So you don't like Parelli... Who do you prefer...?

Question

There has been several questions on her about those that don't care for the Parelli Natural horsemanship methods.

Well, I was wondering who some of you do like as horse trainers?

As far as the ones that most of us would know of. (Not local people in your area).

I don't much care for the Parelli thing myself.

And tell why you like who you like.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I do like Parelli... but my favourite by far, one I really respect and admire, is Monty Roberts. I've read his books, and his methods, and his life in general, are amazing.

What I really like about him is that not only are his methods so good, effective and cruelty-free, he kept working at it. Heaps of people, even his own father, told him that what he did was stupid, "going to get him killed" and wasn't the way it should be done. Instead of stopping, and following in his father's cruel footsteps, he was all the more determined to work at his methods which have started thousands of horses to date and saved ones from a certain death because they were deemed "un-ridable". So the fact that he kept going, in order to help horses and their owners was inspirational, and the fact that most people in his situation would have been so hurt by people's opinions and given up, but he didn't.

Monty Roberts is THE Horse Whisperer. I truly respect him and what he does, and admire his determination. I hope all those who have learned from him continue to pass on his horse ways, and hope that one day, all horse owners will use these non-aggressive methods to further benefit the relationship between horses and humans, and build relationships based on trust and a partnership, and not fear.

Answer 2

I like John Lyons. I read a book on him once. He got into horses late in his life, so I feel his technique is based on observation and intuition instead of old wives tales and "conventional wisdom". There aren't any "games", just common sense herd dynamics.

Answer 3

I think Parelli is too commercial, although his method for getting a horse to move is real good and I use that method. Every trainer has something good to offer. I think some click with some people better than others.

A lot of John Lyons methods take too long. I do like his method for stopping a horse from biting and I use that. The best advice I got from him was to hug your horse. He said when you get mad or frustrated with your horse, you should give him a hug instead of showing your anger. This will calm you and the horse.

Overall I like Clinton Anderson and think he is the best when it comes to colt starting. I also like that his methods teach the horse much faster than other trainers.  

Answer 4

Well I don't do natural horsemanship, but I respect that it does work for some horses and not others, but there is a guy who lives up the road from us who is awesome with natural horsemanship. His name is Guy McLean and he's really good. Personally i don't like the sound of Parelli, but Clinton Anderson is ok. Though most of the natural horsemanship is just common sense which they charge an arm and a leg for.

these are the only ones i could find:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BLiNIYjw...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAyn7R7KH...

(dunno so much about the chainsaw idea..)

Answer 5

Clinton Anderson, Richard Shrake ......I also have a lot of trainers that I like and that I respect but are not in the public limelight like the above mentioned. They specify in just a few genera's and have won world championships in there field.  

Answer 6

I don't do any of them Natural Horsemanship stuff, I just treat my horse fairly, and try to think of things from his perspective, remembering he's a horse, not human.

Just lstuff like letting horses get used to floats, encouraging them out and letting them come out when they want, so they learn- no pressure.

And keeping them in a natural as possible environment, with good company,  and building a good relationship with them, through trust and leadership.

No bright orange 'carrot sticks' or whatever, no big spurs, like you always see 'naturel' horseman ship peoples wearing.

Answer 7

Mine is John Lyons, never seen that video but I don't think is would matter I've used his methods for yrs and a few of others like Parelli, and my horses are just wonderful, happy, healthy, and love to go for a ride:)  And of course each horse has it's own personality so each one I may use a different method if one isn't working.  

Answer 8

Every one of them have something or some way I like. However, I prefer Clinton Anderson based on his end results.  He also has timely methods.  When I have a lot of horses to train his methods work better.

Answer 9

Clinton Anderson. Hands down. Best training videos ever.

He doesn't add a lot of irrelevant stuff (horse-analities, bullshit marketing, spirituality, bible quotations, self-esteem, etc.). He teaches you how to communicate with the horse to get the results you want. I can't emphasize enough how his videos have improved my horse and me.

Besides, his videos are funny rather than dull. PLUS, rather than just showing what he can do, he provides videos of dreadful beginners trying his techniques and shows what they're doing wrong or right, and why.

