take things seriously. Throughout my natural horse-manship journey, I can thankfully say that there have been very few times that I’ve been challenged physically. I’ve always been in reasonably good shape, especially when I was teaching in my 30s. But mentally and emotionally, I have definitely been tested.

I came from a business background, rather than a strictly horsemanship background. As a result, I’d been rather direct-line; that had brought me some success in business, but it was definitely a roadblock when it came to horse-manship. I realized how many things I had to work through and consider: the predator/prey barrier, looking for the

slightest try, the slightest improvement, and realizing that the smallest progress is still progress.

I had to recognize that I had mild ego issues, and I realized fairly quickly that I had to let go of that. Pat had a phrase that he doesn’t use much anymore, but hearing it back then probably saved me years in my horsemanship journey.

Someone asked him, “Pat, when did you first start to really get good with horses?” He paused for a second, and then said, “Right after I had my Macho-ectomy.”

I heard that and I thought, “That’s me!” After that, I knew that I had to stop being so “Australian Male,” thinking I was the boss, that I was in charge. Luckily, I’d been a dog trainer earlier in my life, and I realized it was the same sort of situ-ation: to be successful, you just have to put your ego aside.

It’s taken me a lifetime to really embrace this mentality. Obviously, I didn’t start out this way. I’m in my 50s now, and I think I’m just starting to really glean what “taking the time it takes” really means. I hope, with the help of the Parelli program, you’ll continue to understand and practice this philosophy.

You’ve got to be particular, not only in the words you say, but especially in the words you

don’t say: the conversations you hold between your ears. You’ve

got to decide how you think about things.

photo by Megan McAuliffe

photo by Coco


To me, being mentally fit simply means that you’re solu-tion-oriented. You stay calm in potentially upsetting situ-ations. Of course, in Parelli terminology, we refer to this as “staying left-brain” – whatever the challenge, whatever the problem, you stay in your thinking mode.

It’s really no surprise that our ability to stay left-brain comes from teaching our horses to do the same. When you’re with your horse, staying left-brain means thinking, “How can I think my way through this, rather than getting mad?”

How do you get to that point? Well, it doesn’t happen over-night. To become truly mentally fit, the first key is awareness, and this program definitely emphasizes that. You need to be aware of how your horse likely views what you’re doing. For me, that was one of the first things I noticed – how impactful playing with my horse was in teaching me how to stay left-brain and act like a partner, not a predator.

Then, after you’ve got that awareness, you’re going to start noticing some changes. You’re going to notice that situa-tions that might have caused you to get mad at your horse or frightened of him in the past now cause you to pause and think instead. This is because you’ve got that sense of aware-ness, and you can look at the world from his point of view.

That’s why we emphasize saying, “Hmm…how interest-ing,” instead of just reacting and being mad. At first it won’t feel natural, but soon, it’ll just be second nature. Instead of getting angry and frustrated, you’ll ask yourself what you could have done to better prepare him. And this aware-ness, this mental fitness, extends beyond horsemanship. You’ll be lying in bed one night, and it’ll hit you – “Wow,

what if I thought, ‘Hmm…how interesting,’ instead of getting angry whenever someone – my husband, wife, son, daughter, friend, mother-in-law – does something I don’t agree with!”

The biggest test of your mental fitness is how you deal with setbacks. Inevitably, setbacks are going to happen, and the critical part is just not taking them personally. It’s very easy to go through life, justifying your behavior by saying, “It’s not fair,” and going around singing “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen…”

You know what? Stuff happens. No one gets out unscathed. When you can become a little more dispassion-ate, understand that the world isn’t out to get you, that’s when you become a lot more mentally fit. It’s the moment you realize, “This may be happening, but it’s not happen-ing to me. I’m involved in it, but the universe hasn’t lined up to pick on me today.”

It’s pretty easy to pick out the mentally fit horsemen from those that aren’t. Back in the days when I used to teach, it was interesting working with others and seeing how their mental fitness was coming along, whether they were really trying to develop it or not. At every clinic we ever put on – and we did hundreds around the world – we’d inevitably end up doing a trailer loading on Day One, and that was all about mental fitness.

If you ever want to test your mental fitness, do some trailer loading. It’s an eye-opener. But, like anything else, stay left-brain and the rest will fall into place.

Developing Mental Fitness

photo by Coco

by Neil Pye


by Linda ParelliCircling Is Not Longeing!

I will always remember the first Pat Parelli clinic I went to in 1989, especially the look on my face when Pat said, “I am against longeing horses. Chasing the horse in mindless circles exercises the body, but the mind goes to pot.”

Wow, no wonder things weren’t getting better with my horse back then. I would longe my Right-Brain Extrovert Regalo for about 30 minutes before every ride because I was thought that was the only way to get him calmer, but after a month, 30 minutes was not enough. He just got fitter, but not any calmer!

In that clinic with Pat I learned about the Circling Game and how different it is from longeing. Yes, your horse still circles around you but he has to THINK. Why? Because he has to maintain gait and maintain direction without any reminding or coaxing from you. In fact you have to stand still, relax and pass the rope around your back, staying completely neutral.

Now of course things can go wrong – your horse changes gait, may even change direction or stop, but the key is to not do anything until that happens. Assigning your horse the responsibility of maintaining gait and direction is what keeps him thinking and connected to you. When longeing, you have to keep your horse moving forwards, prevent-ing him from slowing down or turning, which involves a degree of micromanagement because it assigns no trust or responsibility to the horse. That’s why most horses mentally tune out when longeing, and BEWARE… you could make this happen in the Circling Game too!

How to make sure you are not longeing!When warming your horse up on the ground, it’s really

easy to fall into the trap of longeing him. It’s kind of easy and automatic to send your horse off in a circle to burn off pent-up energy and have it easily turn into mindless circling! Here are some tips on how to make sure you are playing the Circling Game and not longeing your horse:

1. Keep your feet still vs walking in circles with your horse. If you are walking circles with your horse, this acts more as a Driving Game because it’s likely that when you stop, your horse stops too. This means your movement is stimulating, causing or supporting your horse’s continued movement. It’s your horse’s responsibility to maintain gait without coaxing from you.

2. Keep your hand in neutral. Rather than holding your hand and arm up stiffly and leading or pulling your horse forward on the circle, let your arm hang down and ‘rest’ while holding the end of the rope. This will also put some elasticity in the feel because your arm will lift and drop as your horse moves in and out on the circle, and pretty soon he will learn to be more consistent, leaving your hand hanging down in neutral.

3. Have some fun! Playing on the ground is a warm-up and so you need to let your horse express himself and then pro-gressively give him things to think about rather than get


Education

too concerned about the shape of his body and how he’s carrying himself right off the bat. In fact, when you make circling more interesting, he’ll naturally start to use himself better, but if you are too particular too soon that’s more like training (vs. warm-up) and can result in your horse getting tense, dull, disinterested or disconnected. Put the relation-ship first and everything will keep getting better.

Think about how you can make the Circling Game more interesting yet still achieve the benefits of it; things like…• Walking from point A to point B while your horse keeps

circling. This is called “Traveling Circles.”• Asking for upward and downward transitions on the circle;

you can even ask for faster and slower speeds within the gait. Put a little energy in front of Zone 1 to slow down (light, vertical wiggle of the rope or Carrot Stick) and be-hind Zone 5 to speed up (with your stick and string, softly at first). And when it comes to introverts, asking them to go as slow as possible can be really fun and good reverse psychology that actually makes them want to go faster!

