VIDEO: Pat Parelli and Catwalk controversy at Express Eventing

A good part of me is disturbed, period, about this sort of nonsensical destruction of trust with a sensitive horse. So not horsemanship!

Now I understand why so many people are opposed to "natural horsemanship"--they think it means this. I had wanted to post on the previous NH thread (I was travelling and posting from my iTouch is a PITA, so I didn't) asking whether any of the people who posted against it had ever tried it themselves, or were just offended by the salesmanship gimcrackery that, in my experience, is peripheral to the whole point: improving your communication with your horse on the ground so that you can then improve it in the saddle, and go on to ride better. I've been lucky enough to be taught some basic principles of NH at the OCET camp, and it really helped me with my horse's attitude toward water jumps and with his perception that he's supposed to listen to me instead of take charge. Likewise, I've seen my daughter's steady-Eddy horse undergo an interesting transformation--while he'd never be aggressive or rude or dangerous with Kate, he also tended to tune her out. When Kate learned to work with him on the ground, just a little, it was a light-bulb moment for both of them--I treasure a mental picture of her firmly but patiently insisting he move in the direction she indicated, and he, ears up but with an expression of dumbfounded amazement, complying. It really helped their relationship, both in the saddle and out.

But this isn't what I mean by natural horsemanship. It looks, in fact, like the sort of thing natural horsemanship was created to circumvent.

Somewhere on YouTube is a video of DOC riding in a demonstration without reins, jumping some impressive fences but also doing quite a bit of dressage. It's a perfect counterpoint.

they are never going to be able to ride that horse in a bridle for a long long time now.
Pat may have some sucess with some horses but he made a huge booboo here.
just massive huge.

well it sounds like pat made as boo boo.

I haven't had time to post any lengthy post so I didn't get to post on the natural horsemanship thing :/ but anyways....

I DO do NH. I DO call it parelli. BUT I do not live, breath, and die it every day of my life. I don't just ride around in my rope halter or anything. I do believe that it serves as a GREAT training technique. I also do believe that it helps immeserably. As OCET said, of which I believe NH is great as long as you don't get in the "cult" there is a point when there is too much NH...

Pat Parelli and Linda Parelli have been doing this kind of stuff --and far worse--ever since Pat started as just another huckster-cowboy.

I am quite sure that if they had been behind closed doors they would have roped the poor horse and dragged him around for a while.ANd yes--Ive seen him do that to a recalcitrant PONY that did not like to be caught easily.

The Parellis stand for everything that is wrong in the world where people are out of touch with animals and have no idea what might be right or is just plain wrong.

A pox on the Parelli heads, both their own and the cult that has sprung up around them.
when I have a bit more time, will come back and register--I love Eventing Nation!!

I have always wondered what to do with those pesky, head-shy horses. Thanks Pat!

I love what Kim said above - that is exactly the experience I'd seen with my daughter and her horse once she started employing what was presented as NH techniques of communication. Maybe everyone doesn't call that NH, but it is those basics - ground manners, getting their attention, obtaining that respect from the ground using some of the basic techniques I'd seen at the OCET camps. We don't practice the exercises daily, but when her horse starts tuning her out from the ground or in the saddle, it's how we get his mind and focus back.

Where was the owner when this abuse was allowed to continue? Where were animal control officers? Why wasn't Pat Parelli arrested for animal abuse?

If I had been there, I would have started the BOOING and JEERING at Parelli. Why didn't that happen?

Doesn't anyone care to protect defenseless animals?

I wasn't there but it would appear that Pat got himself in a situation that he'd rather not have been, with a horse that was a 10 on a scale of difficulty, and having to perform in front of a crowd. Sometimes with horses like this you can't be touch feely and "kind" - for heaven's sake's folks get a grip and take a good hard look at what you're labeling cruelty?? What do horses do to each other in the field? A horse that won't tie, allow you near its head, feet or on both sides is a time bomb. I would imagine that if Whittaker had felt that his valuable horse was being abused he would have stepped in. Don't you think that Whittaker is a horseman first; and that they haven't worked with this horse to overcome this before?? Catwalk wasn't a quick fix - perhaps the criticism should be piled on Whittaker for putting the horse and the trainer in this situation in the first place. In the end it would appear that they achieved their goal and ended up with a horse that could be bridled SAFELY without injury to horse or handler.

By the way I'm not a Parelli groupy but there is lots of valuable stuff in their teaching.

