Question about Training, Parelli and Rope Halters

[wingnut]

I am watching the Parelli training DVD "Get Started" that I rented from GiddyUpFlix.

I like what I'm seeing and am curious to see how my own horses might respond to some the methods he demonstrates.

My question is whether you HAVE to have a rope halter to work these techniques or if a standard halter would work as well, or nearly as well. I do not own a rope halter and have never used one.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Ok I can respond. I don't use Parelli so can't compare his methods and won't say who is better. I follow Clinton Anderson and he also uses rope halters. Lets just say I no longer use any nylon halters and just use the CA halters. So like I said I don't know Parelli but for the method I use I love the rope halters.

 

[wingnut]

Ok I can respond. I don't use Parelli so can't compare his methods and won't say who is better. I follow Clinton Anderson and he also uses rope halters. Lets just say I no longer use any nylon halters and just use the CA halters. So like I said I don't know Parelli but for the method I use I love the rope halters.

Thanks for the input JMS. I have some Clinton Anderson DVDs in my GiddyUp queue.

How hard is it to find miniature horse sized rope halters? I found instructions on how to make your own a few weeks back, but I'm not terribly inclined or gifted in that regard!

 

[Sungold]

I use the Clinton Anderson full-size horse "weanling" size halter. It fits all my minis and shetlands from 32"-44". I got mine off of eBay.

 

[rubyviewminis]

Clinton here all the way, and I also never use nylon halters. I use the foal size halters from Clinton for most of my minis, the newborn size for my weanling minis, and when I had a larger Quarter Horse type mini gelding, he was in the weanling size halter. They have a chart, and also a measurement table for their halters to use. You can also call their wonderful customer service people for help. The foal size works the best on minis, and mine have refined arab type heads.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I'm 100% a Clinton Anderson fan and also use his weanling full sized halters for my minis. Won't comment on Parelli.

But something I will say is that you will notice the training DVDs show full-sized horses. Think about where the presure is applied when using these techniques on a full-sized horse. Most handlers will be shorter than their horse so when they apply pressure, the knots are being applied downward. If your mini is 30" tall, you have to modify the way you apply the pressure so you maintain that downward motion....otherwise you aren't making the contact you need and the "knots" become meaningless. Might as well have a traditional nylon halter on the horse.

One option that I saw used on a full-sized horse that will aid in working with a mini is to use the stick across the lead rope to change the angle of the pressure to more of a downward motion without you having to bend over the whole time. Saves your back some. The stick sort of gives you extra length to your arm and you put it across the lead rope, sort of like crossing a "T" and push downward. It makes the pressure come more from a "below" angle rather than "above" the head of the horse. Hope that made sense. It's not easy to describe. It's something used a bit differently on a big horse to get them to move backward or off you while allowing you to keep your distance (unsafe horse, etc.).

Good luck!

And if you ever get to see CA in person - go! It's like a rock concert!

 

[rubyviewminis]

Parmela, that is very interesting! I have never considered that, but then I have trained Q Horses since 1999 with Clinton's tools and Method. I just naturally went into the same when I got my first minis in 08. I had not noticed or considered using differing angles, makes sense. I will say that I have posted alot of advice on Clinton's NWC for members new to minis, such as; I use the kid sized stick and string for minis, foal halters, some newborn halters, vary the exercise in accordance with size. A better term would be an adaption. Clinton used the Method on Phoenix his mini companion for his Demo horse, and did a tv show on minis for the Houcks awhile back. My biggest problem was and still is to tone down the amount of pressure, nothing else. My minis are for the most part very sensitive tho, and require very little pressure, or repition.

I won't waste my time on any comments on Mr. Parrelli either.

 

[wingnut]

Well, come on now. Help this newbie out.

Why Anderson over Parelli? I'm an utter newbie in this particular world so I have no bearing on either one. I'm sure you can find a way to express your likes/dislikes for both without being too offensive, right?

Or just point me to some good websites that will spell it out for me!

 

[Marty]

So sorry to hear you have wasted your money on Parelli, the biggest moron ever to hit the horse scene who preys on unsuspecting newbies. This guy can destroy a perfectly good animal faster than I have ever seen before.

 

[wingnut]

Thanks Marty!! Thankfully, I haven't wasted any money....the beauty of GiddyUpFlix!!!!

 

[chandab]

Marty, that Parelli video is unbelieveable. Well not totally... He's alwasy rubbed me the wrong way, and to me his "games" and training looks like he's irritating the horse.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAHxbnQpSss&NR=1

No explanation needed.

My advice is if you have RFD-TV go on there and watch shows like Parelli, Clinton Anderson, and Chris Cox just to get a general idea and see who you like. I don't know anything about Stacy Westfall so can't comment on her.

 

[wingnut]

That *was* impressive. Nothing makes me happier than to see a horse working so flawlessly, so beautifully and so unstressed. Always, always, always brings tears to my eyes.

 

[rubyviewminis]

MARTY! I knew there were a lot of reasons why I liked you so much! Yes Parelli is a blowhard, moron. He was bucked off at Road To The Horse because of grandstanding and sheer stupidity.

