A Weekend With Parelli
by Petra Neumueller
On a beautiful, sunny weekend in June, Julie, Dan, and I made our way south to the State Fairgrounds in St.
Paul to attend a show of the Parelli USA Tour 2006. We have visited the Parelli Natural Horsemanship show
once before, in fall of 2005 in Madison, WI. Back then, Julie and Dan became members of the SAVVY CLUB and
have since chased their imaginary horses with their real carrot sticks through the back yard.
On our way down to the cities, we recalled how we had left Madison enchanted, inspired, and full of amazing impressions a year ago. Certainly, the performances we had watched in Madison had been a magical experience for all three of us. And here we were, once again. Three animal lovers with three differing backgrounds regarding horsemanship – but one common goal: to find the best possible way to create a natural relationship between man and horse. Julie worked horses in Western style when she was young. Dan grew up watching his sister’s ponies steal mom’s pie from the kitchen windowsill. I spent my childhood and teenage years working thoroughbreds on German race tracks.
Despite the different backgrounds and varying levels of experience, we have a common mission: to find the most natural way of working with horses. We agree on that the horse-human relationship should be one that is based on trust and respect so that the horse is given a chance to maintain its dignity rather than being the receiving end of a power-based relationship. Since there are no real horses in our lives at this point, we’re talking theory here for the most part, and all we are doing at this point is philosophizing and trying to tie what we learn and hear back to our past experiences with horses. There will be a time, however, when we will be asked to apply all of our wonderful philosophies, and as horse people we know that there will be obstacles and failures in that path. There is no theory in the world that can be transferred simply to the work with animals. So, we are well aware that we will be forced to re-think, re-consider, and re-formulate our philosophies more than once – which is good, because it forces growth and the expansion of one’s horizon. Back to the Parelli weekend…
As I mentioned before, we had seen a Parelli show before, and we expected to learn something different, something new, something even more ground-breaking this time around. Yet, we had to realize that the Parelli U.S.A. Tour mainly aims to attract new followers and eventually produce new members of the SAVVY CLUB rather than serve as an ongoing communication and education for already existing members. After we had overcome our initial disappointment upon realizing that we would see the same show as we had seen in Madison, we were able to enjoy the program and become, once more, truly inspired by the wonderful works of Linda and Pat Parelli. We watched Linda’s presentation on the “natural seat” with awe and laughed when her Remmer couldn’t wait to get the bit in his mouth. We were, once more, enchanted by Pat’s performance when he showed his beautiful mare Magic from Tasmania. We clapped our hands until they hurt to say thank to the gorgeous Mule who participated in the Parelli students’ presentation. We cheered for NitaJo Rush, a fellow Minnesotan and Level 4 instructor who Julie and I had met before. NitaJo, in fact, introduced us to the Parelli concept, and it is because of her that we attended Parelli shows, became SAVVY members, and write articles like this one.
The true highlight of the show was again when Pat brought in his black stallion Casper to show him at liberty. There was no dry eye in the arena when Casper piaffed alongside Pat on Magic and lied down in the end of the performance. Julie, Dan, and I were once again infected by the Parelli virus and left with the feeling of having witnessed something very special and magical.
here is no doubt that Pat Parelli is a “natural,” and it is incredibly important that the methods of natural horsemanship are brought to the attention of all self-proclaimed horse people who still think that a sharper bit and a whip make for the better control of a horse. We sincerely thank Linda and Pat for all their hard work and especially for the enthusiasm they continue to spread over the world that works so wonderfully in favor of the horse!
If you would like to learn more about Parelli Natural Horsemanship and Linda and Pat Parelli, check out their website at www.parelli.com.
07/27/2006
