The 8 Principles are the guidelines of the Parelli Program. If you only knew them and not much else from the theory section, you could get along just fine. These 8 Principles are what I try to live by as a horsewoman as well as in my interactions with fellow human beings.

Then, there are also the Principle Games. Out of the 7 Games, those are the first 3: Friendly Game, Porcupine Game and Driving Game. These are your ABC. Games 4 through 7 are the Purpose Games: YoYo Game, Circling Game, Sideways Game and Squeeze Game.

The Purpose Games will put your principles games to a test. They will show you how confident your horse really is and how good your yields really are. Typically, if you encounter a challenge with any of the Games 4 through 7, the fix for it lays in Games 1 through 3.

The same goes for your horsemanship in general. Horses not only need bonding and obedience exercises on the ground, arena exercises and outdoor living as well as outdoor riding. They also need purpose. If there is no purpose, your horse will start to wonder why you are doing what you are doing. “Just because” is not a good enough reason.

So, in order to get your principles really good—think about the mutual responsibilities for example—find a purpose that you can test them with!

Having a hard time finding an appropriate purpose? Believe me when I say “You are not alone”! There are different disciplines in today’s horse industry that offer a lot of purpose for horses and humans: applications of cow working such as cutting or reined cow horse, roping; jumping, dressage, driving and many more.

Now, you and/or your horse might not want to explore those in the competition arenas. And that’s ok!

Day to day purposes can be things such as:
Can you open & close a gate from horseback?
Can your horse look where he is going?
Can your horse transition between gaits within the gait and between gaits as such?
Can you back your horse out of the trailer by leading him by the tail?
Can you walk your horse over a log?
Can you cross a stream when horseback?
Can you drag a log from horseback?
Can your horse sidepass over for you to mount?

Purpose gives you the “why”. I don’t know about you, but if I know why I’m doing something, like going to the gym for example, I’m a lot more motivated! You guessed it right! Because I would like to be fit for the snowboarding and skiing season! 🙂 All of a sudden, going sideways makes more sense because I would like to be able to open & close a gate from horseback. Or because I need to leg yield away from something that could potentially be dangerous for my horse.

Purpose is what prevents the first 3 Games from turning into the 3 jobs or 3 torture methods AND will keep you and your horse progressing through the Levels Program and way beyond!

Time is often talked about as being a social construct. My perception of time is different from yours. In Switzerland, where I am from, trains run on time—like a Swiss watch! In other countries, it is totally acceptable to be “fashionably late”.

So, if we can’t even agree on time as a human race, how can we expect our horses to understand the concept? Therefore, horses are in charge of the timelines. Luckily, the Parelli Program gives us, as the students of the horse a lot of guidelines to understand that concept better. There are a lot of sequences to follow and by doing so we can allow the horse to be in charge of the timelines.

Think about these for example:
Rapport – Respect – Impulsion – Flexion
There was this one time—not too long ago, where I was trying to do flying lead changes under saddle. Yet, all I got was a crabby horse. Hmm, well, after doing some thinking at night, I realized that I had skipped the Impulsion step! No wonder the horse was struggling with the flying changes!

OnLine – Liberty – Freestyle – Finesse
OnLine prepares us for Liberty.
OnLine and Liberty prepare us for Freestyle.
OnLine, Liberty and Freestyle set us up for success with Finesse.
Yesterday, I had a hugely successful play session with my mare Catty and she offered to do at Liberty what I had been practicing with her OnLine! Now, I can’t wait to try it at Freestyle!

Teach – Control – Reinforce – Refine
And the different use of the phases that go with it!
You can’t refine something you haven’t even taught your horse yet.

Rhythm – Relaxation – Retreat
The mantra of the Friendly Game! If you can offer your horse rhythm and can be relaxed about what you are asking him to do, then retreat when he starts thinking in the right direction, then your horse can eventually—when he’s ready because remember, he is in charge of the timelines—complete the task with rhythm, relaxation and find a retreat or a release.

Mind – Flexion – Weight – Feet
Expect a lot, accept a little, reward often! Can you reward the slightest try? Can you release to your horse’s thought, or mind to use one of the words of this sequence? That’s when harmony starts to happen and things start to feel magical!

Give this some thought if you wish to do so and let me know what changes you notice in you and your horse! I would love to hear about it – please comment below!

Savvy On,

Elli