• Putting an obstacle in the way, like a pole, a jump, barrels, something to go through/between, a tarp, hill, water, etc.

• Changes of direction — at walk, trot or canter — with simple or flying changes.

• After a lap, half a lap, two laps, six laps... do something unexpected, like asking for some sideways, or send him over to touch something with his nose or feet. This works especially well for left-brain Horsenalities™ but could be a little too surprising for right-brain Horsenalities™!

4. Make it a game! When your horse doesn’t do what you want, it’s common to get frustrated or mad. But as you develop your skills as a horseman, you know that getting emotionally reactive only makes the horse worse. We need to learn how to have it be fun rather than frustrating, so here is something for you to consider:

Stand in the center, relaxed, and dare your horse to break gait or change directions! That’s quite a different feeling: “I can’t wait for my horse to break gait” as opposed to, “Gosh dang it, stop breaking gait!”

When your horse breaks gait, do something about it; not before he does it, but after. Now, that doesn’t mean you attack him; it means you take the appropriate action:• If your horse is an extrovert, he will most likely break up

into a faster gait. When he does, instead of trying to stop him, encourage him. Gently flick your Carrot Stick and String way back in Zone 5 as if to say “Yeah! You need to go faster, let me help you!”

• If your horse is an introvert, he will most likely break down into a slower gait and when he does, instead of trying to send him forward again, ask for a change of direction. If he’s a Right-Brain Introvert, ask gently for the right gait as he makes the change; and if he’s a Left-Brain Introvert, once he’s reversed direction, tag the ground in Zone 5 just as he passes you – that means you need to run to that spot.

I’m going to emphasize this again: don’t do anything unless your horse actually changes gait. That means if he gets faster or slower but stays in the same gait, do nothing or you’ll find yourself micromanaging rather than teaching him to uphold his responsibilities to maintain gait, maintain direction.

In both cases, making it a game keeps the smile on your face and helps the horse maintain a positive attitude rather than getting scared or resentful. Think of it from your horse’s point of view: “How can I keep my human quiet and relaxed there in the center?”

in summary…Longeing is boring, but the Circling Game is interest-

ing. This is because it can easily be modified to become more calming or stimulating, to get your horse mentally, emotionally and physically fit for riding or to develop his skills and teach him to be calmer, smarter, braver and more athletic. Let’s make circles more fun and meaningful!

Put the relationship first and everything will keep getting better.


by Linda Parelli

The SteadyRein

Riding FreeStyle is very valuable for both the horse and rider. It improves a horse’s confidence and self-carriage and teaches responsibility (maintain gait and direction) without micromanagement. It is also relaxing, as compared to Finesse, which is more concentrated. For the rider, FreeStyle improves confidence, develops an independent seat and the ability to communicate with your body rather than the reins.

However, if you don’t work on improving the quality for your FreeStyle riding, you might find that your horse runs around heavily on the forehand or goes hollow-backed with his head in the air, neither of which is healthy or progressive.

Riding FreeStyle does not mean flopping around on the forehand, and with the help of the Steady Rein you will learn how to help your horse get calmer (more steady!), carry himself better and even improve the quality of his gaits. This is something Pat Parelli has always done when he rides FreeStyle (but I only just figured it out!). You can also see reiners do it, and even dressage riders do it (they call it a “half-halt”).

I call this technique the Steady Rein because you use it to steady the horse when he speeds up a little or drifts off course. I find myself saying “steady… steady…” in my head when my horses do this, which is why I call it the Steady Rein! It’s a fantastic way to warm your horse up and to practice riding FreeStyle Patterns, and you can do it in a hackamore or a snaffle, even a curb bit.

the steady reinUse a short casual rein and keep your hand down on

your horse’s withers until you have to make a correction, such as to slow your horse down or put him back on track. When you pick up the rein to steady your horse, you’ll do it until he gets back on track with the right speed or direction, and then release it the moment he does – putting your hand back down into neutral. Not only will this help your horse get calmer and more focused, it turns you into a better leader because you stay focused on what you want and give your horse clear direction and inoffen-sive correction when he strays.

Here’s how it’s done:photos by Mackenzie Kincaid


Education

1. NEUTRAL: Use a short casual rein; put a loop in your reins, hold them where they cross and put your fist onto your horse’s neck, close to your saddle, so it is in neutral. Make sure your reins are long enough to not restrict your horse if he wants to stretch his neck a little. They should be loose (no contact) but not long and flapping around.

2. STEADY: When you want to steady your horse, smoothly pick up your hand and bring it straight back towards your body at your hip, making sure to keep even pressure on both reins. Steady your horse when he gets a little faster than you want, and steady him when he starts to veer off course, and remember: bring it straight back to your hip; don’t pull it over in the direction you are trying to go!

When steering your horse with one rein, it tends to turn your horse’s head and bend his neck but not necessarily affect his direction of travel. Have you ever experienced your horse looking right but heading left? The key is to keep your horse’s neck straight and redirect his body and that’s what the Steady Rein does. It also teaches you to ride

more with your body rather than your hands and that, by the way, is the goal of good riding!

3. RELEASE – RETURN TO NEUTRAL AGAIN: Once you’ve steadied your horse and felt a change, put your hand down into neutral again — immediately. (See photo 1).

Do this as often as required, but always return to neutral again, trusting your horse to maintain gait and direction. As Pat has taught us: “Trust, but be ready to correct, not more one than the other.” If you hold your hand up, your horse will think he’s doing something wrong, so make sure to put your hand back down into neutral every time your horse does the right thing. You can always pick it up again.

steadying Gait & speedUse the Steady Rein when your horse speeds up and

changes rhythm. You can use it in any gait — walk, trot, canter, even gallop. Hold steady until you feel him regain the speed and rhythm you want, then release by putting your hand down again. As you reward each try and little change, your horse will get calmer and more responsive, and pretty soon he’ll maintain his gait better than ever.

Using the Steady Rein to correct changes in rhythm and speed will not only improve your horse’s way of going, it will prevent things getting unwieldy and out of control. It also improves you as a rider because you become more perceptive to little changes and learn to do less sooner to correct them.

Note: Use the Steady Rein to correct changes in speed, but know you might still need to use one rein to get more control if it gets too far.

steadying directionThe Steady Rein is the perfect way to correct your horse

when he veers off course. Rather than steering and cor-recting him with the reins, you’ll learn how to use your body more effectively and teach your horse to listen to it. As such, it is perfect for your FreeStyle Patterns - Follow the Rail, Clover Leaf, Bulls Eye, 180s, etc, as well as for trail riding and hacking out. Remember: The less you use the reins, the more they use their brains!

As you ride straight forwards, make sure all your “eyes” are focusing in the same direction — imagine you have eyes on the front of your shoulders, your belly button, hips and knees. When your horse strays off course he will first run up against your body; focus, and if he continues to push through that, simply pick up your hand and steady him, bringing the reins back to your belly or hip but making sure

1

2


Don’t steer with your reins, steer with your body and feet. While Marion is riding with a neutral rein, Hot Jazz begins to drift away from the rail.

