Drama is SO Overrated!

I'm posting this entry on my blog mainly out of frustration. I'm trying to put some thought into this, and also try to be careful what I say, because I am not in the business of insulting people. Everything I've said here is what I've thought today and refrained from posting on the forum, for fear of being ripped open.

The Parelli Savvy Club was created over 5 years ago as a student body that could study and share information together. People NEED to be able to study together to stay motivated on this journey we call horsemanship, and the Savvy Club Forum is a great place to ask questions and get support...until recently. Obviously when you put 20,000 some odd users on a forum together, there isn't always going to be total agreement on everything said, but in the past month or so, the place has totally erupted into CHAOS. There have always been differing opinions (hoof care, cost of the Parelli program, nutrition/holistic care, just to name a few hot topics), and that's fine when people can carry out mature discussions, and most of all, agree to disagree when opposite points of view can't be seen.

I have frequented the forum for over a year now, enjoying reading a lot of the topics and posts written. It gives me something to think about, and a way to test my own knowledge. Recently though, the atmosphere has been coming up nothing short of poisonous and hostile, and I can't help but think: "Has everyone FORGOTTEN what our goals are here?" There are some people on there that I'm beginning to think pay the $20/month to Parelli JUST so they can complain about it. Some have been threatening to quit Parelli for MONTHS now, and I'm going through a serious attitude shift towards them: Quit already! If you really and truly hate it that much, GET OUT OF HERE! STOP POISONING THE FORUM! STOP LIGHTING FIRES! But that's where we hit a problem: OF COURSE they don't hate it that much! They love PNH, they're just really not happy, positive people, they just are looking for an outlet to complain. Come on guys, go outside, and do something with YOUR horses for once, instead of picking Pat and Linda's.

This statement (^^^) opens up another can of worms. Plenty of people retaliate with "Well we're genuinely concerned about the wellfare of their horses." Sure. Right. That's why you're complaining on a forum, and not writing to THEM. I will give you a little piece of information: faculty@parelli.com. parelli@parelli.com. TELL THEM about it! I certainly have. The information they provide you with might surprise you.

A lot of people think that the reason I don't like these posts is because I follow blindly every word that Pat and Linda say. I'm here to say now, that this is not true. Underlying all the complaining I've heard about hoof care, the representation Pat and Linda have in their company, the welfare of Remmer and Allure etc, I've actually heard a lot of good points brought to the table.

Yes, I'm actually very concerned about Remmer's feet and Allure's right-hand side, and I don't think either one can be solved entirely by putting bigger, thicker, specially designed, shimmed, (you name it) shoes on their feet. I'm a devout barefoot trimmer, and I don't believe for a second that their horses HAVE to be shod. But the Parellis have an underlying reason why they don't advocate barefoot trimming (and no, it's not "we travel a lot"...that's their cover story). Granted they may not be 100% justified (I wish I could point them to Pete Ramey's stuff), but they're certainly not totally ignorant.

Yes, Linda is a representative of her company. Her recent segment on purity of gait with Allure was probably not her best representation of her knowledge on the subject. I think what she was aiming for was more to show how one might START developing purity of gait. Remmer would have done it perfectly, Allure hasn't done it, and so I think the point was to show the development. And maybe it wasn't the best idea. But let's not decapitate the poor girl, and for God sake, to whatever imbecile said "Linda is NOT a student, she is a professional" Have you HEARD THE WOMAN TALK?! EVER?! She is SO on a journey of never-ending self improvement, that it can be a bit intimidating to people who don't have that drive. Self-improvement comes from learning. Any person who learns is a student of some kind. Sure, she's a professional, and she IS professional. She admits that she doesn't know what's going on, and that she's working to fix it (some may not agree with the steps she's taking, but at least she's made an effort!). A non professional person (I actually had a PNH instructor do this once) would get all huffy and defensive, and pretend as if nothing was wrong, and try to make their students feel ignorant.

I guess the bottom line of this rant is that I am TIRED of people using the Parelli Forum (Remember? that Positive-minded student body?) to pick on Pat and Linda's character for not understanding something. They're trying. They really and truly are. As I put it to a friend in conversation today, it'd be like if I screamed at you "YOU CAN'T DO CALCULUS??? YOU ARE SUCH A MONEY-STEALING JERK BECAUSE YOU CAN'T DO CALCULUS!" Okay, rediculous, flamboyant, and just downright out of line. Cut them some slack, they're doing the best they can with the resources they have. If you're not fond of their resources, provide them with some that you think they could benefit from! Let's be productive here!

I apologize in advance for the severity of this post. These thoughts have been weighing on my mind all day. I may end up removing it eventually, anyway.

THanks for reading, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.