A Western Horseman Book NATURAL HORSE-MAN-SHIP By Pat Parelli With Kathy Kadash Photographs by Karen Parelli NATURAL HORSE-MAN-SHIP Published by Western Horseman magazine 3850 North Nevada Ave. Box 7980 Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7980 www.westernhorseman.com Design, Typography, and Production Western Horseman Colorado Springs, Colorado Printing Vision Graphics Loveland, Colorado ©1993 by Western Horseman a registered trademark of Morris Communications Corporation 725 Broadway Augusta, GA'30901 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Copyright Notice: This book is copyrighted by Western Horseman and therefore protected by federal copyright law. No material may be copied, FAXed, electronically transmitted, or otherwise used without express written permission. Requests must be submitted in writing. Twentieth Printing: December 2002 ISBN 0-911647-27-9 DEDICATION This book is dedicated to all those seeking to experience what the world of Natural Horse-Man-Ship has to offer the horse and human. To those who want fun, excellence, truth, and results in their equine partnerships. To those who love the feeling you get from the Natural approach to teaching and learning versus the Normal approach. And to the horse. PAT PARELLI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I WOULD like to thank these people, and which I credit my success. All I past and present, for their inspiration, added was perspiration and imagination. stimulation, support, or faith in me, which I did not list them chronologically, has influenced me greatly over the years alphabetically, or in order of importance. Fred Ferrara Tom Dorrance Billy Flournoy Jess Tharp Bill Dorrance Gerry & Sharon Blanks Shorty Freeman Ronnie Willis Al Dodds Troy Henry Ted Ashworth Donny Wright Monte Foreman Dr. Robert M. Miller Dave Carlson Casey Tibbs Ron & Joan Crevalin Bob Berg Dr. Bill Linfoot Mike Bridges Gerry Westfall Ed Connell Ray Hunt Bill Wildes Glen Burns Freddie Knie Joe & Arlene Aguilar Pat & Marion Humphrey Linda Paterson Maurice Wright John Hawkins Jeff & Kat Hobson Jack & Doris Parelli Tony Ernst Johnny Jones Karen Parelli Clint Johnson PREFACE THERE ARE many books that should be The book is divided into three sections: read again and again, and this is one of 1/ Natural Horse-Man-Ship—An Oven'iew, them. It's easier to grasp the principles 2/ Natural Horse-Man-Ship—On the and goals behind Natural Horse-Man-Ship Ground, arid 3/ Natural Horse-Man-Ship— after the second and even third time you In the Saddle. Each section uses the six read this book. Each time you do, you'll keys Pat has identified as vital in the get more out of the words on these development of a Natural Horse-Man— pages and understand completely what Attitude, Knowledge, Tools, Techniques, Pat Parelli is saying. This book is a Time, and Imagination. Like the petals of a blend of concepts and exercises. The flower, each key unfolds in the three sections exercises or maneuvers are designed to until the heart of Natural Horse-Man-Ship help you more fully comprehend the is presented in its entirety. concepts and help you communicate effectively with your horse on his level. —Kathy Kadash Update: Since this book was first published, Pat Parelli has moved to southwestern Colorado where he has established his International Study Center and a mail-order business for his equipment, videos, and books. The address for both: P.O. Box 3729 Pagosa Springs, CO 81147 Ph. 1-800-642-3335 or 970-731-9400 FAX: 970-731-9722 PHILOSOPHY THIS IS not a horse-training book; it's a He had to study the horse, the animal's people-training book. Don't think you nature, and how it works. I don't know have As a matter of fact, it's so old, it's how he did it. Maybe he found a foal new again."ably got to do is train your­ whose mother had been killed, and he self to be more principled, and therefore, raised the young horse. Somehow, he got more effective. the horse's confidence. Then, he thought What I plan to offer you in the pages about putting his leg over the horse's back, of this book is a philosophy I call Natural and he got this great feeling. He felt like a Horse-Man-Ship. Natural horsemanship horse; he could run faster and jump higher has been around a long time. It is not than he could before. That was the dawn something I invented, but it is something of Natural Horse-Man-Ship. I'm excited about. As a matter of fact, it's so old, it's new again. Over 2,000 years ago, one of the first NATURAL great riding masters was a man named Xenophon. He said that