Marion releases the Steady Rein and returns to neutral as Hot Jazz returns to his original course.

Marion applies the Steady Rein and weights her stirrup nearest the rail to guide Jazzy back toward the rail.


Education

you don’t actually steer with them. Focus all your “eyes” back to the track where your horse is supposed to be, press a little weight into the stirrup (do not lean; just weight your stirrup) on that side and, when you feel him recommit to the direction, put your hand down in neutral again.

Using the Steady Rein to correct your horse’s direction helps you learn to do less sooner and improve your focus, but most of all, it will improve your body language. When you learn to use your body instead of just your hands, you’ll find yourself using a lot less rein while your horse gets more relaxed. This is also a great step towards learning to ride without a bridle!

And here’s another nice benefit: your riding style gets much neater! Your hands will get quieter because you are not constantly steering and correcting right and left. You’ll even learn to ride circles and corners by turning your shoulders and weighting the inside stirrup and then using the Steady Rein if your horse doesn’t follow.

steadying your Horse’s PostureOnce you become good at the Steady Rein, which actually

doesn’t take long at all (just one to three sessions), you can start using it to improve your horse’s posture. This tends to develop quite naturally because as you steady your gait, your horse gets more rhythm, so he relaxes and will feel like lowering his neck and stretching his top line. So now you can

use the Steady Rein to correct your horse’s head being too high or his neck being too short. You simply steady the horse without changing the energy in your body, and release when he tries to reach his nose forward and stretch his neck down.

It doesn’t take much to see how the steady rein is going to help your horse move with better posture. It also nicely prepares him for Finesse and steady contact on two reins, because this is actually a kind of “half-halt”. Your horse will begin to understand how to reach for the bit instead of avoid it, to use his topline, and become more graceful in his way of going.

Above: Using Steady Rein to ask the horse to stretch.Below: Returning to neutral as the horse stretches and rounds.


by Terry Wilson, 3-Star Parelli Professional

A Bit ofBridling

Take bridling to the next level — Level 3, that is — by practicing bridling from your knees. Can you ask your horse to accept the bridle and bit with softness? Before you begin, make sure you can halter your horse from your knees. He should be able to keep his head down for you without feeling anxious or trapped.

If your horse can’t keep his head down, begin by prac-ticing using the Porcupine Game to lower his head. Apply pressure to the lead rope straight down toward the ground, and remember to use your phases! Release with the slightest try and take the time it takes for your horse to lower his head lightly and easily. Once he’s an old hand at that, you can work on haltering from your knees, and then work your way up to bridling from the knees. Try to turn everyday tasks into new challenges!

Terry Wilson is a 3-Star Parelli Professional based in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, who teaches across North America. For more information, visit his website at www.terrywilsonpnh.com.

Start with haltering from the knees. Use the lead rope over your horse’s neck as a back-up in case you need to ask him again to lower his head (1). Then pass the halter beneath his neck and reach over with your other hand (2) and halter (3)!

21 3

photos by Mackenzie Kincaid


Education

Now try it with the bridle. Ask your horse to lower his head; you can use the reins over his neck to help if you need to, or use the Porcupine Game with your fingers (1). Hold the bridle up and ask the horse to accept the bit (2); you can use your thumb in the corner of his mouth to encourage him to open up and take the bit. Then gently lift the bridle and slip it over the ear on the far

side (3), followed by the ear on the near side (4). Make sure the bridle is properly fitted and buckle the throatlatch (5).

21 3

4 5


by Geneviève Benoit, 3-Star Parelli Professional

My two mares have been living alone together for 2 years, and prior to that, with my third mare; they were all very bonded. When Jolie passed away in 2009, Easter and Menina’s pair bonding increased; separating them had become extremely stressful, just like trying to abruptly wean a foal from its mother.

Last year, when Kalley Krickeberg took over as Head of Horse Development at the ranch, I asked her a question about my two horses and the pair bonding that unites them. She gave me some ideas to think about, a concept really, and I set out to build a program to increase my horses’ self-confidence in order to start building their confidence in being apart. She mentioned what I had seen Pat do several times during his events with his dogs and horses – give them a job, stand over there and wait, as a means to build responsibility, which would eventually translate into confidence.

Within a couple of weeks, I had made great headway with my program. Easter (a Right-Brain Introvert) understood her responsibility – ‘Stand over there and wait’ (in this case on the pedestal), and Menina (a Left-Brain Extrovert) understood she could be ridden quite a distance away and not worry since Easter was holding her spot. She would even let me know if Easter thought about leaving so we could run over there and put her back.

Recently, I had to move my horses to a new barn where they were to be turned out with a herd of ten horses. What a great opportunity! I’ve been spending time at the barn watching my two interact with the rest of the herd – first treated as outcasts and driven away, and then gradually building new bonds and being accepted. My two mares are still a herd of two, but they are also now part of the larger herd and want to be with the other horses.

Strengthof Bond

photo by Coco

I set out to build a program to increase my horses’ self- confidence in order to start building their confidence in

being apart.


Education

Then we integrated a new horse into the group, a horse that has lived in the barn for months but had never been allowed out with the others. She wanted so badly to be with them, and when the owner let her go, she galloped into the herd only to be promptly driven away and chased off. At some point, she ran through the wire in a panic while she was being pursued by one of the geldings. This mare had never lived in a group, so this was quite an adjustment for her. Yet, she followed the horses right back inside, and will always choose to be with the herd – even if they bite and kick her – rather than having to stand alone in the barn. Strength of bond is natural to horses.

Horses are herd animals, and survival of the herd is what they live for. They play and interact to choose their leaders, to earn the right to reproduce, and to survive. Horses think in terms of we. “We” is a unit: they think, feel and act as a unit first.

Humans are predators; we think in terms of you and I. “We” in Humansville is the idea of collecting “you” and “I” to try to accomplish something together. It is against our very nature to act a unit; it takes effort, desire and thought to be able to achieve this successfully. Business leaders spend inordinate amounts of money trying to learn how to build and motivate teams within their organizations. As humans, we have to consciously set aside our own desires, egos and emotions to buy into the needs of the team and act as one. I am a great example of this; I have lived on my own for years. I have no children, I travel alone and I run my own business. The only time I get to practice “we” is with my horses, or during my stays at the Parelli ranch, and it is not natural; it takes a lot of effort on my part. And this “we” is still an assembly of “you” and “me,” the moments

where we feel as a unit are the exception rather than the rule. Those moments are very special and satisfying, but they are rarely the norm in daily human life.

Now for horses, that is a natural way of being, it is programmed in their genes and they don’t have to think about it. In fact, it’s much harder for them to be individuals, which is why they can exhibit so much stress when left alone or when lacking leadership. Horses naturally want to interact as a unit with the herd.

As I watched my herd of two in the bigger herd, they acted as a unit for the first few weeks, in perfect synchronization and never leaving one another. They are only now just starting to act as individuals, building bonds with other members of the herd, and showing interest in being apart from each other for longer and longer periods of time.

That is one strong bond to be breaking on a repeated basis! Here is the lesson my horses are teaching me: Pat and Linda’s vision and mission is not about “you” and “I.” It’s about we. Parelli principles underlie everything they do, so this should not come as a surprise.