Parelli is ruining a good competitive horse is what I see. There are much better ways to deal with a headshy horse, of course they all take more time and real training. The only thing Parelli offers is the same thing anyone with a little bit of commonsense already knows. The more you work with an animal the better partnership you have. Ground work is just as necessary, but fear shouldn't be part of what is happening.

No sympathy for Pat.
His first mistake was trying to do this in front of a crowd.
His second was tripping over his *enormous* ego and not just backing off when he realized he'd bitten off more than he could chew.
If Catwalk wasn't a quick fix, than a quick fix ought not to have been attempted.

I do think this is abuse, not to mention that I found it extremely offensive to myself and had to turn the tape off. It made me physically ill. If it makes me physically ill to see an animal handled with such roughness that it became terrified, it's abuse.

Training by such harshness that the animal gives up and no longer cares is not training. It's bullying.

And yes, Whitaker should be named in the cruelty suit for allowing it to happen.

I do NH but I can't stand Parelli - it's all games and gimmicks - the only thing he's done is make widespread is the knowledge of NH. As for me we follow Monte Roberts. With Roberts it's a choice made by the horse, you just have to be careful and watch the language and read the horse's signs - done carefully and right it works every time and though some horses take a bit longer time wise, it still works. Pat's first thing is the halter and rope where you've got the horse's head. Roberts will get the horse to CHOOSE to join up with you then saddle it, etc all WITHOUT anything on the head. The LAST thing is the halter with reins and a rider. I've learned his methods and have never had a horse to buck or fight - it's even changed difficult horses to working partners. Problem with Roberts system is that its for the professional horseperson who is trained to recognize the horse's language: the small flick of a tongue, the turning of the ear, the slightest drop of the head.... if you don't reward those signs then you lose. And you have to be trained to speak back to the horse in the body language. Parelli makes it all about games where the common Joe can attempt NH. Most people see Parelli's horses doing their wonderful stuff/tricks and don't realize that his horses are much older and have been worked on for YEARS. In all the horses we've worked with doing Monte Roberts' system it's worked the SAME EVERY TIME - maybe a few minutes longer with this horse or you wait till day two to get on that one... makes no difference - it's all about free will and choice and communication - you just make the choice to be with you the easier one that is safer for the horse. What does Parelli expect tying that horse up? Stallions are #1 programmed to fight and #2 reproduce - God made them like that - putting a rope and tying him brings out the fight in him so you will of course get no where. I feel sorry for the mess that the Whitaker's will now have to figure out.. We had a horse that you had to bridle piece by piece - don't know what happened in it's past - it was just part of who he was and you made allowances - no it wasn't easy and it wasn't fast - but it was a nice horse and a small difficulty in respect to having that nice horse - no big deal to us.

I just have a hard time with the fact that he seems to go slowly working with the horse in the days following (well, from what the heavily edited video shows) but when the music is on and there's a crowd he jumps right into tying the horse's leg up and twitching it? No games, no giving the horse time to understand the situation, no asking himself WHY the horse is running away? Nothing?

I appreciate that the horse is a stallion with lots of obvious mental baggage and dangerous to be around.... but why agree to take on a horse like that and put it in a situation where it's going to be terrified. That is cruelty no matter who does it. Its not an issue you can fix in 15 mins, at home or in front of a crowd, and it wasn't fair to the horse for Pat to ask him for his trust in that situation (and then blatantly defy any shred of trust the horse DID have for him.)

Will be interesting to see what the "Parelli People" at my barn have to say about this...

Michelle

If there hadn't been onlookers and video camera's out there, the dude would have done worse. You can see it in his body language.

I am sorry, but I think this Pat Parelli crap is just that, a way to get rich and make money, and make people THINK you got some special secret.

It's about making money folks. And yes, you work a horse enough, and you get consistant, guess what, NH, or Just good training, you can ride them all over the place without a bridle and do amazing things.

This wss cruelty, and it was done to MAKE MONEY. End of STory.

It is not horse abuse.. Perhaps mistreatment.

Who knows where the owner was. Pat ire is persistent; some ways food, some bad..

Besides, if the horse really didn't "approve," it could have done some major damage.

