# Pat Parelli



## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

1. Parelli certification will drive some people away, as in many horse circles his practitioners have a bad name and his marketing program is seen as a scam which preys on the ignorance of beginners. However, I can't say what percentage of potential customers this is. I don't know much about him myself, except how much sneering mentioning his name arouses. My guess is that he didn't get famous by having no talent at all, though.

2. Auditing is in my opinion almost always a better option than spending money on a clinician you aren't already familiar with and like.You can always pick up a few tips and tools, often more of them than if you were focused on your own horse. You can also watch how he treats the students, how he talks to the audience, who gets attention and who doesn't, what things he ignores, how horses react to him, all sorts of things, and form judgements uninfluenced by how much money you've invested.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

I would avoid someone who said they were Parelli certified. I don't like his approach to horses and find him too gimmicky. I'd assume the same would be true of someone he certified. Just my vote.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

I'm not a fan. But one can almost always learn something. Have you watched any of his videos? Might give you a clue as to deciding to spend a chunk of change and time or passing.


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## Imperial Black (Sep 22, 2019)

Yes. I have watched some of his videos. Thank you.

I am fairly certain that we will not be going to his clinics. I think he understands horses, but I don't agree with his training method(s). When you add in the costs, it does not seem like a good decision for me at this time. Though, I would like to continue receiving your opinions.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

My daughter and I will be attending a one-day Parelli clinic that is going to be held where we board. I feel like I know enough about horses and my horses in particular that I can sift out what I don't like from the clinic, but I am enough of a beginner that I think I will learn something also. And honestly a large part of it is we're trying to be supportive of the lady who is bringing the clinic in.

We already audited a half day clinic that this same lady led. I do agree that it seems aimed at first-time horse owners who don't understand their horses, or who are maybe even afraid of them. The thing I really didn't like is that they focus a lot on their "steps" and "levels" but not so much on actually reading the horse or developing your "feel." I guess for beginners who really have no clue about how to read a horse or where to even start working with their horse, it could be useful. But personally I prefer to take every horse as he is, figure out where he's coming from, and work with him in whatever way is best for the two of us, on that day. 

As a horse owner I would hesitate to buy a horse that was Parelli trained, and I would not view Parelli certification as a positive thing in a potential trainer. I am not overly fond of a lot of his methods, and he also has some idiosyncratic cues that I wouldn't want my horse to learn, or me to have to learn.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I attended one of his clinics some years back. I THINK he was sort of newly married to Linda, who was the big push in getting his marketing on the right track to be a money making machine.

My granddad gave me my horse training foundation; I went to see what I might learn since the clinic was only 12 miles from my farm.

At intermission my friend went down to the arena where the vendors were set up.

I went up to the Mezzanine to see observe the activities in the practice arena from the mezzanine window.

Imagine my surprise when I saw One Mr. Parelli giving his horse a spurring and a jerking on the bit, the horse did not deserve. Even an inexperienced horse person would have known that horse was needlessly and hurt fully getting jerked around. Especially after the stallion had put on a beautiful Liberty performance, minutes before in the main arena.

That means I have no use for Pat Parelli, even after all these years. Nor do I have much good to say about any so-called NH trainers. I don't like their methods, plain and simple. However, very few people were privileged to be mentored by a grandfather whom we always joked cared more for his horses than he did his wife, so some folks have to start somewhere, I guess.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

@Wakinthewalk - There's more than one video on youtube where people have quietly filmed this sort of thing going on behind the scenes with Parelli. Sadly.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

I watched him jerk the face off his black stud horse IN A SPADE BIT behind the barn at an expo... I wouldn't walk across the street to watch one of his clinics. They're geared toward middle-aged women who are afraid of their horses, and it's far to gimmicky. Go audit the clinic, but I wouldn't bother with a 'Parelli Certification' as it will send most horse people running the other way. Most knowledgeable horse people avoid Parelli-trained horses like the plague. Any mention of Parelli or 'seven games' in an horse ad will send people elsewhere--- at least those that aren't other Parelli followers.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Is that quoted price for AUDITING a clinic? if so, that is enormously expensive. You can audit a Buck Branaman clinic for about a fourth that cost.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

He is a master at marketing. From what I've seen of his training methods, very gimmicky.


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## therhondamarie (Sep 18, 2019)

Doesn't he also sell a bunch of products? I'm wary of all the trainers that are super marketers and ask that you buy a bunch of their products in order to be successful. I've watched a ton of his videos and I even subscribe on youtube, but to be fair I subscribe to nearly everyone calling themselves a trainer. Whether as a blessing or a lesson.


