March 2008 - Pat Parelli

The first natural horsemanship event that we ever attended was a Parelli Tour event in February of 2002. We were both awestruck and amazed at all that could be accomplished with horses with a gentle manner and the knowledge to communicate with them using their language. It opened our eyes to a whole new world of training methods and started us on a lifelong journey to learn all we could about natural horsemanship.

We are proud to honor Pat Parelli as our Featured Clinician for March.

Scott and Dana Thompson

PAT PARELLI BIOGRAPHY
from www.parelli.com

Born in California's Bay Area, Pat Parelli was obsessed with horses at an early age. When Pat was just 13, a horseman and trapper named Freddie Ferrera of Livermore, California, recognized Pat's talents with horses and took him under his wing. During the summers he would teach him valuable lessons about how to be more natural with horses, dogs, cattle, and with nature itself.

Pat's horse career began simply by working in stables from the age of 9. If there were horses, Pat would be there, enthusiastically helping with whatever he could, ears open for every drop of information. He even started to develop his own ideas about raising foals and training horses, an unusual thing for a young boy.

At the age of 17, Pat launched himself into rodeos, his favorite event being the bareback. A natural, with a good coach in John Hawkins, Pat won the Bareback Rookie of the Year title in 1972, his buck off average just 4%. Watching many rodeo athletes trying to move on, Pat was determined to find life after rodeo. A career in training horses seemed logical and he started a business that concentrated on starting colts (young horses).

However, like many trainers before him, it wasn't long before the normal pattern of both equine and financial frustration set in and Pat found himself on the verge of getting out of horses altogether. This was not how he wanted to have to train horses, by processing them like inanimate objects.

Then three significant events changed his life:

1. He met Tony Ernst, from Australia, who was not only a student of the horse but was a disciple of the Kung Fu martial arts and a master musician;
2. He began to work under the tutelage of Troy Henry, a master horseman from Clovis, California, who specialized in training and developing both horse and rider for competition using psychology and communication;
3. He took an interest in developing mules to be able to perform like horses.

Through Tony Ernst, Pat learned about inner power and the Kung Fu principles of discipline, body control, and mind-body mastery.

Troy Henry opened up a whole new world to Pat by helping him understand the horse's mental and emotional processes as a prey animal as well as the true dynamics of horsemanship and how they applied to performance horses.

The mules taught Pat the importance of reverse psychology, the principle of safety and comfort as the only real incentives, and developed in him more savvy on how to get a prey animal to "want" to perform. They also taught him about patience! In 1980, Pat founded The American Mule Association.

Being an intense student of horses and horsemanship, Pat had begun to develop his own style of teaching and expanding these principles. He also became interested in showing reined cow horses and was successful in reining and cutting events with both horses and mules.

One of the greatest frustrations Pat experienced in training horses was handing them back to their owners. He found that if the rider didn't have enough savvy, the horses would regress. After much soul searching he finally decided that he couldn't go on training horses to put up with their owner's lack of skills and understanding, instead, he had to find a way to help people become more savvy with horses.

He soon discovered that he had a natural talent in finding the right words to explain what he understood about horses. So he turned his attention even more to helping people instead of training. He began to give "lessons" but had no idea that one day he would be able to help people on a much larger scale.

In 1983, while performing bridle-less at the California Livestock Symposium, Pat met three men who were to become major contributors to his knowledge. Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt and Ronnie Willis. Pat hosted several of Ray Hunt's clinics and spent time with both Dorrance and Willis, all masters that in one way or another became mentors.

A few years later the world's leading equine behaviorist, Dr R. M. Miller, observed one of Pat's bridle-less demonstrations and quickly recognized that Pat's concepts aligned strongly with his own philosophy both on influencing the horse's mind and on foal imprinting. His prediction was that by the time Pat reached the age of 40, he would have become one of the best horsemen and teachers the world would have ever known.

Click here for Pat's 2008 Tour schedule.

Contact Information

USA

56 Talisman Dr, Suite 6,
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Toll Free: 800-642-3335
Phone: 970-731-9400
Fax: 888-731-9722 or 970-731-9722
Email: usa@parelli.com
Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm MST Monday - Friday

Australia and New Zealand

50 Lisa Rd,
Wilton, NSW 2571
Toll Free: 1 800 460 988
Phone: +61 2 4630 9677
Fax: +61 2 4630 9688
Email: australia@parelli.com
Hours: 9:00am - 5:00pm Monday - Friday

United Kingdom, Ireland, and Europe

10th Street, Stoneleigh Park,
Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG
Freefone: 0800 0234 813
Phone: +44 (0)2476 692 888
Fax: +44 (0)2476 692 889
Email: uk@parelli.com
Hours: 9:00am - 5:00pm Monday - Friday