Forwarded from another list.
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Parelli and helmets

I am sending this to a couple different groups as I feel it is important to get the word out to potential Parelli followers. As many of you know, I am currently recovering from a brain injury from a fall from a horse this summer. This was a green horse but he spooked while I was getting off, something any horse could do and the odds of a serious accident on a horse finally caught up with me. One thing I have noticed is an ad for Parelli and Linda is jumping a horse bareback and no helmet. Also while I was bedridden I watch a couple of his episodes and he had a a young person who was physically disabled riding without a helmet and it was obvious her balance was not good. I sent a letter to Parellis asking them to please advocate the use of helmets. This is their reply, which I think is totally STUPID coming from professionals.

Patti - w.wa

Hi Patti,

Thank you for taking the time to write us. We understand your views and concerns. As quoted by the faculty at our ranch:

"You are quite right - helmets are fabulous things and they save many lives. Tragically though, people who ARE wearing helmets also die or suffer serious head injuries in accidents with horses.

Our program is intended to address the safety problem at its root - which is behavioral - rather than address the symptoms of it. Our message is about developing the relationship with the horse, and the savvy level of the rider, so that unsafe behavior is addressed long before the rider gets on the horse - rather than allowing the unsafe situations to continue to occur and hope that the helmet, body protector, etc, will protect us from the consequences.

The reason you do not see our people wearing helmets is because we try to teach people that rather than be brave because they are wearing a a helmet to protect them, they would be better off not riding until their horse is behaving safely.

People have called us brave for not wearing helmets, but we say they are a lot braver than we are. We would not get on their horse until we had addressed the issues that cause it to behave in unsafe ways.

We hope this helps,

From the Faculty, Parelli Centers"

You know, I think a lot of the parelli methods are very good, but way too many people get a dvd, do a couple of exercises with their horses, and then say they're parelli trained. I have actually seen someone on the trail riding w/their "carrot stick" and nothing else. ON THE TRAIL! I don't care how trained, well behaved, even tempered, or bombproof a horse is they're still a horse. They still have a mind of their own, they're still flight animals and if something seriously scares them it's not gonna matter how many "games" you've played they're still going to rear, bolt, etc.... at some point! That response is just asinine!

Sorry to hear about your injury.

I totally agree that this answer is stupid - but I am not surprised at all. In my opinion this deal was never about really training horses, it was all about marketing.

As far as helmets go - I never did wear one. But: I am always aware of the potential risk and asses every situation for that. I have chased a lot of cows in some of the roughest country you can imagine. The only way to stay alive is to constantly be aware of the situation and it's danger. And yes this includes to let a cow go, if it is to risky.

And I have bailed out a few times when the potential benefit of a helmet came to close. It is when this constant alert goes down on the way home when things go wrong.

But I will advocate the use of helmets - especially for beginners or people with balance problems.

Wish you a speedy recovery!