What a shame, this man who started a bit of a horse revelation, has an ego that got the better of him. This was to be the situation where we were all to be stunned and amazed, well PP achieved just that, and the damaged limitation began with a spin clip about breaking bread with the tor-mentor. Why did he not big up and admit that this horse, was not a quick fix and was uncomfortable in this arena. For a stallion his behaviour was not that bad, and he kept giving out the signs very politely, he reared when he had nowhere to left to go, he certainly didn't warrant a painful injury. So why weren't the signs being read? The Parelli EGO really did get the better of him in public this time.

Oh dear, what started off as a nice gentle approach to dealing with horse issues, turned into a cult very quickly. The uniform of men in white cowboy hats and women wearing sun visors with their fringe over the top. Savvy Clappy and diktats being issued about what you can and can't do, who you can and can't learn with, what you can and can't teach. Tight lipped professionals and students, almost being trained for this very moment. You must be the party faithful, and now more than ever.

Facebook PP enthusiasts are alarmingly quiet about the event ... dare none of the party faithful wake up, have they been that brainwashed or has their world been shattered? I'm certainly not proud of my carrot stick.

No wonder a lot of good and true horsemen and women left the organisation and set up on their own before they too were roped in. They must all be breathing a sigh of relief today.

Once you fall from your pedestal the water is cold and deep, PP and the organisation must be in a bit of a quandary right now. They need to be herd savvy, or will their ego and greed get the better of them once again and turn this into a revenue opportunity - will Savvy club members soon be able buy their gum line and get the instruction book on how to tame a Stallion, is this yet another course and yet another star. Kerr Ching!

I think I have seen too many video "booboos" like this from the Parelli's to (1) take them seriously and, (2) believe that what they are doing is in the horses' best interest. Maybe they started out that way, but the times have clearly changed.

As some others have said, the basic, fundamental principles of ground work and understanding body language, etc that NH in general promotes are important in any kind of horsemanship. But I just dont see that here.

Wanna know what NH is? It's not some man with his carrot stick, and a halter. It's going into a round pen, with any horse, and watching them. And listening to them. Do you know how many people now think, because of PP, that if a horse blows out through the nostrils, or licks, they must be doing it right? Hmph.

No, NH is NOT about what equipment you use, and how you use it. It's about taking the time to get to know THE HORSE. It's about keeping your calm, in the worst situations. Its about a true understanding of what horses are about, and it's about telling them how good they were, when they were good. PP is aobut "releasing the pressure". You know what, I have training many horses in my day, and i hope I can say, nary a one learned by pressure....but by repetiton.

This is sad, first it was cruelty, second, because real NH just got a bad name for the sake of someone who likes to make money and is worried about thier bottom line.

Disgusting. Appalling. I am truly speechless. That is one hell of a way to ruin a perfectly good horse.

Wow, I really don't know what to say along with many others, except for the fact this was horrible! I don't like Parelli to be honest, but many people believe in it... You can do ground work and build trust and respect without Parelli.... I'm no pro, and i haven't been doing this for long, but I know that's not right! Anyways, I hope people have a different viewing on Pat, and don't do what he just did. I know horses that are REALLY head shy and they didn't have to go through this to overcome that! Wow, just wow....

Even though the snippet of video doesn't look nice I don't think it is fair to judge a 2 hour session with a horse on a 2 min edited video. It must be a very difficult horse for such a professional and experienced person like Mr Whitaker to ask for help from Pat Parelli. Agreed also that PP bit off more than he could chew and he was not going to be able to fix this horse in such a time frame if experts like the Whitakers and no doubt their experienced staff also had trouble with it. A mistake he made in judgement perhaps but yes the Parelli's are human too. I would be interested to see the final results and the opinion of the Whitakers.

you see 10 times more cruelty at any dressage event all year round

what a douchebag! thank goodness more people are catching on to what a shlockster he is...

Hello All

Please take a moment to view the two attached links regarding the travesty that happened last weekend at the Festival of the Horse when Pat Parelli attempted to resolve a problem with the horse Catwalk, owned and ridden by British show jumping icon Robert Whitaker.