Stacy Westfall is wonderful, Chris Cox is very good, but Clinton Anderson can Teach People to teach their horses. He is black and white with no in-between which horses and people understand. Chris Cox just has problems getting his message and techniques across to most people, but I have picked up some good tips from him. Stacy is sensible and knowledgeable. Clinton is Clinton, and he always credits the two men who taught him all of his basic horse training. Clinton's main business is breaking it all down into step-by-step methods, making it easy for people to understand and train their horses. There is so much more. If you join the No Worries Club, there are tv shows, his DVD's, articles, journals, etc for you to learn from. Just join for one month for less than $20 and evaluate for yourself. You will get $200 or more worth of information. Best of all are the members. That club was created for Clinton's fans since he cannot duplicate himself, and we all help each other, anyone asking a question will a huge response, and no nit-picking, bashing, flaming, accusations, only good responses. There are health, hoof, safety, foal handling, newbies, seniors, club DVD's, and other forums. I could go on and on. We also have lots of fun contests, Jamie is a member.

A Tour IS a rock show! I can get tickets for any Tour you want to go to. They give away thousands in prizes, demo horses people have brought, you learn a lot of things there, and Clinton will stay as long as it takes after a tour to answer questions, sign autographs, or take a picture with you, no matter how late it is. And if you want a truthful answer, he gives it. He does not put on airs, Safety is most important. I have trained two mustangs to be safe willing sweet horses by using his method of training. I have taken spoiled, mean, biting, kicking, miniatures and made them child safe wonderful little companions using his method of training.

he is on RFD-tv, FSN, and online, just google to get his other website.

 

[Mareish Mom]

All the Natural Horsemen (and women) use rope halters and leads. The foal halter fits my mini, and there are inexpensive versions on Ebay. Don't know why ya'll hate Parelli, I've gone through level 3 with my Arabian; but also study Clinton, John Lyons and the rest. Watch them on RFD and you will pick up a lot of information. I've adopted different techniques from all of them to find whatever works best for the situation at hand.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

It's automatic for me: if they sell a Magic Product that is "Absolutely Necessary to Succeed!!"...then I steer clear. A good horseman ought to be able to do the same things with any old piece of twine, a tree branch or a flannel shirt.

I'm with those who pick up tips from everyone. John Lyons is a particular favorite of mine because of his common sense approach. No magic languages, no whispering, just good old fashioned respect for the animal and the person handling him. I also get a lot from the books of Linda Kohanov, Mark Rashid and similar authors who talk more about the relationship between horse and human but I understand that not everyone is comfortable or has the experience to build their own training program off a picture of how things should be. Most people need step-by-step How To Do This instructions and the Natural Horsemanship movement provides that, which is great. What I hate is when it becomes more about the steps than the horse and the interactions become hollow, meaningless, mindless repetitive movements that numb both horse and human. Horsemanship should be about partnership, about empowering both individuals!

That said, it does occur to me that Kody-the-inhand-Bulldozer might benefit from a rope halter.

Leia

 

[~Lisa~]

I think you will find there are 2 kinds of people those that believe in Anderson or Parelli or any of them.. and those that find it all hogwash

I happen to be in the hogwash population

I have seen that video and would venture to say there are more out there or could be if someone was in the right place at the right time with a camera for any of those "publicity trainers" You can find mini rope halters though for what that is worth

 

[GrullaBlue]

I, too, am a Clinton fan... and I use rope halters....big and small, but I don't spend the $$ on clinician priced halters.... I've bought rope halters from www.tammysropetack.com and Silver Dollar Quarter horses... I don't know if they still sell rope tack (they are Parelli people), but I believe their website was www.silverdollarqh.com I go to Tammy's Rope Tack for anything I need, usually....but I've got all I need for now!

Angie

 

[ClickMini]

Well let me throw one more idea into the mix here. Clicker training aka reward training has proven to be the most effective training technique for horses and all other animals, including people. Have a little read on Alexandra's blog, and be sure to watch the Just for Fun videos on her site. I have been clicker training for more than a decade, from full-sized horses to minis. In fact it was Alex who introduced me to minis.

http://theclickercenter.com/Step-By-StepTrainingGuide.html

or you can check out Katie Bartlett's web site, http://www.equineclickertraining.com. It is full of great information and training insight.

Honestly, you don't need rope halters, nor sticks and strings. Just a little imagination, patience, and practice.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Hogwash for me, too.

If you need expensive "magic" equipment to attain results then run away, run away very quickly!

If I had been at that Parelli demo you would have not been able to keep me in my seat with superglue- why the audience did not, physically, put a stop to it I shall never know.

As far as I understand he carried on the next day at the horses yard.

The horse is still very hard to bridle.

I do not make idle claims when I assure you that I could have had the horse used to being bridled- I, however, would not have said I could do it at a demo, nor would I, ever, have resorted to force. There are things I can do, and things, obviously, that I cannot, but I am certain this is one thing I could have done.

You do not need any sort of "natural horsemanship" or anything other than a normal foal halter (and btw, one of the comments on the SW site has someone advising you to put a halter on a foal and leave it on....don't, just don't. Ever) and some good old fashioned common sense.

If clicker training takes your fancy, well, OK, never interested me, but you do need someone who understands it to teach you how, you cannot just buy a dog clicker and hope for the best.

My advice is use you head and learn by your mistakes- that way you have experience and common sense, neither of which PP seems to have learned- and do not even get me started on his wife, Linda!