Parelli Training with Spirit

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In case you're not familiar with the Parelli method, here's what they say about it on their web site: the Parelli method of natural horsemanship is a holistic approach to natural horse training based on developing a natural relationship with your horse through understanding his/her nature and understanding the world from the horse's point of view.

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I'm a beginner at it so we're still at the 'On Line' level, meaning we're using a halter and a lead rope - get it - the horse is on the line... I'm enjoying it immensely. Since horses are herd animals they're always re-negotiating their place in the herd. If I were a horse, I'm guessing I would always be at the bottom of the heap because I'm such a marshmallow. That's not a good thing since Spirit outweighs me by at least 1000 pounds. Don't get the wrong idea, he's a sweetie, but I need to be the one who's deciding which way we're going, how close he can get to me, etc., just for safety's sake. We've made a lot of progress and it's very satisfying and fun.

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It's also a great way to work out any 'issues' you might have with your horse. The issue we were working on yesterday is that it sometimes takes the grooms an hour to catch Spirit to bring him back from turnout. It's not a problem for me - he comes right to me. The barn manager thinks it might be gender-related. So yesterday, Ted, my wonderful 2-star Parelli instructor, worked at getting Spirit to come to him. The idea is that the horse has to find the right answer for himself - we're not going to force him to do it. It took a long while, but he did eventually come to Ted. In the meantime, it was a great opportunity to get some pictures of Spirit in motion. What a beautiful guy he is!

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