If we in Parelli become a bigger herd, build more presence and show the way, we have a much better chance of thriving. We have the opportunity to influence mentalities that have been resistant to change, to show that there are methods that don’t rely on violence or force, and to spread knowledge throughout the equine world. If Pat’s vision and program are to survive beyond our lifetimes, we must become stronger, bigger, and synchronized.

The recent changes at Parelli have challenged us, but we must keep this in mind – they were made for the benefit of the herd, not the individuals. The higher purpose is about building a strong team that will act as a unit to change the world. If we want to continue being a part of that world, we need to focus on communication and collaboration. We can’t point fingers and take on an “us vs. them” mentality. We need to take on a leadership role and show the way.

And that might just be the pathway to becoming better leaders for our horses and our peers, and getting closer to achieving true unity.

Geneviève with Kalley Krickeberg

Horses think in terms of we. “We” is a unit: they think, feel

and act as a unit first.


Let’s Use Those Abs!Your abs are an essential part of creating great posture.

Look at it this way: if you are not using your abs, you are probably slumping and slouching or tightening and arching your back. Either way, the way you hold your body will affect your horse’s ability to move!

If you refer back to your Savvy Times from November 2010 and February 2011, you will find my articles on how to access your abs for better posture. Better posture will also require that you also find your elusive hips, so stay tuned for that one! In this article I am going to give you some ideas on how to use your abs to help you “talk” to your horse. My passion is to help horsemen discover the power of using the non-verbal physical in a non-predatory way.

review: your absWhen I am talking abs, I mean the Transversus Abdominus

(TA), which is your core muscle. This deepest layer of abdom-inals is essential for both stability and suppleness in your spine. The TA spans from your pubic bone up to the bottom of your rib cage and wraps completely around your spine. (See the photo at right.) While there are many muscles that fire for riding, it is going to be the TA that is the most impor-tant because it literally holds your body up. Most people use their back muscles to do this and that is why they often feel stiff and even experience backaches when they ride.

Using your core abdominal muscle will take you out of your tight lower back and hip flexor muscles, the things that might give you hip and back pain when riding! It will eventually teach you how you can generate energy that flows from the center of your body and up through your

spine. This is the first part of what I call the rider’s “circle of energy,” and is essential to riding with Finesse. But for now, let’s have a refresher on your abs.

Your TA is what ties your torso into a whole unit. For simplicity’s sake, I divide the TA into three parts: lower, middle and upper. Once you know how to isolate each part, you will recombine them to create your posture and influence how your horse moves!

Your lower abs can be thought of as the muscle fibers that are between your pubic bone and a line about two inches below your belly button. Your lower abs will help level the pelvis, which is essential for good posture and therefore a good seat on your horse. These fibers, when

by Janice Dulak

The Transverse Abdominus: Your core muscle.

1


Education

engaged, will help you “lift” your pubic bone up toward your ribs — not unlike what Michael Jackson does in that famous “Oww!” move! When you fire your lower abs, your lower back will stretch and your tailbone will sink toward the ground. As you do this, know that it’s the equivalent of your horse tucking his hindquarters underneath him. (See photos 2 and 3 above.)

When your lower abs are engaged, you may also feel a stretch at the top of your thigh in the front at your hip joint (where your thigh bone ties into your pelvis). This is your hip joint opening and is the motion your hips need to allow for your horse to move unimpeded underneath you. (I say this because it is common to lock your hips, and that can make your horse stop!) As you learn to “lift” your pubic bone with your lower abs, you learn how to gently open and close your hip joints, rather than lock them.

Your middle abs are what I refer to in Pilates as pulling your stomach “in and up.” By literally “pulling your belly button up to your backbone” you will feel how your lower back will fill out, relaxing and lengthening your spine. As you are reading

this, go ahead and pull your belly button to your back bone… and now, exhale and pull it in more... and just when you think you can’t pull it back any further, try pulling it in 5 more inches! Really! (See photos 2 and 4 above.)

Feeling your middle abs in this way will help you un-derstand exactly what core stability is all about, and how important it is while your horse is propelling you forward in space. Your middle abs are responsible for keeping your back muscles from overworking so you can keep your body upright without stiffness and will help you keep your horse’s back supple. They will also be key for balancing him on his haunches. Remember: What you do in your body, your horse can do in his body. That also means what you cannot do in your body, your horse cannot do in his!

Your upper abs are the fibers that cross the front of your body from one side of the rib cage to the other and extend from about two inches above your belly button up to the bottom of your sternum. You can find these by thinking of “knitting” your ribs together. (If you are a cook, think “trussing a turkey!”) This action is essential to stabilize and

Relaxed Abs Lower Abs activated Middle Abs activated2 3 4


“pedestrian.” Meaning, once I stood at the barre, my body had to organize itself in a way that was conducive to moving correctly for the ballet movements. Now, when you get on your horse ask yourself the question: Am I sitting on my horse in a way that is conducive to my horse being able to move? Remember that Linda says (and so do I!): whatever you do with your body, your horse does with his body.

After mounting, notice how your pelvis sits in the saddle. If you are like most people, without thinking, you will probably automatically go into “pedestrian mode.” You will drop your pubic bone down onto the saddle and allow the lower back to hollow with your seat bones pointing backwards. If this is the case, think about what you are automatically “telling” your horse what to do! This posture suggests to your horse that he hollow his back and let his hind end go out behind. (See photo 6.) If you have “told” your horse to hollow his back when you just sit in the saddle, can you imagine what you are asking him to do when you start walking? (See photo 7.)

connect your upper body (shoulders, neck and head) to your core. (See photo 5 above.) These muscle fibers will also help you to turn your horse without hollowing your back (and his!) and also become a key player for connect-ing your arms to your core.

When you are able to fire your upper abs in conjunction with your mid and lower abs, you will have control over your key postural muscles. Now it is time to think about using them for riding!

experiment with your abs to affect your horseNow that you have the awareness of your body being

connected with your core muscle, you can practice how each part affects how you stand, walk and sit on a horse. I would recommend you “play” with each part of your abs standing and walking. Notice how your body feels when you engage each part separately or in combination with one or the other. There is no formula here. Every body will have different weakness or tightness that will cause them to feel what happens differently. It will be up to you to decide what you are feeling, and then, ultimately, when your ride, it will be the horse that will tell you that what you are doing, or not doing, is right or not!

After “playing” with the three zones of your abs on the ground, the first experiment in the saddle will be to notice how you sit in the saddle. As a dancer, I could not stand at the ballet barre with the posture of what I refer to as a

5Upper Abs activated

6

7


Education

Sometime she would again answer, “No.” But then when I got it right, her body would soften and in that moment of her softening, I discovered what it was that I did to allow her to relax and move without impeding her movement.

So for now, what you can do is take the time it takes to find these new ways of using your body and use them in the spirit of asking your horse the question: Is it better if I do this? Your horse will tell you. Keep experimenting with these three parts of your abs to supple your spine and create good posture and let your horse tell you if you got right! And even if you can’t feel the difference yet, keep working on engaging your abs to achieve better posture without stiffness — a strong core and supple back. Once your horse says, “Yes,” then it is time to move on to the next piece of the posture puzzle: the hips! Stay tuned!

