Sweetie Pie

This is Sweetie Pie, the Hero Dog!

This is not about Parelli, but about how Sweetie Pie, my black lab, saved my life today. Animal communication works with more than horses!
I was reading in my hammock, which is strung between 2 oak trees that are surrounded by many plants that I recently added to my landscape. I was petting Sweetie Pie as I was reading. After about 15 minutes, she got up and started sniffing the bush next to us (about a foot away). I look to see what she was so curious about and saw a black snaky tongue flicking out of a mouth in the bushes. I jumped out of the hammock, ran around the tree to get Sweetie Pie out of harm's way, and dragged her to the house. I called to my husband, and he went to the bush with a gun and a stick. He poked around until he could see it (I was afraid it would bite him before he could shoot it), called out that it was a rattlesnake, and then promptly blew its head off. (Coincidentally, Sweetie Pie just got an anti-rattlesnake venom shot yesterday. I now highly recommend them for only $15!) I am so grateful that Sweetie Pie alerted me before anyone got bit!

The Friendly Game

Even though Fire and I have been practicing PNH for two years, I have not progressed as far as I had hoped. We got off to a good start and got through Level 1 in about 6 months. Fire is very intelligent and a quick learner. Initially, he is curious but frustrated when learning new things, until he finally gets what I am asking him to do. It is language issue. I am learning to speak horse and he is learning to speak human body language. Once he understands what I am asking him to do, he is willing to please and responds quickly. It is truly amazing how well you can communicate with your horse once the two of you develop an understanding.
I confess that I have not made much progress since December. My job consumes my life during the first 6 months of the year. I've spent a lot of time playing the Friendly Game at feeding time. That has really helped with our relationship, but I really need to get back to the program and learn more. I hope that this blog will motivate me to step it up. I have explored the beginning of Level 2 and the beginning of the Horse Behavior program. I am not sure which one to focus on first. The best thing is that I will be retiring at the end of October and will be able to spend LOTS of time playing with Fire!

What is Parelli Natural Horsemanship?

If you would like to know more about Parelli Natural Horsemanship, you can explore the website at www.parelli.com. Probably the most enlightening thing to do is to attend one of the tour events. Check the website for the details about the Parelli Tour in Jacksonville in October 2007. Another way to see the Pat and Linda in action is to watch the RFD channel (379) on Wednesday nights at 10:00. You will be amazed! And the best thing is IT WORKS!

Fire

Fire is a 22 year old roan chestnut 14.2 hand Arabian. He was born and bred at Plum Grove Arabian Farms in Ocala, Florida. He was donated to the Boys Ranch in Palatka and was sold soon afterwards. I bought him from a friend of a friend who bought Fire and his half-brother Rath when they were young and in poor condition. She turned them around, trained, and showed both of them. Fire had a successful show career at an early age. I was looking for a horse for trailriding because my childhood horse, Champ, was very old and needed to retire. Fire's owner warned me that he would probably not be a good trailriding horse. She took him trailriding whenever she wanted him to blow off steam, which created a lot of bad habits. I was so impressed by his intelligence and push button training that it was love at first sight, so I bought him anyway. Needless to say, he is definitely not the kind of horse that you can sit back and relax with as you are taking in the sights on a trail ride. He might have been a trail class champion, but in the woods he's what my farrier calls a "booger hunter". He's always looking for something scary! And if I thought he was a handful at 5 yrs. old, he has definitely worsened with age. The older I get, the more I think twice about hitting the trail.

Now that I've learned how to read my horse, thanks to time spent studying PNH, I realize that I have a hot-blooded horse with a big play drive. He is very confident and easily bored. I am learning to understand him and continually work on our relationship. I have seen a remarkable change now that I'm learning to speak "horse"!

Introduction

My name is Karen. I've had horses all of my life, and up until two years ago I thought I knew a lot about horses. I was attending a horse festival in Jacksonville and stopped in on a session given by Linda Parelli about riding with "fluidity". I was amazed as I watched her ride her horse, Remmer. They were so in sync and looked like they were having such fun together. A man next to me noticed my excitement and mentioned that I needed to see the demonstration her husband, Pat Parelli, was doing to get the big picture of what natural horsemanship was all about.
As I watched Pat with his stallion, Casper, I was sure that what he was doing must be magic. I had never seen such a bond between horse and man. Another Parelli devotee sitting next to me suggested that I stay to watch the Parelli Team in action. I went outside and watched 8 ordinary men and women doing many incredible things with horses of all sizes and breeds. They also had the Parelli "magic". I wanted some magic of my own to take home and use on my spooky, supercharged, difficult to ride Arabian (Fire). I gathered my courage and invested in the Level 1 Home Study Kit and all of the equipment. I have been on the most marvelous adventure in horse*man*ship ever since. I was humbled to discover that after all of the years I had spent with horses, I really knew so little about them. I feel that at the age of 53, I am just now beginning to understand how incredible a relationship with your horse can be once you learn to communicate!