Horses are prey animals. We are predators.
Wouldn't it be nice if your horse doesn't look at you as though you are a predator?
Pat Parelli has had a lifetime of experience and learnt from some of the best mentors in the world. He and Linda Parelli have put together a step by step programme that works. It teaches humans to teach horses using love, language and leadership. PNH gives us the foundation for any discipline we may wish to pursue into the future with our horses.
Parelli Natural Horsemanship teaches you and your horse by means of communication, psychology and understanding, rather than mechanics, fear and intimidation.
It teaches you how to communicate with your horse. How to prevent and solve problems. How to form a partnership with your horse and then go on to develope harmony together.
It teaches you to build a better relationship with your horse. When you have a better relationship with your horse, it will help you to achieve better handling and riding skills.
This all starts with 7 games. These are the games that horses play with each other in the paddock. Of course, your horse already knows the games, and she will start to wonder how you know the games. She will relate to you in this new way very quickly. Your horse will look at you differently because you are treating him like another horse. You are speaking his language.
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Many of us ask ourselves, " Why his he doing that?! Is he just being naughty?". If we look at life from our horse's view we can see when he is scared, realise when we are applying too much pressure or not enough, and when we are behaving like a predator.
Prey animals all have very different ways of behaving when they are scared. Bucking, kicking, rearing, shutting down, running off to name but a few. However, when we get scared, we grab and jerk on the reins, grip with our legs etc which frightens the horse and makes things worse. If we know how to avoid and change this reaction, our riding experience becomes much happier for us and the horse.
With the Parelli system you can learn to identify your horse's particular Horsenality and then you can refine the way you interact with him/her. This improves your communication and relationship enormously.
Parelli Natural Horsemanship will teach you all these things and more.
Several components and 4 plus levels of learning
The ABC for the human
Online
Liberty
Freestyle
Finesse
Using the horse's natural habits
Understanding the individual horsenality of each of our horses
Each level builds of the one before it to take us as far as we wish
Support
Inspiration
Adds on heaps of knowledge
UNDERSTANDING THE PNH EDUCATION SYSTEM
For those of you just starting out in the programme, I thought it may be useful to explain different components of the programme. Bear in mind, as a student I am giving you my understanding, not specifically the Parelli descriptions.
The PNH system is a foundation for all and any disciplines a rider may want for the future. Once you have reached Level 3 or 4 any discipline you choose to follow will be very much easier for having started with PNH. Some people are happy go up the levels and still to simply hack out or play the games and enjoy the wonderful relationship and partnership with their horse that studying PNH gives us.
There are many different components. Here are some explained for you:
The 7 Games
The 4 Savvys
The Patterns
Horsenality
The Levels (1– 4 and beyond)
Savvy club
THE SEVEN GAMES
PNH has The 7 Games as the basis of horse/human communication. It is considered that the horse already knows and plays the 7 Games with other horses.
It is known that horses can learn the skills and communication involved in levels 1, 2 and maybe also 3 at a much faster speed than we humans can. So especially Level 1 is all about the human learning and teaching themselves how to play the 7 games effectively and fairly.
In level 1 the human learns the very basics of playing the 7 Games with their horse. This becomes the building blocks of effective communication between horse and human both on the ground and later in the saddle and also at liberty. At higher levels the human, using the 7 Games, begins to teach the horse things they won’t have necessarily done before and expand the horse’s experience, skill and ability.
How to learn the 7 Games:
- Get a Level 1-2 pack – with dvds to show you step by step.
- Attend a Level 1 clinic run by a registered Parelli instructor.
- Visit the parelli website and/or YouTube to read about or view the 7 Games being played.
- Buy the 7 Games dvd
- Talk to, get together with or watch other Parelli students who may be able to help you with learning or practising the 7 Games. E.g. Look out for students Playdays in your area.
THE FOUR SAVVYS
On the Ground:
1. Online – playing with your horse on the ground. Equipment for the level 1 person is natural horseman’s halter, 12 foot lead rope, carrot stick and string.
2. Liberty – horse and human play on the ground with no halter or rope attached. Liberty really starts from Level 2 onwards and takes place in a small arena or round corral first. Further up the levels the rider and horse can play at Liberty – horse mounted but with no saddle or bridle.
In the Saddle:
3. Freestyle – riding in a natural halter and rope reins. Generally a casual rein is used at the level 1 – 2 levels. This is where you first take the 7 Games “ up on to the horse’s back.” There is a small component of freestyle in level 1 – learning to ask your horse to stop with one rein, yield the fore quarters, then the hind quarters with one rein, emergency dismount and back up. From level 2 up, the rider and horse begin to use patterns when riding.
4. Finesse – riding with a concentrated rein and a bridle. Here we learn to use subtle shifts in focus to guide the horse along with a light touch on the reins when required, for finesse. This starts more at level 3 and becomes the foundation for disciplines such as dressage etc.
In the Level 1 clinics Online is the main savvy taught with a small component of Freestyle. There is no Liberty or Finesse – until levels 2,3,4
THE PATTERNS
As herd and prey animals, horses are naturally hardwired to move in patterns, e.g. a grazing pattern in the wild.
PNH have put together a series of patterns which can be used with each savvy. So we have an Online patterns pack with dvd and books, a Liberty patterns pack, a freestyle patterns pack and a finesse patterns pack available as a resource.
Each of these packs show how the patterns should be able to be done by a horse and human partnership at each level. They cover Levels 1 - 4.
In any of the clinics you attend your instructor will teach one or more of these patterns to you. To understand about how to play with your horse using patterns though, you need to know the 7 Games.
Examples of patterns are: circles, figures of 8, weaving and then things such as playing with patterns and obstacles.
HORSENALITY:
Linda Parelli came up with a model which we can use to get some understanding about our own horse’s specific horsenality and therefore it’s needs and requirements from us as his/her partner. The model divides horses into 4 different horsenality types. Of course many horses show more than one horsenality type depending on the day, the environment etc.
Learning about the different horsenalities helps us to treat our horse more appropriately for her horsenality – to understand that one size doesn’t fit all. So when we are playing the 7 Games, we can read our horse well and know whether to give her a long phase 1 or go through the phases fast. We can know whether we need to change games rapidly for our horse or whether he is better off with us using a lot of repetitions. We also learn to recognise when our horse suddenly switches horsenality and therefore switch our responses to match.
To learn more about horsenality:
- Buy dvd "Horsenality"
- Go to www.parelli.com and read about horsenality.
THE LEVELS:
Basically the different levels are a way the system has of graduating your learning. If you belong to the savvy club you have access to self assessment charts which give you heaps of different activities you can do at each level and prepare to sit an audition to pass a level in any savvy. – should you want to. Passing a level is not mandatory.
Level 1 encompasses 2 savvys – online and freestyle
Level 2 encompasses 3 savvys – online, freestyle and liberty
Levels 3 and 4 encompass all 4 savvys.
SAVVY CLUB
When you join the savvy club, you receive a monthly dvd or a magazine (8 dvds and 4 magazines in a year). These expand your knowledge hugely. You also have access to heaps of info on the parelli website. You get to see and read about or articles written by other students from around the world as well as see Pat and Linda Parelli and some of their high level students in action.
This website exists by courtesy of www.animalherbs.co.nz and Pat's Healing Centre, Waipu