Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Coopersmom_1958 on June 23, 2009 at 3:41pm

I started my gelding with Jonathan Field, before I got any Parelli dvd's. He is doing very very well.
I only wish I could see him everyday, sometimes my health prevents me from going, and time.
I am still only on dvd 2 and 3 in his series, things are moving very slowly, but that is just fine with me as I am in no hurry to ride him yet.
I find Jonathan's training to be very easy to understand. I hope someday that I have as great of a connection with my boy as he does with his horses.
Everyone tells me we have it, but sometimes I just dont see it.

Permalink Reply by Shirley on June 24, 2009 at 8:40am

I am a little confused. You say you started with Jonathan before you got your Parelli DVD's...so are you using the Parelli DVD's or some put out by Jonathan Fields? Sounds like probably Jonathan or maybe you've used both? If you have DVD's from both, how do you find them to differ from each other?
You'll hop on when you are both ready for each other. I found the ground work to help a lot with our relationship.
Shirley

Permalink Reply by Coopersmom_1958 on June 24, 2009 at 9:25am

I am flipping back and forth with both, it was a little confusing at first, but now I see that they are mainly the same. I bought Jonathan's dvd set first, because it was available in Canada and I really loved they way he talked, fun, easy to understand.
My boy, Cooper, is so calm, many comment on it, for him being so young and relaxed. He will be 3 on June 28, but I am not ready to back him, and I don't think he is either. Yes, when we are ready it will happen.
When I think of how well Cooper has done with this training I think to myself why isn't everyone doing it with their horses! I watch some of the others and how crazy their horse is and think, hmmm, if they did natural they would know how to calm him/her down and they would both be happier.
I was doing tarp work with Cooper for despooking in the arena and a few others were interested in how to do it. They thought it was great and want me to do more when they around so they can join in too LOL
Margaret

Permalink Reply by Shirley on June 24, 2009 at 3:25pm

So I am Cash's mom and you are Coopers Mom...If I'd named cash Copper, we'd have Cooper and Copper. I didn't pick the name Cash, he came with it. When people ask his color, I often tell them the color of a shiney new penny...COPPER! My husband and I also joke about him being the only Cash left....Amazing what we can spend on these guys, seems to be never ending what I'd like to get for him. Right now it's a Riders Rasp and white UVA fly protection sheet. Cash and I have been together for 5.5 years now and he's such a huge plus in my life.
I wish someone at my barn would like to learn the Parelli method. There is a couple of gals now that are thinking about it and talking about it but I don't actually see them DOING anything with it. Both have horses that need help. One is disturbed and we are wondering if he is truly beyond help and the other is a large yearling that needs some control before he gets any bigger.
I came to this barn doing most of the ground basics so no one actually saw Cash and I learning. When we do the Liberty stuff I can't have someone else in the arena with us cause he is too distracted with wanting to visit our company.
Cash is kinda a lazy boy most the time yet he is very athletic when in the mood. Challenge #1: Get him in the mood! He's got more "GO" on the days he feels more confidence in me. For riding that is. It has taken me a very long time to feel confident in the saddle at all. But I think it is finally growing. It wasn't for lack of effort either cause I try to ride at least every other day unless it is terribly hot like today. It is 90 here right now. I'm heading out when I get done here and get Cash out of the sun/pasture and hopefully into some shade to graze under a tree.
We are in Michigan.
I hope you can share something about your special Cooper. I love horse stories.

Permalink Reply by Shirley on June 24, 2009 at 3:27pm

You said you aren't ready to back him...did you mean back him or get on his back? Someitmes I get to typing fast and it doesn't come out quite the way I meant it but you could mean either.....

Permalink Reply by Coopersmom_1958 on June 25, 2009 at 10:18am

I bet Jonathan could tame that wild beast at your barn! Lots of people at my barn don't agree with natural training, they just really found it amazing that I could get Cooper to do things with a tarp. I thought regular training did things like that too, but many have never done it. Imagine riding a horse that is not despooked, no thanks!
I have seen Parelli before and always said I wanted to train my horse that way. I worked at barns as a teenager and saw the way the "regular" cowboy treated their horses and didn't want that for my boy. I just always believed that if you teach with kindness than the horse will respect you more and love you. When you teach by hitting and whipping, they learn how to behave because they are scared, not that they love you.
Hope this makes sense.
I haven't sat on Coopers back yet, I thought that meant the same thing as backing him. I am a new horse owner and really don't know all the lingo. I believe I am one of those green on green riders that I have heard about. Green owner with a green horse, oh oh!!
A few other people have leaned over his back, and my barn manager did sit on him about 2 weeks ago and he was not bothered at all.
Shirley I will go to your page and tell you about Cooper.

