Ok, First off, i'd like to say i do not believe in the Parelli methods, i am a follower of Monty Roberts. I'm not writing this to have a go at the methods Parelli addopts, but i'm genuinely concerned about this horse's wellbeing and would like some advice on what to do.
To start off i will explain, the horse in question is a 16.2hh , 5 yr old, grey warmblood named Juno. She is a truly gorgeous horse. My uncle rescued it as it were from a guy, who's brother had hit her over the head with a baseball bat when trying to back her . (disgusting i know)
When Juno 1st arrived at the yard, she hated human company, she would try barge out of the stable door, constantly running at it in the stable, you could not get a headcollar on her, let alone brush her etc.. She was seriously troubled. My mother worked with her and built up a trust relationship. Got Juno to accept a headcollar and even she would lower her head to get it on. She would come to me and my mother in the field and enjoyed human company again. WHich is an enormous improvement to what she was liek before, but i know she will always have insecurities and issues becasue of the events she has been through previously.
Anyway, to get to the point, A girl ,who became a friend of mine took Juno over at the yard, She has had experience riding horses but i would say is lacking the experience of know how to deal with a youngster let alone one that is vulnerable. Another girl at the yard is very taken in with these parelli methods and my friend has tagged along with her. I won't go into details because this is a very long winded story, but she is practicing these techniques on Juno and i believe she is going backwards in confidence and trust. Juno no longer accepts a bit in her mouth, which she did with abit of patience and perseverence before she started these parelli techniques. She has started riding Juno bitless now with only a headcollar and rope, which i think is a stupid idea with such a vulnerable horse( she has a temper, and understandably so.) Yesterday they were in the outdoor arena riding and Juno got into a mood, bucked and humped, and emma fell off. And then i witnessed this parelli technique in practice, the parelli grl, took juno off Emma, and started waggling the rope in front of Juno, in a snaking sorta motion, Juno's head was going up, she reared..... for me, i do not see the purpose of this, what good does it do? i believe it is doing more harm than good and undoing all the work my mother put into her at the start. I see a change in Juno now, and she very very insecure and i can see she is losing trust in emma, or anyone for that matter.
Point is, i don't know what to do. I know if i say anything i will get an answer back, like i'm poking my nose into business that i don't belong, however after all Juno has been through, and she is a lovely lovely horse , all she needs is a little love, i hate to see her going backwards.
anyone got any thoughts?
sara
If the horse is frightened or driven to rear up, the Parelli techniques are not applied correctly. They are not invasive or brutal as such. In fact, they aim to make it possible for you to just point in the direction you want your horse to move, and you always start with a "whisper".
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If you want to teach your horse to back up from swinging the rope you need to do a lot of ground work to make it trust, respect and listen to you first, *then* you can start to teach it *incrementally* what the shaking means. You also need to be very aware of the horse's language to read its reactions properly and release pressure immediately and on cue. Much like Monty does.
Regardless of method, I see no point in catching an upset horse and tell it to back off.
To apply the technique to a horse that is head shy (to use a mild term for what Juno has experienced) is misuse of both the method and your brain.
I do not know what knowledge your friend's friend has in Parelli methods, but being taken by a method - any method - does not necessarily make you a good practitioner.
If you still own this horse, my suggestion is that you take the time to have a serious talk with your friend about what she can and can't do. The safety card can always be played.