Linda Parelli making a spectacle of herself

DaisyKJ · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:13 pm

Okay, for starters, just watch this video. I'm very curious to hear people's reactions to it.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80925308

I believe that Linda's intent was to get the horse to quit looking around at the many other horses being worked nearby, and to get the horse to stand and look at her, not too close, mind you, but not too far away either, and no stop looking over there, no not over there either, darn it, or I'll jerk your face, no get back away from me (slap, slap), but don't you dare back up (jerk, jerk)....

Anybody who puts any stock in Parelli Natural Horsemanship, please explain what is going on here. While I don't label it as abusive (the comments I had read on the video were crying out to PETA in protest), it is definitely counter-productive, insensitive, confusing, contradictory, and all-out painful to watch. I am not against a good hard pull on the lead rope if it is well-deserved, and the slap of a cotton lead rope can't be all that bad...BUT this poor horse was totally out of his element, concerned, uncomfortable, confused, and appears to have only one eye.

So if I had been the owner, I would have stopped the whole thing, put my horse in the trailer, and demanded a refund of the $2000 I'd put down towards getting some help with my horse.

They call this training?????

Okay, that's my 2 cents....comments welcome!

chris2729 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:09 am

this is one of the best videos i've ever seen - demonstrating the stupidest thing i've ever seen with a horse. i don't even know WHAT to say about this!

if this is Linda Parelli - which it sure seems to be, i wish more people would see this so that her and her husband's "traveling tent revival" dressed up as horse training, would finally see what a joke they both are.

i could talk all day about everything wrong with this video, but in short, what does a person gain by jerking a horses head towards them and then immediately slapping their head away? this video is the perfect example of complete stupidity. i don't have a problem with occasionally being a little strict or tough on a horse. but i agree daisy, if this were my horse, this video would have been a youtube sensation "irate horse owner freaks out on the parelli's"
this video should be labeled "how to confuse your horse and completely screw up it's training"

EchoSackett · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:42 am

Well, I'm disappointed. Knowing how many people are followers of the Parellis, it is alarming to think this is what they're learning! She looked like an idiot in this video. The confusion and conflict she created in this horse is sad to see. The owner should have stepped in.

CarlaB · **Posted:** Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:49 am

She should be pretty embarrassed! That is some of the worst training techniques I have EVER seen! If they can be called that. Nothing but yanking and slapping. How unprofessional can you get?
What ever happened to talking to the horse. I have found the word "Whoa" really helps. It helps in cluing them in on what your asking of them.
What a joke! I hope this video gets around....a lot, and people see what a sham of a trainer she and her husband are.

DaisyKJ · **Posted:** Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:46 pm

If indeed her goal was to get the horse to stop looking around and start focusing on the handler, she should have:

1. Asked the horse for something. She did appear to lunge in a half circle a few times, but if I had been in her shoes, I would have done a full lunging workout and let the horse get some of the high-headed tail-in-the-air energy put to use in a good way. Instead of ten minutes of slapping and jerking, five minutes of trotting followed by five minutes of walking would have helped this horse look at his lesson a bit more seriously and calmly.

2. Rewarded the horse for everything. Any time the horse actually lowered his head and stood quietly, she should have spoken encouragingly, taken a step back, lowered her ridiculously flailing arms, and walked away leading the horse to a different spot and begun a different excercise by asking for something else. A change of pace would have helped the horse focus more, and a reward for good behavior would have gone MILES in getting him to focus. In this video, she only stopped for a second, cleared her throat angrily, and went right back to jerking. There was no release of pressure at the correct time, and the horse missed any lesson she might have given him except to get back away from her as far as he possibly could.

3. Worked this horse first in a more private setting. Bringing out a high-strung nervous and one-eyed horse to an open area where several other pairs of horses/handlers are working is just asking WAY too much! If this was a well-trained horse with a handler who knew him well and he started acting stupidly, then it might warrant a few jerks and stern words to remind him of his job. But in this situation, the horse is all on the defensive, and the ten minutes of jerking and slapping shown in the video has done NOTHING to prepare him for training. It has only made him higher-headed and more at odds with the handler.

It is indeed a spectacle of poor training. Shame on Linda.

Linda Parelli making a spectacle of herself

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