My

My Journey began when I was 11 yrs old. I had a P.O.A. Pony called Scout. He was the best teacher I ever had. We did things together that most folks wouldn’t attempt  or even believe possible. Our relationship was so close that without any professional lessons or trainers, we competed in all events that were available to us. We started in the morning with halter and showmanship, then on to western pleasure and horsemanship classes. We would switch tack and enter english pleasure, equitation, and jumping. We would change tack again and proceed on to reining,working cowhorse, trail and finally timed events. 

Folks, we didn’t just enter. WE WON.  

But when we weren’t showing we just spent time together having fun.

The same thing happened when I got my second horse, a two year old QH called Bandi. We did everything together and we won in every event. But first and foremost we always just had fun. Well, I’ve had several horses since then, all of them very nice, but I wasn’t getting the results I did when I was a kid, and I certainly wasn’t having the same kind of fun.

You may be asking what does this have to do with Parelli Natural Horsemanship? 

Well, back then I was natural and didn’t know it. Back then, I was a kid having so much fun with my horses that I spent all my time developing a relationship that led to a partnership, that led to harmony and finally, refinement. That refinement put us in the winners circle.

Many of you could care less about showing - and ya know what, neither do I. I quit wanting to show because for me, it had become boring, and just too much work and expense.  Now I care more about being a horseman than a showman - All I really want to do is have fun with my horse, just like I did when I was young.

You see, as I grew up I began to lose my sense of play and my natural inclination to be a partner with my horse. I had a job, a family, bills to pay, and only a limited amount of time to spend with my horse. So I began start taking shortcuts to get things done. That usually caused problems and I’d end up spending  more time fixing  problems than I did progressing. That certainly wasn’t any fun.

Natural Horsemanship  teaches, Take the time that it takes so it takes less time. I had enough time to do the wrong thing over and over, and keep  trying to fix it, but I wouldn’t  take the time to do what’s right so that ultimately it would take less time, and allow me to just have fun.

An example of this might be loading my horse in the trailer. How many times have I rushed my horse towards the trailer and he hesitates, so I give them a good smack and hopefully he’d go in.  If he didn’t go in, I’d have to find a helper  - someone to push while I pull. Or I would go find a  feed bucket to bribe my horse while the another person cracked a whip from behind. Sound familiar? This was me several years ago.

Now I am learning to put my Principles before my Purpose. Now, I want to be sure my horse can follow and understand and trust my directions. My horse needs a really good leader to ask him to do something like get in a rolling, rattling, metal cage that eats horses.

 Natural Horsemanship teaches us to never do anything that takes away a horse’s confidence, curiosity, sensitivity, or dignity.  How many times had I done that in my life as a so called horseman? I remember a time I tied a horse to a tree and took a blanket and tossed it at him as he danced around and spooked. He was convinced that me and that blanket were going to kill him. Well, I got him so tired  that eventually he gave up and let me put that blanket on. And he never gave me any more problems with blankets, but the  next time I came at him with something new it was another trip back  to the tree.  You see, Pat reminded me that horses are prey animals. That means they are the ones that predators eat. Horses have to be cautious, skeptical, fast, and sometimes fierce to survive. When my horse gives me a hard time about something, it usually means they are simply trying to be sure that they’ll live to see another day.

I learned that horses only want three things. Safety, Comfort, and Play.

I learned that I have to prove to my horse that I’m not a Predator.

I learned that  horses don’t care how much I know - they only care how much I care.

I learned that many of  my previous skills caused me to

squash my horse’s  confidence, diminish his natural sense of curiosity, damage his sensitivity, and ultimately take away his dignity. 

Parelli Natural Horsemanship  teaches me  how to apply a philosophy of love, language and leadership in equal doses so I can have a  safer, braver, smarter and more athletic horse. I am learning what to do, when to do it, why to do it, and when to quit.

Natural horsemanship is not about training horses, it’s about training people.

When I was a kid I knew how to think, act and play like a horse. I just didn’t know how  to apply these skills in order to get consistent and continual progress.

Horses have a language, they talk to each other in many different ways.

I needed to learn how to speak their language. I needed to define and refine my body language so that it made sense to my horse.

I needed to learn how to stop being a predator and start being a partner.

I needed to learn how to get my horse to stop acting like a prey animal and start acting like a partner.

I can recall being told kick him to go, pull on him to whoa. I can recall being told get a different bit - put a tie down on - tie his mouth shut - He needs spurs -  give him a good spanking -  put a chain under his chin or over his nose - lunge him so he’ll calm down - so on and so on.

All of these methods are perfectly Normal - But I found out that normal changes every single day. There’s always another tool, or another method coming down the pike. Every breed and every discipline has it’s own set of normal - and that Normal changes from region to region, even among breeds.

Folks, I don’t want to be normal anymore. I want to be just like my horse - Natural.

I want to be a horseman first, so I can communicate with any breed, in any part of the country, doing anything I want with a horse.  

I love horses because of what they are by nature - Natural

Pat and his wife Linda have now put together complete programs that teach what Pat has learned and is willing to share.  I’m very grateful that he’s not one those trainers that keeps his secrets to himself so that only he can benefit from the knowledge.

The results I get with Zip are from me being willing to put my principles before my purpose, taking the time that it takes, so it takes less time, and not doing

Things  to take away my horse’s confidence, curiosity, sensitivity or dignity.

I watch and learn from others, but if it’s normal and not natural, I don’t do it.

I try and learn something new everyday, because If I’m not learning - I’m going nowhere.

Horse   Man   Ship - Three words -

Two beings on board a ship preparing to take a journey.

And oh what a wonderful journey it has become!