Permalink Reply by Shirley on June 26, 2009 at 4:54pm

Hi! Regular training should use the tarp method too but often they don't teach any of the despooking stuff which is what the tarp stuff would fall under. If someone brings a horse to a trainer for a month or two they often just want them to teach the basic riding stuff. Haltering, responding properly to the bit, adjusting to a saddle on their back and then work on co-operating while under saddle and bridle. Personally I think people should do the despooking stuff themselves while the horse is still really young. Pat teaches that too. He has them getting used to the trailer loading when they can go on with their momma...makes it all look so easy and NATURAL. I joined the Parelli Savvy Club and they send a training video each month and I've learned bunches for those. The people I bought Cash from ran a training stable so I got to see how they did things but even though they didn't do Parelli they did use gentle methods and did a great job. I think the Parelli method (or Jonathan's) is especially beneficial with starting horses or with horses that are having issues because of humans using cruel methods previously. I boarded at the training barn 4 years and it was a great experience to watch the pros for hours and hours each week. And watching them give others lessons put bunches of information out there, It was great and I loved it.
I hope this horse at my current barn can be helped. The head bobbing thing isn't really being naughty, it's more like a mental or emotional or nervous problem. It seems to be very embedded. He does this sometimes out in the pasture all by himself....kinda like a person with tics if you've ever seen that. He acts like there is a bug on his head even when there isn't one. I suspect it is going to take many hours and lots of patience to help him feel safe. He tries to mind. He loves people and attention.
I truly believe that some horses are driven crazy by cruel or unthinking humans and it makes me sick.
I am kind of a sensitive person & I often think how I'd react if someone did something to me that they are doing to a horse and just expect him to accept it.
Like stick a horse in a stall when they aren't used to it, OMG, why shouldn't they panic and freak out? Or force them into a trap (trailer) without letting them come to the conclusion that it's safe and they are okay. It usually just takes a little time to let them adjust and learn at their own pace.
When I bought Cash at three years of age, I wasn't experienced and was afraid. I had friends tell me "You can't get a three year old!" They did fear I'd get hurt. So I know what you mean by green on green....it makes for black and blue! There is a cute song about that.
I have not heard the term 'backing him' as meaning to get on their back but just to actually have them take steps going in a backward direction. But I've also seen that different words or phrases can mean different things in different areas so~~~ who knows? For instance: When I was taking lessons and would be doing circles around the arena and the trainer would tell me to 'push with your inside leg'. I thought she meant the leg between the wall and the horse...seemed to me to be the 'inside' But after a while I realized she meant 'inside' as the center of the circle so it was just the opposite of what I originally thought. Yes, the lingo can be pretty confusing!
One day a bunch of us women at the stable were discussing/arguing about the color of a horse. Some were positive and adamant this one horse was a chestnut and others were sure it was a sorrel. So we asked this one guy that had been around horses forever....the answers were both correct. People that ride English call this reddish color chestnut while western riders call the same color sorrel. And then all the different parts of the saddle have different names for western or English. Girth/cinch etc.
I believe none of this really matters, what matters is the relationship we have with our horses and they don't care what we call things as long as we make it clear to them in a clear way what we want and don't blame them when we can't explain it well enough for them to understand. I've seen over and over again if I give Cash a few more seconds to 'get it' he will. But if I start pushing him to get it 'now' he just gets nervous or frustrated and then he can't learn....same way I'd react. If someones voice raises when I don't 'get' something, my brain will just short circuit and I can't think straight or learn. Sometimes you can see it in their eyes that they feel the same yet the 'person' doesn't get it and continues to be aggressive. My heart breaks when I can't do anything for them.
Well, I got carried away....Hope to hear backfrom you with a horsie story!

Permalink Reply by Ria Maguire on October 26, 2009 at 6:49pm

I think I actually like his DVDs better than the Parelli ones. I have both. I am a member of the Savvy Club..and the latest one with Linda riding Vanna is pretty good for me because I have a Right Brained Extrovert. Its interesting that she says its for Level 4 + students...its for Jonathans level 3 and Ken Faulkners (Australian Natural Horsemanship) Level 2.
I needed a lot more actual Finesse riding than the Parellis were actively encouraging. Everyone in Oz pretty much dropped out of Parelli by Level 2. The quantum leap from Freestyle to Finesse was just too difficult. There just wasnt enough instruction here. I think they may be addressing that more.
The Parelli Programme seems to keep everyone in freestyle too long..not too long for the student, but probably too long for the horse. Always having to carry a rider so far on the forehand cant be that helpful for the horses' soundness. This is an observation of mine, NOT necessarily how I imagine others will think. Not having a "go" at anyone.

Permalink Reply by Kathy Knight on December 7, 2010 at 12:23am

I met Jonathan Field last Feb at Drogheda Mannor in Ontario. He is fantastic. I purhased his DVD set for ground and riding and when his Liberty series came out, I bought that too. I have been following the Parelli program for several years. I find that Jonathan fills in a lot of the blanks. Unlike Pat Parelli, he uses horses that have never done what he is teaching before. As he is teaching and the horse needs to be corrected, he will do it, explaining how and why, then he gets back to the teaching part.