What is the difference between groundwork in the Dorrance tradition and Parelli's Seven Games?

The difference between groundwork in the Dorrance tradition and Parelli's Seven Games reflects the broader philosophical difference between these two streams of natural horsemanship: the Dorrance tradition's groundwork is organic, feel-based, and individualized to the specific horse's needs at the specific moment, while the Seven Games provide a systematic curriculum of named exercises that develop specific qualities through specific, teachable procedures. In the Dorrance tradition, groundwork is not a checklist of exercises to be completed but an ongoing conversation with the horse in which the trainer is reading and responding to what the horse shows at each moment — the specific exercises used, the duration, and the sequence are determined by the horse's needs and responses rather than by a prescribed curriculum. Buck Brannaman might spend extensive time on hindquarter yields with one horse and virtually none with another because he is responding to what each specific horse shows, rather than following a protocol that all horses go through. Parelli's Seven Games provide named exercises — Friendly Game, Porcupine Game, Driving Game, Yo-Yo Game, Circling Game, Sideways Game, Squeeze Game — each of which develops a specific quality of communication and is introduced in a specific sequence that applies regardless of the individual horse's starting point. The Games structure makes groundwork learnable and assessable in ways that the Dorrance approach does not provide, but it also means that students can develop the ability to execute the Games without developing the feel and horse-reading skills that determine whether the Games are being applied at the right level, with the right timing, and in response to what the specific horse actually needs at this specific moment. Neither approach is simply better — they serve different learning contexts and produce different qualities of horsemanship development — but the distinction is real and significant.