At 22:37:25 on 10.03.10, PonyPower wrote:
There has been a video clip doing the rounds on facebook, youtube and other places which has been lifted from the old level 1 DVD. Linda Parelli has posted the following response. If you have seen the video clip, please read and view the response. Its a sad day, and I can only think bourne of jealousy and envy. This is the nasty side of social websites, anyone can and will say any thing they like with no regard for the injury and distress they might cause. Linda is visibly upset by this.
http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/A-statement-from-Linda-Parelli

At 08:51:05 on 11.03.10, plodalong wrote:
i also saw this Ponypower but i think that people have taken the clip out of context, it looks horrific, but most parelli followers would have seen what was happening and why Linda had to be so forcefull with Barney, he was dangerous to handle at that point and his owner couldnt cope with him, Barney now has a job and a purpose in life, his owner has also supported Linda and he was present at the time.this part could quite easily have been omitted from the training dvd but was included to show that Parelli isnt mamby pamby as some some people think and that on certain occasions effectiveness is required, It looks as though Linda is smacking Barney on his head, she isn't she is fanning him to get him to move his nose, Nose,Neck Maybe the feet, the weather conditions were very windy and barney was so scared that he was just walking all over the humans and had become dangerous.Linda needed to teach him that, when asked for he must move out of personal space, It appears that Barney had never had any respect for humans, He only has one eye and Linda was directing him to turn his head so he could see what was happening,Im glad that she has spoken up about this issue and that Barne'ys owner has supported her.

At 18:55:02 on 26.03.10, Flicka wrote:
Sorry, but had a look at the youtube clip and wasn't impressed by the way she was handling that horse. I think you're right Plodalong some people think Parelli is Namby Pamby which it isn't but even though I use a couple of their methods I have always hated the rope shaking and bumping which jars the horses neck and poll. I was trying to Equine Touch a horse once and the girl holding him for me kept rattling the rope at the horse every time it moved so that it threw it's head in the air. I was actually really angry about it.

At 23:26:04 on 26.03.10, plodalong wrote:
i think if you had seen the whole thing Flicka you would have a clearer idea of what linda was trying to achieve. .the wind was howling and lots going on Barney(the horse)was proving to be dangerous at that point he was walking all over his owner,who was standing by,and also defended linda when she was criticised for her actions, this was part of a level one training dvd and if the parelli's thought it wrong then surely it would have been edited.Barney has gone on to do lots of good things and his owner has publicly thanked the parelli programme for helping them both to become good partners.the rope bumping should only happen when the horse is learning ,there are 4 phases to most things with the back up the first phase is a look then a finger wiggle then a gentle rope wiggle and then one quick sharp bump as soon as the horse thinks about moving then its back to phase one.i hope this makes it a little clearer for you to understand linda's actions on that day, all that was shown was a small bit of what was happening without explaination, Linda did do a blog about what was going on and i for one was glad that linda and the horses owner felt no reason to apologise.some people look but dont always see.

At 00:11:09 on 27.03.10, bernadette wrote:
Have to agree with Flicka on this one.The horse was anixous,confused just like i'd be in that situation.I'll be honest i know very little about Parelli and don't think i'd care to learn any of there methods after seeing that clip.What a good tempered horse to put up with that crap,she's lucky he did'nt knock her over or worse. Everytime the horse as much as looked the other way she was chucking the rope,and as for that face slapping?????.She just kept pushing him and pushing him away.There's a right way and wrong way for doing things and this was the latter,in my opinion.

At 04:42:38 on 27.03.10, kibby wrote:
that for me is just in excess.. if its windy and the horse is freaking then maybe it would be an idea to calm the horse down first so it can listen to you, rather than creating more and more distractions and scaring the horse even more.. My main concern here is that kids that have not got a clue what they are doing will attempt to fix serious problems and make matters worse. I think they were wrong to put this on their DVD.

At 18:28:58 on 27.03.10, plodalong wrote:
you need to watch the dvd first.as i said before the owner of the horse was there and if he thought that linda was excessive then im sure he would have stepped in and asked her to stop, Barney was becoming dangerous and walking all over his owner, the owner then asked for help and linda obliged.

At 04:04:24 on 28.03.10, kibby wrote:
yes i saw that, and the walking over the top yea definitely deserves a hit, but when he is two metres away and standing still, to hit and jerk the rope then i do not like..

At 09:20:02 on 30.03.10, PonyPower wrote:
Whoa...before you judge, get educated....alot of us do things in ignorance....its not a defense in law, nor should it be when handling a horse. Everyone has an opinion, I'm just wondering how many of those opinions are informed opinions. Please go and take a look at Linda Parelli's blog for her comment, also please read the letter from Barney's owner...that horse was going to be shot, now he is a therapy horse. You may think Linda is being extreme, but with some horses you have to start extreme becuase they are in such an intense survival place that humans do not register. Eventually you can become less extreme, to the point where what you are doing is hardly noticeable.

At 10:05:14 on 30.03.10, YasandCrystal wrote:
Hi I am not pro any system, but I think that 'extreme behaviour' from a horse requires some extreme and different handling. Let's face it there are a lot of bad mannered dangerous horses out there that will get abused by someone eventually if they are not sorted out!! Hats off to anyone who perseveres with an equine with extreme behaviour, because it is so difficult to deal with and overcome. Years ago I took on a rescue pony that you could just not get near to pick up her feet.I thought that with kindness and regular consistent handling that would be overcome, but not so. She was really dangerous - she would cow kick and double barrel, rear. In the end I gave her back to the RSPCA because frankly I was not prepared or knowledged enough to overcome that sort of behaviour in an adult pony and who has the money to have the vet out to drug a pony/horse everytime it requires a trim? So what I am saying os that if someone is experienced and brave enough to take on such a problem horse - 'hats off to them' and 'all credit due' it's a darned hard road, whatever the system used!!!