Resistant to resistance free training?

Anyone who owns a horse, has read any horse magazines or watched RFDTV on dish network has seen or read about resistance free training. Many horse owners ask, who are these folks and what does whispering to horses do anyway? Why doesn't my local trainer do this type of training if its so good. You may not have asked, but I will give you my take on this subject.

A little background first, I was raised on cattle ranches in California and Oregon. My father would tie me to my horse with the saddle strings when I was two years old and send the horse on his way to the bunk house where the cook would find me asleep on my old horse, get me down, give me a treat and reverse the process sending me back. My mother was not a fan of this method in case you are curious. I can honestly say that I grew up on horses, and have spent a lot of time polishing the seat of a saddle. I have managed 2,000 head of cattle on a 14,000 acre ranch here in Northern California. Does this make me a horse trainer? No.
Let me re-phrase that, hell no. I have ruined more horses that I have ever trained. I may fool some folks because I can stay on a rough horse but that doesn't mean I am training him. I hope I am getting better, as I grow older and more patient.

Back to the clinicians. I have been a reader of Western Horesman for 20 years or more, and I first saw articles on Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrnance there. Most of the resistance free training you see today in one way or another can be traced back to them. Pat Parelli, Dennis Reis, and a slew of top clinicians have been influenced by these people. So does it work? Yes. Do I use some of their techniches and methods? Yes. Do I own a shelf full of DVDs and books from Pat Parelli? No.

You may ask why, if it works, are you not a follower of Parelli or Clinton Anderson or Dennis Reis? The answer may lie in the question. There are many 'followers' of Pat Parelli and others, and boy do I mean followers. The vast majority of these folks are novice owners. They see what Pat and his wife Linda can do with horses and they buy into the marketing. It is a very impressive, and effective marketing strategy. There are legions of Parelli followers who believe that if Pat didn't say it, it is wrong. That's too bad.

I am sure that the Parellis' are good people and they started their horse training business to spread the word about a new way of training that most people could do regardless of their prior experience. Somewhere in the past few years it seems to me that it is becoming more about the business and less about the horses. I could be wrong.

How about the horse whisperer? Whenever I talk with someone and they find out I have horses, one of the first things they ask me is if I have seen the guy that whispers to horses? Most of the time they are talking about Monty Roberts. I have seen Mr. Roberts program and while I think he is a capable trainer, I get a strange feeling about him and his background.

So, why doesn't my local trainer use this stuff? A couple of reasons. First, he or she may not be a very good trainer, they can ride the buck out of most horses and get them to stop, go, turn, and that's about it. That may be all they know. Second, they may be very good at what they know, say reining cow horse work, or dressage or western pleasure, they have won some ribbons or national championships by doing it their way, so why change. The last reason is fear, most of the people selling DVDs and two day clinics want to become your new trainer. Your local trainer may tell you what a load of manure these new guys are because a starter course on DVD may cost less than one month at the trainers place and you can do it yourself.

Here is where I have a problem with the 'clinic in a box' approach. No one is there to see how the person is handling the training. What I mean is I have seen some people who should not own horses, or at least not handle the horses they own. They are afraid of their horse in a way that is very dangerous to themselves and others. I have a healthy respect for horses, you could say that as much as I like my horse, I am afraid of a 1,200 pound quadruped that can run faster, jump higher and bite harder that I can. The people I am talking about are the novice owners who buy a training DVD, the new halter and stick, then walk into the pasture with 'fluffy' and get so petrified with fear that they loose control of the horse as soon as they feel pressured. I see it more often than you would think.

If you are a Parelli student, or anyone of the top clinicians, please don't take offence, I am sure they have thousands of happy customers, if there were not, they would not be on TV. I just think there are many ways to skin a cat, I may just not be ready for the 'Catskinner 2000' video series.

I would like to attend a week long course taught by one of these trainers I have mentioned above, Parelli or Reis or Clinton Anderson, I just don't want to be beaten over the head into buying $1,000 worth of videos if I do.

Please feel free to comment.