What is Parelli?
 
This guide is written to provide a brief history of Parelli Natural
Horsemanship.  It includes Biographies of both Pat and Linda Parelli.
 
The Story
 
The Parelli method allows horse lovers at all levels and disciplines to
achieve: success without force, partnership without dominance, teamwork
without fear, willingness without intimidation, and harmony without
coercion.
 
Founded in 1981 by lifelong horseman and teacher Pat Parelli, the
Parelli Program combines common sense psychology and communication.
Unlike many training programs, the Parelli method teaches the human, not
the horse. Early on, Pat realized that horses already had all the skills
they needed to thrive and relate with their kind. It was adding the
human element that complicated things.
 
Horse owners who follow the Parelli program have found the greatest gift
is discovering that Parelli enhances not only their relationship and
communication with the horse, but touches every other relationship in
their lives.
 
"It's more than just about the horse," reflects Linda. "It really dips
into the personal development side of things. You learn about yourself,
you learn about communication, about leadership, about truthfulness,
about consequence and responsibility. You learn about love and
imagination. The horse becomes the animal that tells you the truth about
yourself in all these categories."
 
"People realize this is what they've been looking for in all their
relationships," adds Pat. "It's balanced with love, language and
leadership in equal doses. The program and their horse give them a
living model so they can practice and become fluent in their abilities
in all relationships, not just the horse relationships."
 
Pat Parelli
 
Born in California's Bay Area, Pat Parelli was obsessed with horses at
an early age. When Pat was just 13, a horseman and trapper named Freddie
Ferrera of Livermore, California, recognized Pat's talents with horses
and took him under his wing. During the summers he would teach him
valuable lessons about how to be more natural with horses, dogs, cattle,
and with nature itself.
 
Pat's horse career began simply by working in stables from the age of 9.
If there were horses, Pat would be there, enthusiastically helping with
whatever he could, ears open for every drop of information. He even
started to develop his own ideas about raising foals and training
horses, an unusual thing for a young boy.
 
At the age of 17, Pat launched himself into rodeos, his favorite event
being the bareback. A natural, with a good coach in John Hawkins, Pat
won the Bareback Rookie of the Year title in 1972, his buck off average
just 4%. Watching many rodeo athletes trying to move on, Pat was
determined to find life after rodeo. A career in training horses seemed
logical and he started a business that concentrated on starting colts
(young horses).
 
However, like many trainers before him, it wasn't long before the normal
pattern of both equine and financial frustration set in and Pat found
himself on the verge of getting out of horses altogether. This was not
how he wanted to have to train horses, by processing them like inanimate
objects.
 
Then three significant events changed his life:
1. He met Tony Ernst, from Australia, who was not only a student of the
horse but was a disciple of the Kung Fu martial arts and a master
musician;
2. He began to work under the tutelage of Troy Henry, a master horseman
from Clovis, California, who specialized in training and developing both
horse and rider for competition using psychology and communication;
3. He took an interest in developing mules to be able to perform like
horses.
 
Through Tony Ernst, Pat learned about inner power and the Kung Fu
principles of discipline, body control, and mind-body mastery.
 
Troy Henry opened up a whole new world to Pat by helping him understand
the horse's mental and emotional processes as a prey animal as well as
the true dynamics of horsemanship and how they applied to performance
horses.
 
The mules taught Pat the importance of reverse psychology, the principle
of safety and comfort as the only real incentives, and developed in him
more savvy on how to get a prey animal to "want" to perform. They also
taught him about patience! In 1980, Pat founded The American Mule
Association.
 
Being an intense student of horses and horsemanship, Pat had begun to
develop his own style of teaching and expanding these principles. He
also became interested in showing reined cow horses and was successful
in reining and cutting events with both horses and mules.
 
One of the greatest frustrations Pat experienced in training horses was
handing them back to their owners. He found that if the rider didn't
have enough savvy, the horses would regress. After much soul searching
he finally decided that he couldn't go on training horses to put up with
their owner's lack of skills and understanding, instead, he had to find
a way to help people become more savvy with horses.
 
He soon discovered that he had a natural talent in finding the right
words to explain what he understood about horses. So he turned his
attention even more to helping people instead of training. He began to
give "lessons" but had no idea that one day he would be able to help
people on a much larger scale.
 
In 1983, while performing bridle-less at the California Livestock
Symposium, Pat met three men who were to become major contributors to
his knowledge. Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt and Ronnie Willis. Pat hosted
several of Ray Hunt's clinics and spent time with both Dorrance and
Willis, all masters that in one way or another became mentors.
 
A few years later the world's leading equine behaviorist, Dr R. M.
Miller, observed one of Pat's bridle-less demonstrations and quickly
recognized that Pat's concepts aligned strongly with his own philosophy
both on influencing the horse's mind and on foal imprinting. His
prediction was that by the time Pat reached the age of 40, he would have
become one of the best horsemen and teachers the world would have ever
known.
 
Linda Parelli
 
Most people want to know how a dressage rider ended up studying with Pat
Parelli.
 
Had I not owned a horse who brought me to the 'end of the road,' I would
never have gone to Pat Parelli for advice. But, there I was struggling
for two years with a Thoroughbred that I was advised to "sell to a man"
or "put a bullet in his head." I tried all kinds of devices to control
him: chambons, martingales, draw reins, nose bands, different bits. But
this horse would still go crazy - bolting, rearing, and freaking out.
You get the picture. It was pretty miserable and dangerous every time I
rode.
 
When I saw a video of Pat riding bridleless, I figured this cowboy was
my last chance. I went to a Parelli clinic with a list of problems in my
hand. I never got to show Pat the list because within five minutes I
learned that horses were prey animals, that they lived by their
instincts and when feeling threatened, trapped or unsafe, they would do
whatever it took to escape. My horse was not being bad - he was
following his instincts. That clinic changed everything between me and
my horse.
 
To this day I can ride him without a saddle or bridle (remember, this
was a horse who couldn't be stopped even with $200 worth of gadgets on
his head!).
 
I'm often asked why I don't compete anymore. It's just not important to
me right now. I'd rather win my horse's heart and maintain a pure focus
on developing my savvy. I also dedicate most of my time to writing down
what Pat teaches so that as many people as possible have access to this
life-changing information. I'm having more fun with horses and
accomplishing more than I ever thought possible, and I want to share
that. I also want people to know that it doesn't take talent, it doesn't
take bravery and it doesn't take years to get there.
 
It takes heart, desire and access to a phenomenal teacher who's willing
to share everything he knows in a way that is simple to understand
because it builds, step-by-step, to as high a level as you want to take
it.
 
Here's to happy horses and happy riders!
 
"PARELLI NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP, INC. does not object to scanning of
limited extracts of these materials in unaltered form for non-commercial
purposes of exchange of information or good faith commentary. "