The first link illustrates the outrage that so many people feel after witnessing the shameful event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gf7w_1ifus&feature=youtu.be

The second link is to a very provocative video blog response to the sham by Canadian horseman Chris Irwin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGfqLkonBg0

For those who do not know of Chris Irwin here are just a few of his credentials:

Best selling author of Horses Don’t Lie and Dancing With Your Dark Horse

Trainer of 18 U.S. National Riding & Driving Champions with Wild Horses

Trainer/Coach of students with “problem horses” that have gone on to win National dressage championships in Canada, The Netherlands and Belgium

Trainer and coach of trainers/certified students who produce regional champions in western reining, western trail class, 3day eventing, show jumping, dressage, western reining and western trail classes

Trainer of problem thoroughbreds who have gone on to win races

Trainer of problem and runaway driving teams that have gone on to win parades

Consultant to numerous colleges and universities in developing advanced equine sciences and equestrian curriculum

Designer of equine assisted Leadership program and equine research programs with the University of Guelph in Canada

Featured presenter at major horse shows and expositions such as the Spruce Meadows Masters in Alberta, Canada, the Equine Affaires in America, The Royal Horse Show in Canada, The World Pony Club Conference and The Horse Event in the Netherlands

A few media quotes:

“Irwin is the evolution of the Natural Horsemanship”
Horses All Magazine, Canada

Dressage Today: in the United States praised Irwin’s ability to“develop courage and confidence in nervous horses.”

Dutch magazines such as Amazone, PaardenSport and Bit have written about his refreshing approach as “non-aggressive while yielding incredible results and radical transformations in horses with issues”.

Horse & Rider magazine in the United States: “nobody understands and explains the horse-human relationship better then Chris Irwin”.

Belgium magazine VVF: Chris Irwin is “The Master of Awareness”.

PaardenSport: the elite Dutch equestrian magazine stated “Irwin’s success is not because he is commercialized like so many of his American colleagues but because he is an extraordinary horseman and personal coach.”

Just for info: After the two sessions with Pat Parelli(Friday evening and Saturday morning) where he caused the horse to start to accept the placement of the bridle over his ears and into his mouth again (as you can see on the parelli´s youtube channel) and the third short session with one of Pat´s instructors (like on the video) Robert Whitaker was able to take the horse home and was competing on the horse one day later. By then the horse was already that good to bridle that his grooms couldn´t believe it´s the same horse...
So well done to Parelli and his crew... What lots of people don´t seam to get was that Catwalk wasn´t brought in because he is so easy... A high profil professional horsetrainer like Robert Whitaker wouldn´t bring a horse that is just a bit difficult because he could adress the problem himself... He brought the horse because he didn´t know what to do anymore... People did get slammed around trying to bridle him... Also: if the stallion would have been afraid: would he not be sweating ANYWHERE? Catwalk was not sweating at all... He was just saying "no". And he had really learned well to be quick, flexible like a snake and rude to get left alone. This is what I could see: Parelli first tried a method called "Aproaching & Retreating" for a while with the horse and Catwalk wasn´t even trying to overcome being touched on his upper head. He was just just saying "no - I will just avoid it". So Parelli went on looking for something to cause this stallion (who was pretty quick to impress with dangerous behaviours like striking and biting) to go:"I can´t just not deal with that guy. I need to change my behaviour". I was a pretty high level demonstration - i actually think brave to go through in public and not hide and do that behind the barn like others would have done. The folks who complain haven´t seen the very important details... Parelli was never hitting the horse or agressive - he was very calm even when the horse tried to bite him. You could see he was holding and waiting... waiting for the stud to turn loose. He wasn´t pulling. The stud was pulling. He was holding. I think with a stallion who was this much saying "no" and had this much defensive opposition and resistance to change in him, Parelli knew he was risking his life out there and come on, how many people have tied their horses leg up to teach him to lay down or for the farrier or a vet treatment or something. For some reason, some folks here seam to have a problem with that but not with putting a tiedown or a drawreins on a horse or cross-tying them or using a sharper bit to stop their horse. Any of the discussed techniques that Parelli went through were applied with very good skill, feel and timing, AND changed if they didn´t work (after a while - which is also ok for my because if he´d just given up already after a few minutes he would have just taught the horse he can out-persist Parelli). I think it was a very honest demonstration with a very difficult horse but not really suitable for the public to introduce them to natural horsemanship because of lack of understanding of some people and because some folks still think they can just bribe their horse with carrots all day and he will miraculously stop pushing them over. Parelli took the risk takíng on a stallion that high level professionals have given up on and now he has got the bill for it. I heard him say that this was the most challenging horse he has ever dealt with in public but that´s what you might get if you do shows with difficult horses... all in all: it was a bit tough but very non-emotional from Parellis point and not agressive in any way... and hey... just look at the Parelli youtube clip of the next stages of this horse... the result speaks for itself... Whitaker can bridle his horse now easily, without any leg-ropes and doesn´t get slammed around and the horse is relaxed. Obviously Parelli did a good job in those two sessions (and his handler... so three sessions)...