Janice Dulak is the author of Pilates for the Dressage Rider and is a Master Instructor Trainer for Romana’s Pilates®. She has been instructing Linda in how to improve her posture and ability to naturally engage her body when riding in collection.

Consider now that you have the knowledge to sit like a rider instead of a pedestrian. Engage the three parts of your abs to the extent it takes to pull your posture into one united whole as you walk your horse. Notice the feeling first in your body, but more importantly, as you play around with this new way of sitting and walking, note how your horse’s posture changes. (See photo 8.) Do you feel his back come up underneath you as you begin to fill out your back? Does he begin to soften in his jaw and connect with you?

discoveryWhen I first began to experiment with what I knew about

the body, I took on the attitude of asking my horse ques-tions. While at the walk I would pull in this, or poke out that or put my leg here, or hold it there, or sit like this or sit like that. At each moment that I would change something, I felt it was a question. I would wait with that moment and do nothing until my horse answered me. Sometimes it was, “No, that is not quite right.” When that happened, I would change my body in some small way and ask again.

8

Pilates for the Dressage Rider

In this revolutionary book or DVD, Pilates Instructor Janice Dulak offers a selection of exercises best suited to assist the dressage rider in his or her overall fitness. Featuring detailed instructions and input from physical therapist Katrin Haselbacher, Pilates for the Dressage Rider is a must-read for dressage students.

Now available on www.Parelli.com


by Teri Sprague, 4-Star Parelli Professional

The Value of Think TimeMoving Forward by Slowing Down

“When he’s blinking, he’s thinking. When he’s licking his lips, he’s digesting a thought.” — Pat Parelli

In a day and age where instant still is not fast enough, it is easy to understand why this horseman’s tool is so ne-glected and yet, when utilized, it often saves time overall. What is it? Think time!

Licking is probably the most overt sign that a horse is processing mentally, but there are other signs: blinking, lowering the head, shaking the head, sighing, blowing, rolling eyes, and yawning, among others. Processing occurs most often during the teaching and controlling stages of learning, particularly if you have had to be firm or provocative. It generally happens faster in extroverts than introverts and, though it is beneficial for all Horsenalities™, I think it is more critical for introverts. When you see the licking (or some other sign), you will know they are ready for more. What signs does your horse most often present?

Sometimes students tell me their horses don’t lick; however, if encouraged to wait – without exception – these horses have licked or shown some other sign of processing. If the lips have many wrinkles, there is likely a lick in there waiting to come out. Another sign that the horse needs you to wait is if they are staring/not blinking or looking sleepy. A common immediate precursor to licking is softening of the lips frequently accompanied by twitching of the lips. Introverts often do a “secret lick” where you only see the jaw or chin moving; others show lots of tongue.

With extroverts, it is common to see the lick in 7 to 10 seconds and it rarely takes more than 30 seconds.

Introverts, however, rarely lick in less than 30 seconds and it often takes two to five minutes. I have waited many times for 20 minutes... and even as long as an hour and a half. What benefit could make it worth the wait? Besides the rapport it builds, waiting for the horse to process actually speeds up the training/teaching program. As Pat often says, “Take the time it takes, so it takes less time.”

A couple of years ago I had an extreme Right-Brain Introvert come to me for training. I began riding her and introduced the concept of the indirect rein. I got in position – eyes, bellybutton, leg, rein – and she froze. I waited... and waited... and waited. Finally she figured it out and tried to move. I released and rubbed on her until she licked her lips. I repeated it two more times on the first side and then made three requests on the second side. It took 30 to 40 minutes to do both sides. The next day, when I made the first request, she responded as if she had done it a thousand times: calm, trusting, motivated and willing. Take the time it takes. Save yourself time and build a great relationship!

Teri Sprague is a Licensed 4-Star Senior Instructor and has been teaching Parelli since 1995. She is available for Level 1-4 Clinics around the nation. She also gives private and group lessons at her home facility near Ft. Collins, CO. She specializes in building confidence in riders and horses using imaginative applications of the empowering psychology, principles and techniques of Parelli Natural Horsemanship. Contact her at [email protected] or www.terisprague.com or on Parelli Connect!

pho

to b

y Co

co


Education

Can You? Find out how long it usually takes your horse to lick his

lips or show some other sign of processing. Ask your horse to do something new or something he

knows in a new, more precise or faster way. When you get an improved response – stop, release, and wait! Start counting while you wait. Make note of how many counts it takes for the horse to lick his lips or show some other sign of processing. This will give you a baseline on how much time it takes for your horse to process. Once you have this baseline you will know how long you usually need to wait for your horse to be ready for a new request.

Do this on a regular basis. You may notice that as you repeatedly wait for the lick, it actually starts to take less and less time for it to happen. Your horse is learning to learn. When a lick happens, don’t immediately make another request. Wait a few more seconds and/or rub the horse. Otherwise, your clever left-brain horses will quickly learn that licking activates you and they may hold it in in order to keep you neutral.

Finding out how long it usually takes your horse to lick will help you plan your sessions to allow for think time. The benefits of waiting for the horse to lick include building rapport and respect and actually speeding up the teaching process.

We Need a New Word! I was teaching a young horseman not long ago and was

trying to explain how we were waiting for the horse to “blow.” The youth’s eyes got big and scared and it took me a moment to realize that she thought the horse was going to “blow up!”

How about putting on your thinking caps and coming up with another word for the type of blowing that we mean when the horse is coming off adrenalin, relaxing and/or showing signs of processing?

Email me at [email protected] or post your sugges-tions on my Parelli Connect page.

www.parelliconnect.com/members/101

Think Time by Horsenality™eXtroVerts: 7-10 seconds usual, up to 30 seconds common, rarely over a minute. Fast licking with lots of tongue, may continue for a long time.iNtroVerts: Rarely under 30 seconds, 2-5 minutes common, up to an hour and a half. Secret licking common, may start, stop and start again in short bursts.

cou

rtes

y ph

oto

s


Official Graduatescongratulations to the new Levels Pathway Graduates!June 28, 2011 – september 2, 2011

Level 4 Graduates(On Line + FreeStyle + Liberty + Finesse)Humphrey Dirks, NetherlandsStephanie Gaunt, UKRussell Higgins, New ZealandAlecia Howard, USASharon Lindy, USABonnie McIntyre, AustraliaJames Roberts, UK

Level 4 on Line GraduatesSandra Baertschi, SwitzerlandLisa Bradley, USASusan Castel, AustraliaSara de Vries, UKGayle Dugri, UKErin Fowle, USARobin Harris, USAFaith Head, CanadaCath Langley, UKPam Maccario, USAShelley O’Doherty, IrelandDaniel Pfefer, USADawn Roth, USAFleur Van Wollingen, NetherlandsWhitney Van Zyl, USAJennifer Woods, UKRose Wooldridge, AustraliaPaula Wroath, UK

Level 4 Freestyle GraduatesElena Bacchini, ItalyAlan Conighi, ItalyFiona Darling, AustraliaAubrie Fuiten, USAClare Heywood, UKAlyson Hicks-Lynch, USACathrin Maric, AustriaDaniel Pfefer, USAMarion Storz, Germany