communication is HORSE-MAN-SHIP- the key to horsemanship. Learning to com­ A DEFINITION municate with your horse is vital if the two of you are to be on the same track as part­ The dynamics of horsemanship can be ners. And helping you to learn to commu­ obtained naturally through communication, nicate with your horse is going to be a understanding, and psychology. This is what I large part of this book. hope to share with you. In contrast is normal The first person who sat on a horse horsemanship, which is sometimes obtained didn't have anybody to use as an example. through mechanics, fear, and intimidation. "Natural horsemanship ... is not something Natural Versus Normal 1 invented.... Asa matter of fact, it's so I should define what is natural and what old, it's new again." is normal. Natural is what Mother Nature provides for us and allows us to work with. As far as I'm concerned, a horse is one of Mother Nature's finest creations. Normal is what everybody does that everybody else is doing when they have half of a mind to. The only reason every­ body does what everybody else is doing is because everybody else is doing it. In other words, peer pressure. But what's normal changes every 60 miles and every 6 months. I've been all over the world, and I've found there's a line every 60 miles where normality changes. What everybody does in one location is different than what everybody does north, south, east, or west of them. So normal not worldwide or A progressive person is a person universal. It changes, not only from receptive to new concepts and techniques. month to month and season to season, This is a person who wants to key into but from location to location. the big picture, not just the details. We go through life being pressured to I'm a progressive thinker, and that's become normal. If everybody is doing it, what I hope you strive to become. I've we think it must be right. One thing that learned to isolate, separate, and recombine normal does is put a thick shell on our properly, and I do this with the elements of imaginations. horsemanship. For example, I take each Normal has synonyms like good, common, ingredient of a maneuver individually and average, ordinary, usual, conforming, typical, work on it, not the whole maneuver at and mediocre. What we should want to do in once. This is why bending a horse with Natural Horse-Man-Ship is stay away from one rein, as I do in lateral longeing and normal. Normality is our adversary. flexion exercises, drives people crazy. It Some synonyms for natural are native, doesn't look at all like the big picture they instinctive, inborn, inherent, and intuitive. have in their minds of doing a half-halt. If Have you ever seen somebody who is really a maneuver has six ingredients in it, I try natural with horses? When they work with to get really good on one ingredient at a horses, they're not really working with them, time. Only later, when I've perfected each they're playing with them and things seem ingredient, do I put them all together to to happen naturally. This type of person form the complete maneuver. That's what usually has what is described as knack. isolate, separate, and recombine means. I would like to be able to help people obtain knack through knowledge and Horse-Human skills. Knowledge is something you can share, and skills are things you can devel­ Relationship op. The object of this book is to help you gain natural knowledge about horses and If you are to obtain Natural Horse-Man- develop your skills naturally. Ship through progressive thinking, you must first realize that a horse is not just a Traditional and horse. He is an attitude with four feet, and he thinks differently than you and I. Progressive Thinkers The type of intelligence people have is based on reasoning power. We use logic to Just like there are two types of horse­ figure out things and to get what we want. manship, there are two types of thinkers: Horses, however, base their thinking patterns traditional and progressive. In normal on comfort. Horses want to feel safe and schools, people are taught systematically comfortable. Anything that interferes with in traditional teaching methods and it that can cause fear and anxiety in horses. takes forever. Most people are inadequate when it Traditional thinking is what normal comes to horses because they think like people do. However, it's traditional for people. My goal is to get people to think tradition to change. It has for centuries. like horses. In fact, the only constant thing in life The best way I know to do that is to is change.