Answer 10

You pretty much summed it by saying, they all have something to learn from.  It's finding what fits your life and your horse.  It's is pretty much common horsemenship.  They all have their good points and their bad points.  There is things that each one teaches that I don't agree with doing to my horse.  There is alot of things that I like about all of them.  The biggest thing they all teach is that you don't have to beat your horse to respect you and more time you spend with them teaching them the better.  I like clinton anderson, he is more cut and dry and easy to understand.  He gives you goal and the steps to get to that goal are pretty easy and don't take hours everyday.

Answer 11

I happen to absolutely love Pat Parelli's training methods; they have done wonders for me and he makes horse training so fun and rewarding; I just love seeing horses progress through the stages...but I also have a lot of respect for Clinton Anderson.

Answer 12

Dang!  I was going to say my old cowboy friend down the road, but that was until I read your details!

I think some of those trainers have methods that would work sometimes, but each horse is different.  When I have a problem with training one of mine, I would rather ask a local about my horse, maybe have them come out and see where I'm having a problem.  

What got me about John Lyons, his 30 year old horse Zip.  Well guess what, I can get my 30 year old horse to do all those things too.  It just takes many hours of working with a horse.  The people that want push-button horse should buy a 4-wheeler!

Answer 13

I don't really do the whole "completely" natural thing but i do a bit of like monty roberts and perelli, i am just training my horse (well staring to) and i want her to trust me not to fair  me. so i defiantly go by the philosophy, would i like that if they did it to me? so why should the horses? where i ride they don't use bits, shoes or whips. so its really kind, and i'm not saying that every one who trains their horses with any other method isn't nice and doesn't care, but its just a lot nicer knowing that you cant do anything to hurt them or give the horses bad memories.

the horses also don't where covers, which most of you will probably be thinking is crazy, especially in winter, but the wild horses don't have little covers to keep them warm or little shoes to stop their feet growing naturally, so why should these ones?

they are really nice horses, and none of them would hurt you perposly. they are also trekking horses, so they do soooo well  

Answer 14

Monty Roberts. He's an amazing man who has done so much for the equines of the world!  Join Up really works, i was very sceptical when i first read his book but at that stage i had just bought a filly who had been abused and hated human touch, i thought it was worth a try.  It took me 20 minutes to get her to the point where i could touch her all over, pick up her feet and lay over her back. She behaved like she'd done it all her life.  Now i use his method with all of my horses and ponies and our stud has a great name for quiet beginners ponies that are young (3.5 to 5 years).  He really has years of observational research (eg- watching wild mustangs) and hands on experience (eg- training wild mustangs) he has devoted his life to the horse, i mean what other natural horsemanship trainer has had his methods adopted by The Queen. But the main point is that it really works!  

Answer 15

G'Day,

I am a big fan of John O'Leary from HORSEPROBLEMS AUST.

He is honest and down to earth.

His training methods are first class.

Answer 16

I've always been a huge fan of Monty Roberts but for the most part I don't really subscribe to any of the big name trainers. Of course I've never really had major issues with my horses that couldn't be solved by myself or with the help of my instructor. But if I did have a serious problem I would definitely go with Monty Roberts. I also really like Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. I know he works with dogs, but you'd be surprised how similar horses and dogs are. of course not everything applies but for the most part, his ideas and techniques have worked wonders with our horses and has really helped us out a lot.

Answer 17

well I used to bag out parelli so much when I was younger and doing pony club but when my family told me I couldnt do PC anymore I started to look for other things and natural horsemanship came up I do that with my thoroughbred and yesterday just started doing parelli with my pony it is heaps fun but the best way to be is open minded  

Answer 18

I wasn't going to answer this since I do like Parelli, but I read the posts and everyone is responding whether or not Parelli is liked or not.  Others I like are John Lyons (I have years of Perfect Horse magazines stacked up here), Clinton Anderson, Richard Shrake, and I'm just beginning to study Bobby Ingersoll's hackamore methods.  I basically just like the principles of natural horsemanship, and every NH trainer has something to offer. Too much focus gets placed on carrot sticks and such..I have never used one, but I do know that Parelli techniques are a part of what was used by the trainer I learned NH from...just not all of it.