My recent post on Pat Parelli’s demonstration at the Festival of the Horse with the stallion Catwalk has generated quite a few views as well as plenty of great comments. I wanted to share some of the comments as many of them were very thought provoking.
If you missed my original post on Pat Parelli and Catwalk, you can check it out here:
Lessons from Pat Parelli and Catwalk.
Molly said:
“What makes me especially uneasy about the Parelli’s is how they do not explain specifically why they used the methods in the video. To me, a good trainer would either admit that the moment got into them and they made a rash decision, or explain in detail why an extreme method is necessary in this situation.”
Maddogranch wrote:
“Regardless, can we think of 20 reasons why an animal would not want to be bridled? I can. I’ve had to face a few of them with my own horses. It’s called “the thing that happens before the thing that happens before the thing that happens before the thing that happens.” Get to the root of that and you are getting somewhere.”
Kate wrote:
“I think sometimes these big arena events, where a troubled horse – who probably has a lot more issues than just bridling – is subjected to tight time deadlines are a mistake.”
Karleen wrote:
“When your reputation is on the line in front of hundreds or thousands of people, by golly you want to deliver the goods – the pressure is on to succeed no matter what.”
Jen wrote:
“Unfortunately for the man in question, the horse failed to recognize who he was (a famous horse expert) and instead reacted to what he was: Another biped with his own agenda trying to push him in a direction he didn’t want to go/wasn’t ready for.”
Steve commented on his hard to bridle horse who had aural plaque in his ears. I wondered if Catwalk’s ears and teeth were ever examined for medical issues? Steve also commented that he “would like to see the full video and audio to have a better understanding of what happened.” This is a great point–many of the youtube clips are too short to see what’s really see what’s going on.
And finally, I’ll leave you with something Mountain Woman wrote in her comment that I just loved:
“Anyway, if the process is more about getting from point a to b and not enjoying the journey and creating a bond, what’s the point?”
I love Maddog’s “thing” comment; too true! just kind of seems like Mr. Parelli lost his place on the path and most of his his humble somewhere along the way, doesn’t it?