Other peoples opinions?!

[Rachel&Sully]

Hi

It seems everybody has an opinion on parelli! Its like marmite, you either love it or hate it! How do you deal with other peoples opinions when they can be very negative about it?! Thankfully I've not experienced this at my yard as everybody respects each other and accepts we all do things differently. Although I don't know why but if I'm honest I'm probably more inclined to go into the school and practice some games when less people are about. I'm sure I'll get over this when we are better at it.

Some horsey friends and family that I've told about my lesson have more or less said 'oh what a load of rubbish'.... I just laugh it off and say well we enjoyed it :-)

I know with anything horsey people have different ideas / opinions and some are very vocal about them..... but I just wondered whether you bother to explain why you like it or just smile and ignore?!

[emilyyy]

Well my yard is still very "what is she doing?" and some people make remarks which are not intentionally rude but come across that way, and for a while when Trio and I were having issues and I had to get firmer with her I didn't want to go in the school and would try and go when everyone had left or do it in the field. However now I think it's my life and my relationship with my horse, well in my case loan which is even more frustrating as her owner does not do it and everyone talks to the owner about it and not me. In the end it's your life and I just ignore it and try and answer any questions people might have, you never know you might convert them x

[Jodes]

When i first joined Parelli i couldnt get my head round the fact that not every one was doing it - It was the best thing since sliced bread! lol
But over the years i got into arguments about "why" all the time - Why its good for the horse - why its so much fun, - why why whyyy am i doing it! bla bla bla

Im now at a stage where i can easily say - "well i enjoy it." and thats all. If they ask me silly questions and try to trick me out - i simply say - You could contact a Parelli Professional who will be able to answer this better than i can.

I now lead by example - i stopped shouting about how great Parelli is and just let my relationship with Bouncer speak for itself. People now start to see the things that Bouncer and i can do - and when they finally say - "I wish i could do that!" - i say - You can! Ive let people borrow so much educational material and everything to try and help them and Ill help when they want genuine help - not just to laugh at me!

The main thing is, is to rise above it. Dont bite at their silly remarks (like i used to lol!) and then just let it go. The fact that i can nearly ride my horse bridless... and they cant get into the school without a fight, a big bit, a whip and spurs is enough to keep me smiling that im doing the right thing