Another stress reliever I see is yawning and rolling of the eyes. Or "yarring" the mouth, not a word I know, but opening the mouth and twisting the head and moving the tongue. I have a very sensitive young warmblood cross and he does this sometimes. Kathy

very interesting.. indeed. ya know I had a hanaverion imported over and by the time he got here and had gotten out of quaraentine he had a habit of sticking his tongue out and sucking on it or twisitng it around in circles it was funny but I often thought he did this to relieve tension or stress he had acquired on his way over here . ( didnt do it over there )) all the hours spent in the box stall etc.. It is amazing to me what they do to block out fear, pain , or just plain confusion. I dont import anymore.. its to hard on the horse In my opinion.. karen

Karen, here is what someone had posted about the Parelli DVD and the personalities. Kathy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another thing Linda explained in detail and gave examples. There is a continuum of states of mind or attitude that ranges from catatonic - introverted (active ie nutso) - unconfident - confident - playful - dominent - angry - rage introverted (quiet ie not there) Learning occurs in the confident/playful area and the human can often push a horse into unconfidence as the horse is trying to figure out what you want. You won't teach a dominant horse or an angry horse because he doesn't care so much about you and an introverted horse isn't there (though often they can "go through the motions" very convincingly). Linda's warmblood Allure used to go catatonic (I thought she was kidding but she shows it on the DVD) when she would show up at the gate - he would suck on his tongue, his ears go to half mast and he leaves... goes deep inside to the happy place where stress is blocked out. She couldn't even lead him - he was stuck in la la land. Now he will do it when she gives him a cookie - she did this on the tape and sure enough Allure went bye bye inside himself. When I went to the horse expo I saw at least two horses in this state - QH stallions in small pens - deep inside themselves and blocking everything out. It's a great refuge for a prey animal, but heartbreaking when you think what must drive them to need to go there. I also saw this with a friend's QH at a clinic when she put him in the round pen, took the halter off and walked away. You could see him at first almost panic (what am I supposed to do - what's going to happen now - then his eyes lidded over and he "went away"). It's all over once you realize what it looks like. So - if you see your horse going unconfident, and you press in you may drive him in further (sometimes they just get panicky and nuts) so you back off, turn away, walk away, lead the horse instead of facing him, try something easier, slow down, get softer. But if you have a confident horse that is getting bored, playful and the next game is to dominate YOU, you change it up, quicken the pace (stay soft don't get harsh) but be more provocative, do more, think of new things to do, make him interested and get his attention because you are so fascinating and a worthy leader. Amazing stuff.....

that sounds interesting about the differant personalities .

Buffy, It is wonderful to hear about your success with learning more about how your horse thinks! I am sure she so appreciates what you have done for her and yourself. I guess my only criticism of SOME of the Parelli folks is the "upping the phases" without giving the horse a chance to try or when these folks are missing the "try" the horse offers because they are so focused on the end result. This has been my personal experience, so that is what guides me. I recently heard a woman talking about a new video/dvd the Parellis offered that showed how the horse was thinking and the different personalities types of horses, insecure vs confident and how each handled pressure. Sounded really intriguing There are many roads to Rome, lets hope the horse is willing to go with us and perhaps carry us along those roads! Thanks for sharing! K

buffy thats so true.. yanking and kicking is not good horsemanship.. ground work is essantial in any training .. with any horse and rider. Just differant folks prefer differant techniques . But i think too that riding and miles makes a better horse but you have to begin with understanding, trust and leadership.. no matter how you approach it.. with everything though .. more time put into it the better the results.. Nothing is overnight success.. karen

..okay here goes my 2 cents worth! I have been to quite a few Parelli clinics and yes Pat is a great showman! But... he puts humour and thought into his sessions and that really gets ya listening to him. He does have the gift to gab, for sure. There is a fellow by the name of Jonathan Field from the Vancouver, British Columbia area that is an instructor under Parelli. This young fellow is fantastic...I did his clinic with my horse...it truly was the best thing I ever did for my horse. Yes, we use the colourful carrot stick, but that is just an extension of my hand. My horse loves to be rubbed all over with it. I can swing it around and she is not afraid of it. I love the Parelli way of training because it really is training us humans to be gentle but also be the lead horse. To teach us the tools of how to do that without whipping the horse and breaking their spirit and yet still have their respect on the ground as well as in the saddle. I think the bottom line is unless you understand how a horse thinks, no amount of wet blankets are going to make you or the horse better. If you are "kicking it to go" and pulling hard on it's mouth to stop, that horse will not work for you willingly...trust me, I know because that is exactly what happened to me. I pulled on her mouth so hard because I was the boss and she had better stop when I want her to stop! She was at the point where she was hard to catch and I had a hell of a time getting the bit in her mouth. It has taken along time of doing things differently and a more gentle way and she finally is coming around. I now can walk out in the field and she faces me and waits for me to put the halter on, I don't have to hide the halter and chase her around and around. Anyways...Parelli certainly pushes HIS books, videos, training packages, etc, but if they work then it is cetainly well worth it! Buffy

ALL THE GOOD CLINICANS SAY THE SAME THINGS BUT IN THE COMMUNICATION FIELD,CLINTONS THE MAN, MATE!A TERRIFIC SPOKESMAN WHO HAS NO SECRETS.SEE YA AT THE 10 DAY CLINIC IN GLEN ROSE TEXAS, MARCH 10-20......JERRY

The first one of the sequals " A matter of Trust" he did was here in Florida and also at another barn up north.. My swedish mare.."mecca" I just posted a few pics of her on my profile .""schwung and cadance"" ..Think at the time I was doing 3rd with her. working on piaffes and passage and more collection work with him. karen Mecca broke her hip last year in a pasture and had to be put down . I am deeply saddened by that and a reason I decided to go another direction.she was only 7 . and a heart of gold.

>>walter Zettle .. what a great master in his field. I had the pleasure of being in one of his training videos with one of my mares. Hi, well I have the videos, which one, what did your mare look like? My background was hunter/jumpers and when I started looking at other disciplines and meeting new people, it was suggested I go audit a Zettle clinic in Fl. He was my intro to dressage and I certainly liked what I saw. I audited 2 more and watched a friend ride with him. >>He has a sequal of course and I was training at one of the farms here in florida and he is such a wonderful man.. He is always looking out for the horses wellbeing and I would certainly recommend him to any dressage enthusiast if you get the opportunity to ride with him. or just meet him.. Hes a kind soul.. and heart...of gold. Yes, his sens of humor and willingness to respond to auditor's questions was simply wonderful. The fact that he is still out there helping the horse via the rider at his age speaks for itself. Thanks for sharing! K