I have to agree with Tom... although I was opposed to it before myself... but i sat through the whole display and by the end of it i could see or can see now even better what Pat was looking for and apparently also achieving...
Just a thought: what does Supernanny do? What das the DogWhisperer do? They use very strong leadership too with extreme cases where most mum´s and dog owners just give in... psychologists get the change not because they are always just nice. Sometimes a psychologist will let you run into the wall that nobody has provided you with till then... show you the border and take you somewhere - metally or emotionally - where you will make profound change... letting you have tantrums along the way... but also not stopping...

Thank you Tom (and Mary, below) for perspective. It wasn't a pretty site but this wasn't an easy horse. Pat worked with my scared and out of control horse and saved his mind if not his life. It wasn't pretty either but I realized from the results and the CALM acceptance by my horse, and how much happier he was, that it was the correct way. But Catwalk wasn't the right horse to demonstrate NH to an uninformed audience and I'm afraid Pat did some damage to NH because of it.

The only 'profound change' that I saw was more of the needless, seneseless, archaic abuse that is the mainstay of NH.

Good GOD! My stallion comes running to me and happily leads WITHOUT a halter and lead rope. OR, he will just as happily put his in the halter if I hold it up.

All it cost me was 15 minutes and two apples. NO STRESS! No NEEDLESS ABUSE!!!!!!!!!!
When will people realize that 'the emperor has no clothes'!!
The marketing BS is fading to reality.
Anyone interested in an alternative to these senselessly brutal, archaic methods should go to: friendship training dot org

Tom or should I say Parelli Spin Central .... can we now have your account of the bread "breaking" session and the doped up horse clip?

Here is a great professional horseman prepared to fly half way accross the world to help Catwalk and meet Mr Parelli on his own patch- thats great news . I hope he gets his chance to show us all that there IS better way -good luck Chris!

Thank you Pat for being so willing to help a very difficult horse in the public eye. Those of you with horses willing to run to you and do as you ask, good on you. Seriously, that is so very fantastic that your horses are so trusting and confident and willing. For those of us that started with less than easy horses (aka difficult) we look for answers in helping us to start a relationship and develop a partnership. This is a journey for us and not always fun and full of daisies everyday. In fact for some of us it takes years to gain their trust. Along the way it can also be fraught with tears and sorrow as we try to help our horses overcome their past experiences. I can attest that my 3 horses are better for our Parelli journey and now nicker loudly and run to me everyday. We truly play together now as horse & human because of Parelli.

Nothing says Natural like tying up a horse's leg to keep it from moving. Because nothing keeps a horse calm and attentive like removing its flight reaction so it's forced to switch to a fight reaction...or hurt itself trying to flee.

When ego comes before love and understanding, the horse pays the highest price. I am not one bit sympathetic to the Parellis. They have made millions selling a concept they don't actually practice.

Please use common sense and think about this....

IF what Pat did was abuse....would the horse choose (of his own free will mind you) to stand very close to Pat and share food with him the very next day? Watch the Parelli youtube and You can see that the horse's lead rope was lying on the ground tied to NOTHING.

Therefore that horse could have been anywhere in the ring and yet instead chose to be close with the man who supposedly had just abused him??

Think about it.

One thing everyone seems to be missing is quite obvious in this video. This horse is not frightened. He has learned how to get out of a certain pressure. He has learned what he has lived and that is what he was doing here. This was certainly something better handled in a more appropriate place where a horse would not feel as much pressure. Come on, the lights, the noise, the people (predators) all staring at him. Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.

Yeah. Ok.

It seems obvious to me that the readership of Eventing Nation hails from all different walks of life, and thereby many different schools of thought concerning the training of their horses. I personally do not believe in adhering to any single training regime. I simply believe in doing what works in the healthiest manner for the particular horse I am training at the moment. And since every horse is as individual as the people on this forum, that means hundreds of different techniques might be equally effective in different situations.

