The Parelli organization started to tout their new product, Parelli Patterns, back last fall with much fanfare and a big push about how important this new product is. It is supposed to be the breakthrough for working with your horse and the solution for nearly all problems as well as a jump-start to completing the levels program more quickly and more efficiently.
I was one of the many who did not go rush out to buy it. I had been extremely disappointed in their previous big, important product, the Success Series, and was not interested in spending a lot of money on another disappointment. Finally, a friend purchased one and I have borrowed it and looked it over. I was interested in seeing it as there have been hints about what was in it and the importance of patterns in horse training. I have used patterns for various horses for various reasons over the years and have found that a pattern can be very helpful. Patterns can be very simple, such as simply riding a horse on the arena rail until the horse can relax and realize how easy this is; once that is accomplished, then variations in the pattern can be added, such as change of gait or a reverse of direction. I did not use to think of what I was doing as a pattern, but once the concept was introduced, I was able to put a name to what I had already been doing and to think of more ways to use a pattern. Therefore, I was curious to see just what Parelli was doing with the pattern idea.
In short, this product is a disappointment and not worth what is being charged for it. I think that there is actually about $50 worth of information here which is far from its actual price. It could have been done much differently, either making a much more compact and less expensive product, or making it with much more information to justify the price.
It comes in four boxes, one for each Savvy-On line, Liberty, Freestyle and Finesse. On line is ground work with halter and rope. Liberty is the horse at liberty, first in the round pen, then in larger area. Freestyle is riding with light to no contact. Finesse is riding with more contact and some collection. The boxes look like little pizza boxes, being 11″ x 12″ and about 1″ tall. Inside are four items-a 10″ x 12″ booklet, another smaller booklet, a DVD in a cardboard case, and a fold out chart. They rattle around loosely in the box which is made of heavy cardboard. In all the items, it is evident that the graphic artists put in a lot of time to create something beautiful.
The big booklet is an awkward size and is printed on a very heavy stock paper. It is full of lush color photos of Pat Parelli, and a few of Linda Parelli, doing things with horses. It is, however, a bit short of actual words. For example, there is a page which says “Playing with horses on the ground teaches you to read horses and to build a strong, trusting and growing relationship based on love, language and leadership.” Then it is repeated in a multitude of other languages. For anyone already doing Parelli, that statement is not exactly a new idea as it has been said over and over in other products. Much of the booklet is like that, a short statement repeated in other languages and then a photo. The actual contents of the booklet can be reduced to about 2 pages of printed matter and much of the “meat” of this booklet is repeated in the other booklet and the foldout.
The Patterns for each Savvy that are shown in the large booklet, are shown again on the foldout which is a chart to hang on the wall to mark your progress. The patterns are also shown in the smaller booklet which is spiral bound to carry to the barn as a handy reference guide in case a person might forget the simple patterns. There is a full page given to Horsenality charts (in the large booklet) which are also repeated in the spiral book. These charts don’t really add much knowledge for anyone who has looked at Horsenality in other Parelli products. There is a page of Horsenality strategies which also is mostly repeat information from other products. There are two pages describing Savvy Sessions which depend on how much time one has. There are some little pieces of good information to glean from this section, but I disagree with some of their time constraints. And that is about it except for some more photos of Pat doing stuff.
While it is not overtly stated in the ads for this product, it is implied that this is nearly a stand alone product. It is not. If one is not already in the Levels program, one will be lost trying to do the Patterns for no information is given in this set about how to actually do anything. At the back of the large booklet, it is said that it is essential to have the Success Series, or at least some of the DVDs of that series; which DVDs varies from one Savvy to another. I think that more then just the Success Series DVD’s will be needed or a person will get into a mess. The Patterns do not replace the Levels Program; as far as I can tell, it supplements it. I have found out more about the Patterns from other sources (Savvy Club DVDs, Savvy Club weekly emails) then from this set itself.
In the On-Line box, there is a yellow piece of paper which states “Important Notice! The Parelli Patterns are completely different from any other Parelli product you may have seen or own. There is hardly any theory because there’s not much to know except what the Patterns are and what your goals are for each one at each Level. Just by DOING the Patterns, many behavioral problems will simply disappear.” Ah-ha, that is the explanation for the paucity of actual information in this set; nice excuse-whoops, reason!
It is repeated often that one should do each pattern seven times, but there is no explanation of just what that means. Does one do a pattern seven times in one session, or do the same pattern over seven sessions? I did somewhere, it may have been in this product or it may have been from another source, figure out that they mean to do the pattern for seven sessions. But that information led to further questions. If the horse needs more then one session to grasp the concept, does that count for one of the seven sessions? In this product there is no explanation of how to actually get the patterns done in an effective manner and no explanation of just how to teach the horse by breaking down a pattern into steps so your horse can understand. If one is not already experienced in teaching new things to a horse, one is going to create troubles. And just what is special about the number seven, anyways?
There are some actual good things in this set, but one has to dig them out and then know how to adopt them to one’s own horse and be able to actually use the patterns. The entire thing could have been condensed to one good DVD and one good booklet for a much more reasonable price. Or the set could have been expanded with more information and help for this price. My friend is sorry she bought this and has sworn to never buy anything from Parelli again. I am glad I was able to see it and very happy that I did not buy it. If you want this product, find at least five other people who also want it and split the costs and share the thing. When I was done with the four “Pizza Boxes”, I had a few pages of handwritten notes which was what I had gleaned of value from the entire deal. Watching the DVDs once was likely adequate as the DVDs mostly consist of Pat Parelli talking while doing stuff with his horses. Sometimes what he is talking about corresponds to what he is doing and sometimes not. I found it very helpful to select the option of the captions at the bottom of the screen that wrote what he was saying, and then turn off the sound so that I did not have to hear him, but could read him instead. Something about Pat talking on and on both annoys me and puts me to sleep at the same time.
I was less disappointed in this set then my friend. But then I was not expecting much. I was merely curious as to just what the different patterns were. She had been expecting some real help and something that would help to advance her. I had not put out any money and she had put out a lot of money. No wonder then that she was far more disappointed then I was.