Shana Walters, AustraliaLevel 4 Liberty GraduatesLisa Bradley, USAMarianne Gotfredsen, DenmarkHanne Herberg, NorwayClare Heywood, UKKirsi Kesaniemi, USAMieke Lannoo, BelgiumPat Moses, USASigrid Ritlan, NorwayVicky Van Accom, BelgiumShana Walters, Australia

Level 4 Finesse GraduatesMargaret Hart, AustraliaJoAnn Johnson, USALori Northrup, USAShelley O’Doherty, IrelandDaniel Pfefer, USAShana Walters, Australia

Level 3 Graduates(On Line + FreeStyle + Liberty)Lisa Allan, New ZealandLinda Anderson, USAPatty Barnes, USAElizabeth Beard, USAJen Bell, USANicola Bessell, UKIlona Betteridge, UKWilliam Bird, USABetty Jo Bock, USAHanna Brandt, CanadaAdele Buckley, IrelandJanine Buckley-Hewing, UKJane Bushby, AustraliaFouad Chedraoui, USAGina Chianello, USAJanine Clarke, AustraliaDani Condie, USAAlan Conighi, ItalyMary Anna Conti, USAJessica Coyle, AustraliaAnouk Dahrs, Netherlands

Cheryl De Bie, UKAurelie De Mevius, BelgiumAnne Dirksen, SwedenKaren Dodd, USAKatya Edridge, UKHelen Edwards, UKSue Edwards, UKPernille Elmsdal Thomsen, DenmarkJessica Emmerich, GermanyKarin Falk, SwedenTracy Farrington, UKKailey Fischer, USALaurie Foster, CanadaAubrie Fuiten, USATricia Giz, USAKevin Glenister, CanadaLisa Gray, USAKat Green, USAJacqui Greene, UKSue Ellen Haning, USANereda Haslam, AustraliaSusan Haubenstock, USAFaith Head, CanadaHanne Herberg, NorwayAlyson Hicks-Lynch, USAMary Hodgson, UKGrace How, AustraliaSylvia Hurlbatt, AustraliaKaren Janus, AustraliaJim Johnson, USAMary Lou Johnson, USADarlene Judd, USAHeike Jung, USAVicki Kenny, New ZealandKirsi Kesaniemi, USADiana Koistinen, USATina Kolhammar, SwedenMieke Lannoo, BelgiumKellie Leyen, CanadaRobin Lindsey, USADebra Love, USATabbetha Lueth, USAMina Lunde, NorwayCatharina Martensson, Finland


Joann McBride, USARachel McMillan, CanadaMargaux Miller, USAEvelyn Mills, CanadaSusan Moore, USAMaureen Mulherron, CanadaNicky Mummery, IrelandStephan Neu, GermanyKatrine Nielsen, DenmarkDagmar Odenwald, GermanySarah Olney, UKBrian J. Ousby, UKWendy Paterson, USATracey Perkins, United Arab EmiratesJuli Piovesan, USAGea Riemis, BelgiumDebbie Riley, UKKaren Roberts, UKVeronique Roberts, CanadaTricia Rohlfing, USAChristina Sander, GermanyJeanette Schevers, CanadaStephanie Schwabe, USAKim Shannon, USAMichael Simmons, USAMatylda Smith, USAMarta Sobczak, PolandMichel Stroobant, BelgiumAngela Taylor, UKSharon Tiesdell Smith, USACourtney Trares, USAJoanne Trout, USAEllen Valagene, USAFleur Van Wollingen, NetherlandsGabby Vassar, USAJessica Vassar, USAAnita Veimo, NorwayShirley Villarreal, AustraliaLacy Warner, USAJeff Wheale, CanadaAmanda Whittaker, UKMorag Wightman, UKHolly Williams, USACindy Wilson, USA

Level 3 on Line GraduatesBarbara Abfalter, Australia

Laura Adams, USALinda Alvey, USAKristy Amado, USAChloe Amos, AustraliaRoxanne Argyle, USAAmy Austwick, UKBelinda Bass, AustraliaGloria Mei Beaupré, CanadaJane Bennett, AustraliaPam Billinge, UKShay Bloomquist, USAMonique Bristow, USATracy Brown, USAHolly Broyles, USAJacqueline Buckley, IrelandNancy Carpenter, USALaura Cloukey, USACorrinn Davis, USAAnita Demoski, USAJulie Deportemont, BelgiumLeigh Dickerson, USAAimee Downs, USAMarianne Florman, DenmarkBecky Franklin, USAHeidi Funk, USASharon Gilkeson, USAEleanor Gillan, IrelandEsmeralda Gonzalez, UKWendy Goodburn, AustraliaMaika Haimann, GermanySharon Haines, UKBev Hall, USAJean Halls, UKHannelore Hauke-Radermacher, GermanyPamela Holt, USAHilary Jackson, AustraliaSjoukje Janssen, USALinda Jansson, SwedenGail Jensen, USAPauline Jones, AustraliaPia Jung, GermanyLizette Karstrom, SwedenWinnie Killebrew, USAMaryAnn Lau, USALenchen Leonard, USAApril Longuski, USA

Frida Lundback, SwedenJutta Luschmann, AustriaJoan Mahaffey, USAClaire Manion, AustraliaMelanie Martin-Dent, USAElizabeth Martinez, USARobbie Maus, USAKaren McClelland, USAMargie McGrew, USAPenny McLain, USASuzy Meathrell, USAMarge Meriwether, USAKate Morton, UKAnn Neirinck, BelgiumMarianne Nordal, DenmarkLisa Overhuel, USAJaimie Overton, USALiesbet Peeters, BelgiumJane Perez, USAMikkel Perlt, GreenlandKurt Podszuweit, USAZuzanna Poprawski, USADebbie Prowting, UKKylie-Ann Robb, USATerence Roberts, UKSandy Roggow, USAAndrea Sattler, AustriaBranden Schwinge, USATina Secor, USAKaren Shrum, CanadaJulie Smart, New ZealandNancy Stabs, USAMaree Stewart, USADoll Syminton, AustraliaCathy Thesing, AustraliaMaria Tomlins, AustraliaRoberto Trentarossi, ItalyLisa Trueblood, USACarrie VanDeHei, USAPete VanDeHei, USABonnie Vogel, USAHan Wagemans, BelgiumKatie Wahlheim, AustraliaMichelle Walsh, USAShana Walters, AustraliaDeni Whiting, USALinda Wood, UK


Level 3 Freestyle GraduatesChloe Amos, AustraliaHannelies Bongaerts, NetherlandsAlita Brooks, UKJacqueline Buckley, IrelandLeigh Dickerson, USAMaxine Easey, UKMichele Feckoury, USARebecca Frisk, SwedenEsmeralda Gonzalez, UKWendy Goodburn, AustraliaSharalee Goodwin, AustraliaFaye Gregory, USAJulia Hollyoak, AustraliaJoAnn Johnson, USAJeannie Kapraun, USALeslie Laing, USAGlen Malam, AustraliaIris Malzkorn, GermanyRuth Manning, AustraliaRalph Moses, USAKimberly Naugle, USAStephanie Olson, USANinie Perlt, DenmarkKurt Podszuweit, USAMelissa Reimers, USAKylie-Ann Robb, USAJulie Smart, New ZealandBecky Thompson, FranceBeth Weaver, USAKara Weinraub, USABarbara Wilkins, USA

