Pat Parelli, Catwalk, Blah Blah Blah Nazi Blah Blah

 This is a quote from the Horse and Hound forum.

I don't doubt that people find discussion of and reference to either genocide or Nazi's distasteful. These things are particular human behaviours taken to extreme.

But all the behaviours which lead to genocide and the Nazi movement have been involved in the Parelli/Catwalk scenario, just at a lower level. Just to go through a few:

Blind acceptance of 'authority'
Witch hunt behaviours
Bullying/oppression of those less able than others to defend themselves
Self justification

I am sure a trained behaviourist or similar could be much more articulate on this matter, but I for one don't make a huge distinction between acceptance of someone who chooses to bully/oppress horses or someone who chooses to bully/oppress people. The former have just chosen an easier target.

 I can't decide on how many different levels this is offensive, but if Pat Parelli is upsetting this sort of person, I'll join him. To even begin to equate the Catwalk video and the Holocaust...................... words rarely fail me but this time they have.

I have used Nazi comparisons in the past, here is the link, so I may be a hypocrite, but at least an open one, but I was trying to argue a serious point about what I consider to be a dangerous obsession with breeding, not trying to equate a horse training session which left no blood stains, no injuries, no whip marks with death camps.

I have said before I disagree with a lot of what Pat Parelli does, I disagree with a lot of what YOU, yes you the person reading this, do. That is because I am an opinionated person. I have my opinions and until you all agree with me I will carry on promoting them.


While this sort of ludicrous attack is going on, it is impossible to discuss training methods. My next post is related to what I saw on the Catwalk video, and without being there, knowing the animal, knowing what went on before, and what happened next, I cannot give any useful comments, other than what I have already said, I think PP went on too long, and again as I have already said, this has to be the commonest mistake in teaching. That sentence is a ludicrous length but I can't be bothered to edit it.

I will stand by what Pat Parelli did because when someone is being attacked by lunatics, they need people to stand by them. If we can get this back to a discussion of a training session that may have had faults, (I say may, because I wouldn't condemn anyone on grainy broadband footage) then we can progress, and progress is the subject of my next post.

But I will also say, Pat Parelli has got an enormous amount of people to see there is another way to work with horses and he has produced some stunning results. I'm just jealous that he can make the money, and I can't. I suspect I amy not be the only one who feels this.

Heil Parelli, no, I can't see it really working. Can you?