Introduction to Parelli Natural Horsemanship

Our progress throughout 2008 came in leaps and bounds as Hummy put on some muscle and found his schooling easier. But he hated me riding in a bungee which my instructor had suggested I use until I could maintain a soft outline with him during our sessions. He was also getting bored with constant circling though any sideways movements he understood well and offered on the first ask. All in all I had a horse that was much more obedient when in an arena but seemed much less happy with me. Where to go from here?
It was after picking up a Parelli DVD in a charity shop and watching it that my Parelli journey began. I haven't foregone my dressage lessons completely as I feel I need them to keep me in tune. However in starting to play the Parelli games on line I seem to have a horse that is paying closer attention to me. A horse that is taking more interest when I go out to the field and who gives me his undivided attention whenever I can think of something new to do that satisfies his need to have fun. He is so playful at times that I am in stitches laughing at him especially when we speed things up he reads my body language like the expert he truly is. He is taking responsibility for where he puts his feet and asking me questions "is this what you want? no well what about this etc etc...." For myself this is a hard transition I seem to be trying to unlearn nearly 40 yrs of traditional habits although I am probably luckier than some in that my background has taught me horsemanship skills that Parelli is reminding me that I already know as well. Still there have been some huge emotional highs and lows since November 2008 and in starting out I really got a bit bogged down in the theory until the new Parelli Patterns came out.
The first megga low I experienced was the feeling of sheer inadequacy every time I stepped out of my comfort zone in front of others. I had never realised that this jorney would be such an emotional rollercoaster and would reduce me to tears one minute yet give me the most wonderful feeling of elation as we play at liberty with Hummy's every step mirroring what I do.

Boy did he look smart...

Summer 2008 we took Hummy to his second show where we entered the ridden coloureds class as well as in hand classes. He was perfect in hand fo me and my daughter. But our ridden class was a disaster, though he showed some of his paces really well we could not get right canter and he was determined to go round the ring with his nose in the air! Even so we enjoyed the day and were able to school over some jumps outside the ring where we got the best manners and obedience i had yet acheived with him so we came away happy and proud of our third place rosette. Boy did he look smart all plaited up!

Education

Over the next year Hummy filled out grew up a bit physically and mentally and generally came out of his shell as he grew in confidence. He was the perfect gentleman on the ground but very much a baby still under saddle and needed time to mature still. So schooling sessions remained short as we tried to build some muscle over a pretty weak topline. We went to our first show in the summer, just a local pony club event and did some in hand classes and came in third! He was the perfect gent even though his eyes stood out on stalks at first he soon settled and was perfectly obedient. In the Autumn we decided to try an organised ride out approx 10 miles, though as long or short as you wanted. He was obedient but this was a different horse, fired up and exited running on adrenalin for the entire ride. (There were about 40 horses on this ride going out in groups of 5 to 8). He obviously needed to see the world a bit more so we boxed out to several more organised rides and he just got better and better, calmer and calmer especially when my daughter was with us with one of his field mates. However, he had started to test me now on several occasions including one of these rides where when something phased him he would stop and rear.... Without making an issue of it i knew that our schooling was lacking and i was aware that we had issues with leadership, he was finding it difficult to work long and low especially in canter which was very one sided. He was quite happy and obedient to pace with the lightest contact but was backing off even my lightest hand when i asked for more. It was time to seek some help and have some much needed lessons now that he was rising 5 and more mature in himself.

In steps my dressage instructor and over the next year we made fabulous progress but our relationship was suffering. He would run away when ever he saw the trailer (that meant we were going for a lesson) he was becomming difficult to catch and his sense of fun was missing. Whether this was because we were asking for more or because he was mourning the loss of my dear old partner (also the herd boss) or just that he was getting bored with the repetition i dont know but i did know that we needed to improve our relationship.

The first thing my family said when they saw him was YOU'VE BOUGHT A SHORT NECKED GIRAFFE! lol

I bought a giraffe!

When Humdinger arrived as a 3yr old he had only been sat on a few times and two of those were by me when I tried him out. He seemed a sensible type of chap who just needed time to develop. Something I planned to do slowly. We didn't tax him too much the first year just short schooling sessions and a little walking out, but not near the cows as he made it plain that they were terrifying!

The first thing my family said when they saw him was YOUV'E BOUGHT A SHORT NECKED GIRAFFE! lol