It's a mini, not a mounting block.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BD9bc3u9ag

Ok, I was with this girl until she started playing jumprope with her horse (wtf) and using her mini as a moutning block.

For the record, I am not as anti-Parelli as a lot of people are. That said, I'm not paying a month's salary for a stick with a rope on it. I read a book by Parelli once, and when I was done, I was left scratching my head and going "huh?"

My personal take on Parelli is this: I think he is gimmicky beyond belief and out to make a buck. No surprise, isn't everyone? If someone wants to pay up the wazoo to play his 7 games or whatever- far be it for me to criticize. Know why? Because other than a couple dumb things the girl does, in that video I see a cooperative horse willingly doing whatever his owner asks, at liberty, and without coercion. That, to me, says something about Parelli works. Just not my thing.

I personally prefer Clinton Anderson. I will probably get some shit for that, but, oh well, everyone has an opinion. I have one of his books- his writing style is very accessible to me, and his ideas make sense. Now, I also didn't pay $75 for his stick with a string either. I paid $7 for a lunge whip. And I didn't pay whetever he charges for his special rope halter with knots on it... I paid like 12 bucks for a rope halter from the feed store. I could have paid less and made my own, but I'm too lazy for all that.

I guess my point is, even the most gimmicky trainers (and yes, both these guys are gimmicky) will have something valuable to take from their programs. Anderson's groundwork is working pretty well for Licorice. She knows she needs to lead like my shadow, and is getting better about lungeing all the time. Some of his exercises have made her very respeonsive to my body language. She's not a perfect horse, and I would say I'm not a perfect trainer, except I wouldn't dare to call myself a trainer. I guess, I'm not a perfect owner? I know a lot of her issues stem from my inability to demand respect, and now I have to learn how to earn, and insist upon, her respect and trust. So without a good trainer to rely on (and frankly, withou the hundreds of dollars it will cost to get one) we are muddling along, and I am taking ideas from wherever I can find them, and adapting them to our situation.

Hopefully, somehow in all the steps we make, forward and backward, we'll get somewhere.