The Horse and Soul Parelli USA Tour 2012 - Working with the Gelding's Owner

Part One


Now that Linda Parelli has the gelding doing what she wanted, she turned her attention to the owner.  It was time for the woman tp learn what she would need to get the same response as Parelli.

Earlier it has been obvious that the woman was putting herself into unsafe situations with this horse. It appeared to me that Linda Parelli was keeping this in mind as she continued on in this session.

Unlike most clinicians who turn the horse directly over to the handler, Linda did something I really appreciated. She turned the horse loose in the arena to let him investigate his surroundings while she focused her attention on the owner. Parelli had no intention of letting the woman work with her horse until she had the tools to be successful.

Holding the halter in her hands and giving the end of the lead to the woman, Parelli and the owner role played the training scenario that had just happened. Linda directed the woman on how to proceed as she acted like the horse resisting exactly ad he would.

If the woman left an opening Parelli squirted through and passed her. Sometimes she picked up her leg like the gelding was attempting to kick. Any form of resistance the gelding had tried, Parelli imitated, all the while instructing the owner on how to counter each move.

The woman's timing was off but Parelli's as the horse was perfect. She exploited the woman's poor timing just  like the horse would. They worked along in this manner and the woman's timing began to improve and she began to see the openings she was giving him.

Sometimes she got it right but the "horse" resisted. Just  like the training session we had just seen except for the competency of the handler. It was definitely a safe way for this woman to learn.

During this exchange the owner laughed as she recognized her horse's behavior. Even as Parelli kicked out, the woman laughed. It was clear from her behavior she didn't really get the seriousness of some of these gestures. That made me appreciate all the more Parelli's use of this game to teach the woman.

Linda Parelli did not move on to using the horse until the woman was repeatedly keeping the "horse" in his place. When she was convinced the woman had the skills to deal with this pushy, dominant horse.

When the owner did begin working with her horse, he tested her just as Parelli had done while role playing, because they had practiced it, the woman was prepared and it didn't take long and the gelding was walking across the tarp, stepping up on the platform and rolling the large ball when asked.

It was an impressive and successful demonstration. The woman definitely left the arena armed with a bag of tricks she had not had when she'd entered and that gelding left looking like a totally different horse.

To be continued......