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## ManicDaisy (Dec 13, 2018)

This thread amuses me because it’s verifying everything I’ve seen/felt regarding Parelli—and I’ve only been in the horse world a year , dealing, mostly alone, with basically rescue horses!

One set of horses that I care for is owned by a woman my age (late 40s) who was totally scared of one of her horses. The only time I saw her interact with this horse, it bit her.

When it did, she immediately said we needed to call in the Parelli trainer!

She was 100% convinced that Parelli training was the only thing that worked, and insisted that I have a parelli trainer come and teach me how to work with the horses.

In my opinion, the trainer was completely useless. Things between me and the horse got WORSE after she came. Not better.

Now, overall this horse is just too green for me. But I worked with a couple other trainers, who used traditional methods. and those worked way better.

I may only know a handful of horse people and a handful of horses, but even way out here in Kauai, I can tell Parelli is a but of a Shtick.

That said, if you can go for free, do so. You may pick up some useful information. 

Ive watched a couple of his videos and did learn a couple useful things. So there is that.,


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

I think he's fantastic. Auditing is a great way to take away some things that you can take home and try out with your horses. What he has done and is taken horse psychology and simplified it in a way that a non knowledgeable horse person can understand and can then take and learn how to better communicate with their horse. I don't agree with everything he does, but I do feel that some of the things he does are fantastic.

Auditing clinics gives you the chance to watch, learn and listen on a new techniques and perhaps take something home that can help further your equine education.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

I think he's fantastic. Auditing is a great way to take away some things that you can take home and try out with your horses. What he has done and is taken horse psychology and simplified it in a way that a non knowledgeable horse person can understand and can then take and learn how to better communicate with their horse. I don't agree with everything he does, but I do feel that some of the things he does are fantastic.

Auditing clinics gives you the chance to watch, learn and listen on a new techniques and perhaps take something home that can help further your equine education.


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## its lbs not miles (Sep 1, 2011)

Imperial Black said:


> Hello,
> 
> Please excuse me for asking; I understand that this is a controversial topic that has been trampled to death.
> 
> ...



Save your money (and your time).

Now Pat does actually know how to train horses, BUT what he sells (which out of necessity is what he shows in his workshops) is nothing more than some tricks that don't always work and can lead to some pretty bad results.

The best example I can give (which is easy for anyone to see) is to find the video (I'm sure you can google it) of Pat training Catwalk (a horse) at a large demonstration in the UK.

What makes it all the worse is Pat responding to the outcry by saying that the people who were upset just did not understand what they saw. He's so full of crap that it's ridiculous. I know exactly what I saw. I know exactly what a gun line is (which is what he did to that poor horse) and would beat him senseless if he tried that on any of my horses (my grandfather would have just shot him and fed his body to the hogs).

All these "trainers" who are trying to sell people products that reputedly teach how to train a horse are modern "snake oil" sellers.

Now as I said, Pat does know horses and can train them. He did, in fact, get Catwalk to accept a bridle on a later date. It took him a considerable amount of time and went very well. He used proper techniques, but there in is the problem. Training horses "properly" requires real knowledge of horses in general and of the horse being trained in specific. You can't teach that in videos or from a book which means you can't treat it like a product that can be marketed and sold. 

Pat did not learn what he really knows that way (he was taught by someone with real experience who he trained under....just as many good trainers did). It is to his GREAT shame that he's more interested in selling snake oil than doing what's right for horses and their owners. I once allowed a friend, who was trained (actually at a clinic with Pat and also had all the videos which I watched out of courtesy) show me how easy it was to train a horse to back up using Pat's way. Within minute of two I saw a major problem coming as my horse was about to rear up on my friend. So I show him a much, much, MUCH better way (in fact showed two better ways) that was better for the horse and trainer.

Good training requires a good knowledge of the animal, because when Pat's tricks don't work then what do you do? Even on the video there was a horse that didn't respond well to Pat's "technique" that they try to sell as the way to do something and that horse and owner were absent from the next demonstration which Linda explain was because that horse had a problem and needed more work. NO, the horse did not have a problem. Linda had the problem, because they only have one set of tricks in the bag of tricks they sell. One trick for each item of training. What happens when the horse doesn't get it, or responds badly to that trick (see Catwalk with Pat's original attempt in front of the audience). It takes real knowledge and real understanding to successful train. Not a bag of tricks. Like people, every horse is different and what works for one can be a tragic mistake with another.


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