Level 3 Liberty GraduatesDana Abernathy, USASilvia Aigner, FranceDanna Ayers, USARegina Ball, USAKaren Barker, UKNicola Beech, UKMaria Blumenthal, IrelandJacqui Briggs, AustraliaJonathan Browne, UKEidin Burns, IrelandNancy Carpenter, USAGerry Cotterell, UKJewel Cousins, USA

Mandy Dederer, AustraliaSibylle Durr, SwitzerlandMarianne Florman, DenmarkLinda Flowers, USALee Ann Fouert, USASandra Gockenbach, GermanyCindee Hage, AustraliaMaika Haimann, GermanyJean Halls, UKAlex Harrison, UKCheryl Harrison, USATanja Heis, SwitzerlandKarissa Hendricks, USAAnn Hepworth, USAAdrienn Hoglund, SwedenOdette Insoll, UKSarah Jensen, USARebecca Jeyaseelan, AustraliaTodd Johnson, USANatalie Jones, AustraliaJeannie Kapraun, USALucie Klaassen, NetherlandsMitzi Koch, USAMarianne Kristensen, DenmarkBarbara Kruger-Davis, AustraliaApril Longuski, USAChris Ludwick, USAJutta Luschmann, AustriaHakan Magill, AustraliaRuth Manning, AustraliaMaya Martens, UKTina Mataya, USADuncan McDonald, AustraliaSuzy Meathrell, USAMarge Meriwether, USASylvie Murray, AustraliaSteve North, UKLiesbet Peeters, BelgiumElisabeth Perritaz, SwitzerlandSonja Pressel, AustriaCharlotte Rancourt, USAKim Rienks, CanadaTerence Roberts, UKGretchen Rohde, USABrenda Schollaert, BelgiumKaren Shrum, CanadaLisa Simpanen, Canada

Olivia Siverts, USAAngela Stabs, USAKarin Suel, GermanyDoll Syminton, AustraliaCathy Thesing, AustraliaEa Selmer Trane, DenmarkWilma Van Wyngaarden, CanadaBonnie Vogel, USAKatie Wahlheim, AustraliaLinda Wood, UKVirginia Wylaars, New ZealandRossella Zambelli, Italy

Level 2 Graduates(On Line + FreeStyle)Phillipa Allen, AustraliaKristy Amado, USAKerstin Axelsson, SwedenGemma Barnes, UKHeather Baskey, CanadaKim Behrens, UKEmily Bibb, USADoni Bird, USALinn Bjerkseth, NorwayMichele Bjork, USAJacqui Briggs, AustraliaMonique Bristow, USALori Bruno, USADaniela Buner, SwitzerlandMac Burkett, USANancy Burton, USAMargo L. Campbell, USARebekah Carnall, UKNancy Carpenter, USAChris Carter, USAGeri Cavanagh, USAMary Clare Collen, USACharlotte Cottrill, USAJewel Cousins, USASteve Cowell, AustraliaMary Lou Cralle, USASarah Czech, USAAllie Davidson, CanadaCorrinn Davis, USACosma Davis, USALili Dawson, UKTracy L. DeGreen (Kuehn), USA


Christine Demierre, SwitzerlandKathy Derais, USAMarc Dinnerstein, USAAndreas Dold, GermanyThomas Duif, FranceSusan Durjan, USAStina Ernstsson, SwedenBrenda Fazzani, UKJackie Feckoury, USALee Ann Fouert, USAAurelie Foulon, SwitzerlandSusan Garrido, UKCheryl Garza Funk, USATeresa Gaskill, USAMireille Gehlen-Verburgh, NetherlandsJacqueline Gilpin, UKUrsula Goetz, SwitzerlandPetra Graak, GermanyIzabela Green, AustraliaHayley Haar, AustraliaLori Hackman, USASara Haley, UKMarianne Hall Angeras, SwedenJean Halls, UKDagmar Haluska, CanadaStacy Harrington, USAWeston L. Harris, USAGinger Hassenzahl, USAEsmee Heath, UKHelle Helmersen, DenmarkEmily Hess, USAJytte Holst, DenmarkCatherine Hooper, UKLinda Hoover, USABeverley Horton, UKTerri Howard, USACindy Hudson, USALinda Jansson, SwedenRebecca Jeyaseelan, AustraliaCora Johnson, New ZealandJoAnn Johnson, USAJanina Jolley, USAKaylee Kapraun, USAKerstin Karstrom, SwedenCallie Kasprzak, USAJenna Kennedy, USAMatthew Kenny, USA

Winnie Killebrew, USARosa Kolhammar, SwedenBetsy Koncerak, USANiel Kuhner, USACat Lambert, USAEric Lammertsma, NetherlandsLenchen Leonard, USAGabi Lobers, GermanyMeg Anne Lynner, ItalyMari Maclane, USAJanice Macnamara, UKGlen Malam, AustraliaRebecca Marcy, USABethany Martin, USAJudy Martin, USAElizabeth Martinez, USADuncan McDonald, AustraliaJackie McKee, USACandra Mingus, USAKiana Minkie, AustraliaPamela Moran, USALinda Morrison, USAKate Morton, UKBecky Mraz, USAAntonia Neff, GermanyHelena Neff, GermanyPatricia O’Brien, USAMiklos Jozsef Olah, HungaryAina Olaussen, NorwayJaimie Overton, USALisa Oxnard, UKSonja Pressel, AustriaDebbie Prowting, UKMandy Punnett, New ZealandDavid Rentfrow, USAEmma Rujic, AustraliaGerry Rushton, UKToni Schmid, USAJune Schmidt, USAKarmen Schwegel, USALesley Sears, UKJennice Sjoholm, SwedenMarilyn Southern, AustraliaEve Spencer, USAAngelica Stabs, USAAllison Stahl, USARenate Steger, Germany

Katherine Stockwell-Brown, USAMarion Storz, GermanyDonna Taylor, USACathy Thesing, AustraliaMarsha Thomas, CanadaLisa Trowse, UKLisa Trueblood, USARoberta Veatch, USAMariann Waade, USASonya Walker, AustraliaTrish Watkinson, AustraliaSusan Kaye Weaver, UKKara Weinraub, USAMargery Wentworth, USAJudy Wiesbrook, USAKarol Williams, USAWendy Winstead, USAShelly Wolfe, USALinda Wood, UKSieglinde Zottmaier, Switzerland

Level 2 on Line GraduatesVictoria Allen, USAPier Claudio Antonini, ItalyLloyd Argyle, USAEmilie Ariagno, FranceKeira Arthur, AustraliaLaurie Barger, USAKatrien Berte, BelgiumMerete Borrevik, NorwayPam Brandon, USALinda Buchanan, BahamasChip Cary, USAJulie Clarke, AustraliaGeorgia Corbett, AustraliaJayne Cowell, AustraliaValerie Creveling, USAVanessa Culemann, GermanySharyn Curnow, New ZealandKaren Daniel, USAJacquelyn Davidson, USASandy Demazet, FranceRichelle Doerner-Corson, New ZealandCristina Drachmann Uva, DenmarkTereza Dvorakova, Czech RepublicChristi Emery, Australia


Yvette Fenning, AustraliaElena Ferrucci, ItalyAmanda Flores, USANaara Foots, AustraliaJacqueline Franklin, UKTamara Franks, USAAudrey Fuentes, USAChristine Garrett, USASherry Garrett, USAJoanne Gillett, UKJane Graybill, USABethany Groleau, CanadaGarrett Hamlin, USAKate Harris, AustraliaTina Hawley, USAFleur Heath, SwitzerlandLisa Heitzler, GermanyAlison Herberts, UKMaureen Hoague, USAAnita Hoskins, USACarrie Hufnal-Miller, USAEllyn Hutzky, USACarna Jackson, USAJackie Jennings, UKSue Jennings, UKAnnette Johns, New ZealandEdwina Johnson, UKBarbara Ketchum, USAClaire Klima, UKYvonne Knight, USACarol Koltz, USALynne Kronvold, USACaroline Lemire, CanadaMelissa Levy, USATracy Lumley, UKLisa Mahorney, USAHilary Martin, UKSarah McComb, AustraliaMargaret McCooey, USAWendy McFarland, UKPaula McGrath, IrelandBettina Meier, SwitzerlandLexa Mercer, USA

Diane Mignault, CanadaMary Miller, USASiegfried Mittermair, ItalyEbby Moffat, UKGeraldine Molle, FranceMartina Mueller, SwitzerlandSuzanne Murphree, USALorraine Newlyn, AustraliaNelly Nguyen, FranceNancy Niemi, USAAnnika Noreus, USAColleen Nye, USAHelen Grace O’Hanlon, IrelandUlrike Obermüller, AustriaSandra Pedersen, USARicki Penna, USAAmanda Phelps, UKSophia Rehmann, GermanyAdaline Roll, USASandra Russell, UKLori Sala, USADeborah Salmon, USAJyoti Schaer, SwitzerlandKristin Schmidt, USAMarina Schuller, AustriaTonia Shatzel, USAAmy Sheppard, UKAngelina Skripic, ItalyJennifer Snitko, USAKurt Somweber, FranceTaylor Stephens, USAMarianne Stilson, USAYasmine Sun, AustraliaMike Thiel, USAAdrian CliveTravis, UKJane Travis, UKJennifer Tryggvason, USABlandina Valenzuela, USACandis Veach, USAJacqueline Walder, AustriaJosie White, UKJennifer Whittle, UKTammy Wiehl, Australia

Alice Wilkey, USAIsabel Williams, CanadaMaureen Wills, CanadaBethany Wilson, UKHolly Wilson, UKSydney Woodfield, USA

Level 2 Freestyle GraduatesKerry Astar, USABarbara Baron, USANina Black Reid, USAHeidi Catlin, UKElisabeth Grans, SwedenSue Greif, USACathy Jo Gunvalson, USASarah Lynden-Bell, AustraliaBarbara Murray, SpainElisabeth Perritaz, SwitzerlandStar Redlich, USAHelga Schriegel, GermanyDave Sears, UKJane Sweeney, USAKristy Wyatt, USAMona Zaidi, USA

Level 1 Graduates(On Line)Nancy Adel, USAYvonne Akar, UKGreta Albrigo, ItalySue-Ann Aubut, CanadaShelby Back, USALoretta Balzamo, CanadaElizabeth Barnard, UKSandra Baumann, SwitzerlandRachel Beaumont, UKMary Frances Bender, USAPaige Berty, USAMaria Blazeby, UKKathrina Bognar, AustraliaJane Brotherton, UKHenrik Bruhn, DenmarkElle Byers, Australia

Nicola Byrnes, New ZealandDiana Castellano, USALorraine Cater, UKMonique Christiansen, DenmarkMeagan Clark, AustraliaLynn Collecutt, New ZealandSarah Collen, USAMarianne Colvin, USATolly Cottam, UKVanessa Cousins, AustraliaDorothy Curtis, USALynette Daly, AustraliaMelissa Dunbar, USASusan Dunbar, USALydia Eisenbeis, USATori Ellison, USASara Falk, SwedenSteffi Fallenbeck, GermanyElizabeth Frazier, USAWendy Ann French, UKThordis Fridriksson, UKBecky Friend, USAMandy Gagnebin, SwitzerlandJoanne Gariepy, CanadaJulie Grace, USAJim Graybill, USASue Greif, USADeborah Groshong, USAJasmin Grossegger, AustriaJoanna Halliwell, UKSusanne Hallstrom, USALinda Hamm, USAMichael Heggen, USABarbara Ann Hodkinson, UKCindy Huff, USALorie Hull, USARowan Keech, UKMaria-Christina Keiling, GermanyIris Khom, AustriaLaura Khom, AustriaBetty Knape, USANicole Kohut, CanadaMary Krauss, USAChristine Krohn, USA

Lisa Lagadec, UKErin Lampe, USAGreg Lang, CanadaDebbie Leary, USAKatja Leoni, ItalySusannah Lloyd, UKJude Lynock, UKCynthia Malphrus, USAJean Marshall, USAJade McLeod, CanadaChris McWatters, AustraliaAlison Medway, UKLeonhard Neff, GermanyTerri Noftsger, USAHorace Noland USAMadeline O’Dowd, AustraliaMeghan O’Sullivan, CanadaKatja Regina Ohm, GermanyMartine Parsons, AustraliaEmily Pellow, AustraliaBetsy Pepper, UKHelen Pepper, UKDavid Pharis, USAVictoria Preston, USAHannah Rankin, AustraliaHeidi Rau, USACharlotte Reid, USACharlotte Rennie, UKAnna Rickford, USAHolly Rickford, USAPat Roberts, AustraliaLinda S. Rourke, USASimone Sains, UKJoanne Sawyer, BahamasAndrea Schneider, GermanyMindy Schroder, USAJoseph Schulz, USANori Shaw, USAAndria Sherrow, USAJohn Silvela, USAErica Sloma, USAMeghan Smith, AustraliaSharon Smith, UKSarah Spiller, USA

Fiona St. Clair, AustraliaAnna Stiegler, AustriaAlexandra Suarez-Spanswick, UKNatalie Svensson, SwedenKatja Thieme, GermanyBeckie Tollmann, USASam Tomlins, AustraliaRuth Tozer, UKRoxanne Valliere, CanadaAngela Vassar, USAElizabeth Vassar, USAAnne Walther, USAPaxton Watson, USACathy White, USAJacque White, USAKatie Williams, UKShirley Wirth, USAMichael Wise, USAMary Wormell, UKKristy Wyatt, USAGail Yardley, UKTommi Young, USATracy Young, USA

Every effort is made to ensure this list is accurate.

If for any reason we have missed your

name, or misspelled it, please let us know right

away by emailing [email protected].

Display your achievements with a

beautiful framed presentation by

Ginny Sue!

For your personalized details and to

place an order, contact Ginny Sue at:

269-781-2564 • [email protected]

International orders welcome. Gift

Certificates available.

The Official M

agazine of Parelli Natural H

orsemanship

Issue 33 | Novem

ber 2011

PO Box 3729Pagosa Springs, CO 81147

1-855-PARELLIwww.parelli.com

Savvy Times

s!down04.parelli.com/savvytimes/magnov2011.pdf · pat’s new super-horse, merlin, is magic’s...

Documents