My opinion? In this situation, Parelli's technique was not effective on multiple levels. I did not attend this conference, but I can imagine the tense atmosphere in which Pat was attempting to make this training practice work, and I am not the least bit surprised that his increased efforts of force were rejected by Catwalk. As other have said, he let the pressure and egotism of the situation get the better of him, and responded in a way that only created an argument with the horse, which extended into an unproductive length of time. Furthermore, I have a very, very strong aversion to resorting to force methods such as Tying a horse's leg. A measure like that too often ends in damage to the leg, stressed tendons, or distrust on the animal's part. Same with the gum line. That sort of action results in blind pain for a horse, with no explanation as to its origin and no clear understanding of what positive alternative the trainer wants.

Despite that, I will say that I have the utmost respect for Natural Horsemanship at its foundation. The basics of this training regime makes complete sense, and isn't exactly "new and revolutionary" like Pat Parelli might suggest to his captive audiences. Just because he found a way to itemize and mass distribute a "guidebook" for what is essentially universal truths about Herd Animal Behavior (something American Indians understood long before we did), does not mean he invented it. So yes, I respect Natural Horsemanship when used properly. Do I respect Pat Parelli? Not even a little bit.

Please keep in mind that I have also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Mr. John Lyons, and have watched the amazing things he can do with his own and other peoples' horses, long before Parelli ever thought to slap a patent on the title of "Natural Horsemanship."

I'll be interested to see how this incident pans out, but I can already hazard a guess. Parelli enthusiasts will continue to defend his actions, Parelli antagonists will continue to naysay his methods. No one will actually do anything, and life will continue as it always has.

Pat Parelli tried to do too much under pressure of a short time period in a demonstration. He has devoted his life to making the world a better place for horses and a safer place for horse riders. He should have just stopped and listened to the horse, worked with it later. Let's all learn from this and stop judging.

This video, and the comments made me a little sad. I really don't want people to think that is what natural horsemanship is trying to accomplish. I personally have a pony who was hit over the head, and therefore very head shy. We did natural horsemanship with her for three years and now she is happy to be bridled. We never did anything like what was shown in this video however. I think that Pat made a big mistake in taking this that far.

Time to put the Parellis in the charlatan bin with Monty Roberts and Gawani Pony Boy.

Found your site today through Google. Great blog you've got, bookmarked.

i agree, you guys can write in and moan, but you should have got up and demanded they stop!. One leader and all would have followed. Those watching and who said nothing were part of this cruelty.

"Sometimes with horses like this you can't be touch feely and "kind" - for heaven's sake's folks get a grip and take a good hard look at what you're labeling cruelty?? What do horses do to each other in the field? A horse that won't tie, allow you near its head, feet or on both sides is a time bomb" Who ever thinks this way, get out of horses - Dear God, where did it all go so wrong.

Delighted i ran across this amazing site, will make sure to save it so i can check out often.

Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass' favor.

I didn't read all the posts, but I read enough to understand that many of the people that thought Pat Parelli was cruel to Catwalk are the same people who create the ruined, unruly, horses that so many of the true horseman try to fix. Horses can be very dangerous if they are allowed to dominate people. Too many people who love horses also fall into the allusion that you can love a horse into a relationship with you. That's like thinking that a toddler can make decisions to run a nation or a family. Pat often says "Be as gentle as possible, but as firm as necessary". If you only hear the first part of that quote, and you have a horse, eventually you're going to get hurt. Then you'll wish you had been "...as firm as necessary."

Good Job! I was just debating Sherrie Austin vs. Jewel . This will be useful in the conversation.

I had a head shy mare who wouldn't let you near her ears at all so I just dismantled her bridle put the head piece up behind her ears and did it back up and popped the bit in - no problem, so it took a few seconds more to bridle her but there was no issue or reason for her to be scared. What was all the need for this "show" of having to prove you can do something that the horse doesn't want. I can't understand the owners, rider etc wanting to put this horse through a traumatic time which was totally unnecessary and Pat really didn't do himself any favours trying the methods shown on the video. Are we not supposed to work "with" the horse and "not" against it!!!!!

I dont believe this is abuse, yes it may have been excessive for a first try he should have backed off when the horse let him touch his nose and face. this being said the parelli way saved my horse's life. he was deemed a "dangerous horse" and almost euthanized when he put his previous owner in the hospital for a week. After a few months building a parnership with him using the games, he is a great horse to ride and i owe it all to him and his training videos. yes he may not have a fix for every horse but his methods gave my boy his life and i have a great horse for it. no im not in the parelli cult but i am thankful for what he has done for mine