What is Parelli?

Parelli Natural Horsemanship is a relationship based training program that aims to develop the horse and human  in four "savvys." It is also a meaningful, potentially lifelong commitment to continuing self improvement. The four savvys are Online, Liberty, Freestyle and Finesse. To paint a bit of a mental picture for anyone not in the program or involved with horses, Online is playing with the horse on the ground (as opposed to riding) and through a connection of various lengths of line and a carrot stick which acts as an extension of your body. Liberty is communication no strings attached, and the strength of bond can be tested in open spaces. Freestyle is the first of the riding savvys, and is a more casual riding savvy that focuses mainly on the horse and riders responsibilities and independence and sets the communication foundations for the second riding savvy of Finesse. Finesse can simply be described as riding with refined communication, the horse and rider look as though they are just dancing together in harmony.


Students learn to play a variety of games and patterns with their horses from all positions (zones) around the horses body. These games reflect the way horses naturally communicate with each other in a herd and prey animal psychology is used with love, language and leadership in mind.


The founder of the program, Pat Parelli has dedicated his life to sharing information that has been passed on from other amazing horseman to himself, such as Troy Henry, Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt and with his wife Linda, are dedicated to making the world a better place for horses and humans. It's about relationships for life, a true understanding of prey animal psychology so we can banish quick fixes, artificial aids and win-lose situations that make people and horses feel afraid, intimidated, diminished, frustrated or failures. 'Savvy' is developing an understanding and bringing professionalism back into the horse industry, where preserving the dignity of these beautiful animals and becoming a personal of knowledge and influence is a priority. 


The Parelli program is about trust, unconditional love, language, leadership, communication, respect, fun, empowerment. Its a journey of a lifetime, and a journey I am happy to spend my lifetime dedicating to helping the program spread the word about a world class horse education program changing the world one partnership at a time.