It's About The Horse

PasoBaby_CarolU · Site Admin Joined: 31 Jan 2009 Posts: 9038

I have Silversand's tapes also..and Dennis Reiss. Also a nice, gentle natural horseman. And, you know Parelli started out doing small 20-30 people clinics also. He got famous rather quickly because of his work and success with mules, but I think his marriage to Linda was really the biggest difference. With her background in education, she took what was a pretty disjointed read in his book, and turned it into a step-by-step educational program that people could follow. There is a big difference in learning math from a mathematician and learning it from a math teacher.

I think his advances in mass-marketing horsemanship came from the changes available in technology - and his personal charisma - more then from any 'new wave' in horsemanship. I say this because I was reading and studying John Lyons (1987) and Richard Shrake (1989) long before Parelli and my first Tour Stop. I also had been to a Ray Hunt-style clinician (don't remember his name) around 78, long before The Horse Whisperer came out.

I might add that all this coincided with the ballooning of the horse market as the Baby Boomers got their kids off to college and moved to the country with more time and money to spend on themselves. I would like to say that most people want to look for more humane methods, but I haven't really found that to be true. Most people are traditionalists and I find the 'natural' movement to be the exception rather then the rule.
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Carol Nudell
Corazon de Oro Paso Finos

"The path to your horse's heart lies through your own."

Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots. - Words of Wisdom - Mhar

‎"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss activities; Small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Tigerlily · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:10 pm Post subject:

While 'personality' should not have anything to do with horsemanship, it does. just like ANY thing on the planet, we gravitate toward people we like, and distance ourselve from those we dont.

all this NH stuff has brought about a change for the better in the horse world. but most of the 'masters' are simply not available in mass to the public. were it not for video's and now dvd's....and better yet, streaming video online. most of us would not have the opportunity to learn from the 'best'. Saddly, this has had the opposite effect to many good horsemen, in that people think only the best make video's. there are lots of great people, available to study from in person, that dont have dvd's or books......and even more that dont teach. But then there are also many who teach who are not so good. as a student I was/am very aware of this fact. Quality instructors are few and far between in my area. So this movement, in the last 30ys, has brought even more knowlege to people who would otherwise not have the access to learn about a better way.

So in order to deliver this 'message' to the world, if you dont have a good personality, who will want to listen to what you have to say? It is part of marketing and part of theatre and part of entertainment as a whole. Offensive/boring/dry things, get.....bad reviews, no ticket sales, and people to change the channel. It is a fact of life, and a fact of death. for if it weren't, we would all be praying to go to Hell rather than Heaven. I think we have taken it a bit far, in the idolizing department.....but I wouldnt trade that, for having the info taken away from me.

Some people cannot stand Pat and Linda's personality, never mind horsemanship. They aren't for everyone. No One is.
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True Genius does not fullfill expectations, True Genius shatters them.

Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a jackass from any direction.

http://www.naturalmannershorsemanship.blogspot.com/

Malcolm · Member Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Posts: 135

Good points Carol. Historical context is everything. The old question of the "great man (now person)" or the "sea change" that floated his boat is never answered because it is usually both. The far and wide reach of the person to affect the world is what we mull over. And when it is a good change i am glad and of course the mainstream horse world rolls on, but what impresses me is the extent to which people are taking heed of NH or the importance of a gentler way to some degree. The ones that do are the ones that I like. Having said that, Steve Halfpenny dropped the word "Natural". I wonder if that is legal concern or what.

Too true about charisma Michelle. I have decided that if I was an insomniac I would prescribe myself Steve Halfpenny's Silversand videos. I found they really got me snoozing last night, as much as I like him. It's about bedtime, so might put on another!

Malcolm

Tigerlily · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:45 am Post subject: