"knowledge ends where violence begins." Pat Parelliyour horse is difficult to load in a trailer? hurry up, drag them in anyway possible, then SLAM the door.
your horse spooks easily? then RUN it past everything that scares it. don't give them time to think. thinking = the horse winning
don't allow your horse to show you how it feels about things, instead train them mindlessly until they no longer act like a living breathing animal. they are robots.
Parelli is all about listening to your horse. allowing your horse to use it's brain and think things through. giving them the time they need to make good choices. setting them up for success.
Parelli is about doing things with the horse and for the horse. not TO the horse.
horse people and trainers spend lifetimes micromanaging their horses. correcting their horses BEFORE they even make a mistake. micromanagement = the horse not using their brain.
Pat often says to play with the horse online as though it's at liberty and to play at liberty as though your horse is online. i think i finally understand what he means by that... to keep your play the same whether you have a rope connected to the halter or not. that keeps the body language the same and allows the horse to read you and do what you are asking.
you may use the rope as a safety net. by not holding it you give your horse the option to make your game his idea. how interesting!! this allows the horse to leave the game if he doesn't want to play. and if this happens it give you a chance to think about what just happened.
it's time to end the violence that we do to horses. violence does not have to mean physical abuse, neglect, etc. violence can simply be taking away the horse's right to THINK.
