Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The horse needs to respect you, but sometimes people confuse respect & fear. And they're not the same at all.
Nobody has to lose for me to succeed and that is a unique job. Everybody wins, horse wins, people win, I win.
There are things that change all through your life the way you deal with people, the way you approach problems.
I take the horsemanship very seriously and I treat it with the same integrity that one would any of the fine arts.
Whether one was going to have a horse, or a dog, or a child, with that comes a great responsibility to raise them.
It is not good enough to get your horse to do what you want. It is far better to cause your horse to want to do it.
I cannot imagine my life without horses. They have been my teachers, my friends, my business partners and my entertainment.
Always be humble enough to learn something new. Otherwise, it's only a matter of time before your knowledge becomes outdated.
If you act like you've only got fifteen minutes, it'll take all day. Act like you've got all day and it'll take fifteen minutes.
When you find that the horse is compelled and interested in you, something in you changes. That can be healing or move you deeply.
You try to do as little as you can, but you need to do as much as is necessary to get a result. When you get a result, you do less.
The horse can just be a great vehicle for some people to overcome things in their life that they might not be able to overcome otherwise.
You can't think of everything in life your horse might encounter that might make him afraid so you'd better prepare em for it in other ways.
When you're younger, you ride with 90% physical and 10% mental. But if you could learn how to use 90% mental and 10% physical you'd be better off.
With the horse I always consider that if I do too much in too little time and I'm not patient, he's gonna shut down and I won't get anything done.
When riding, ask yourself what will my horse get out of it if I get what I want? Many times, human nature is to take and to not give anything back.
You want your kids to feel happy and good about themselves. The rest they'll work out on their own. You never know what your kids will be drawn to.
My teachers used to tell me you need to learn to adjust to fit the situation. Don't just do what you've always done because it might not always work.
When training young horses "There are many types of bits for many different disciplines, but the severity of ALL bits lies in the hands holding them."
My expertise lies in what I've devoted my life to. I wouldn't pretend to be a great gift to any other animal. My interest has always been in the horses.
You must somehow understand that we as horsemen can do very little to teach the horse. What we can do is to create an environment in which he can learn.
I’m just trying to get people to understand horses. You have to be consistent and logical, use your brain, and not be emotional and not lose your temper.
It’s amazing what a healing effect horses can have on kids, particularly troubled kids, that might bridge the gap that a well-intended human just can’t do.
I often tell people in the clinics, the human possesses the one thing that means more to the horse than anything in the world, and that is peace and comfort.
The horse is a great equalizer, he doesn't care how good looking you are, or how rich you are or how powerful you are-- he takes you for how you make him feel.
It's a matter of timing and of patience. Although it may seem nothing is happening on the surface, there may yet be profound changes occurring a little deeper. Waiting isn't bad.
You might measure your approach to a horse the same way as your approach to people because there are going to be some horses, like some people, who might be inclined to tune you out.
The comforting thing to the horse is, is as you become more and more accurate, he knows you’re aware of him, and pretty soon because of that he’s aware of you more and more of the time.
I’ve always wanted to do the right thing by a horse, that’s never changed, its just that as my knowledge grew I’ve been able to offer the horse a better human being, as time has gone on.
Horsemanship should be fun. By learning how to control your horse in any situation, your confidence will greatly increase. When you're confident, you can relax and enjoy your partnership.
When you see a horse that’s troubled, you sort of feel sorry for them, yet that doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t still ask the horse to behave and find a way to fit in and respond to you as well.
I've often told people who ask if there is a God: Get around enough people with horses and see what happens. See how they survive in spite of all the things they do, and you'll become a believer!
The horse is so honest.... they live in the moment. And what they do, whether they need to protect themselves or whether they need to accept you really is directly relative to how you make them feel.
Like Tom Dorrance said, ‘It boiled down to one thing: observe, remember, and compare.’ Do something, observe what you did, remember what you did, compare it to what you were doing before, and adjust.
Always work to cause your horse to follow the path of least resistance. Then place an opening for him to pass through so that the path of least resistance becomes the direction you want him to go in.
I started to realize that things would come much easier for me once I learned why a horse does what he does. This method works well for me because of the kinship that develops between horse and rider.
Horses are very keen on body language, and what I refer to as “presence”, and expression. They know quite a bit about you before you ever get to ‘em. They can read things about you clear across an arena.
And for a lot of people, they want it all to be fuzzy and warm and cosmic, but it's no different with a horse than with a kid...You can't always be the kid's best friend. First you have to be the parent.
You don't have contempt for a horse that's troubled. Everybody has baggage, everybody has things that they've had to deal with in their life, and it can be something positive depending on how you use it.
I often tell people that I truly want the horse to be my feet and legs. I want to be an extension of the horse and him to be an extension of me. That's what I'm always working toward when I'm on a horse.
Someone might steal your childhood, but they can't steal your will. There is a point where you're given the opportunity in life to stop blaming everyone else and start taking responsibility for your life.
You allow a horse to make mistakes, the horse will learn from mistakes no different than the human. But you can't get him to where he dreads making mistakes for fear of what's going to happen after he does.
As far as horses go, people will ask about one breed versus another. I have to tell you, I really don't have any prejudice one way or another. I treat every horse at face value, how he/she is as an individual.
That's the cool thing about horses - they don't have prejudice. They don't care if you're tall or thin or if you're dark or if you're light, or if you're rich or you're poor, if you're handsome or not so handsome.
You get that horse to really operate as if he’s your legs and you can take that anywhere you want. You can dress up in any kind of clothes you like. You can be a jumper, dressage rider, trail rider, cowboy, anything.
The horse is a gift to us, to humanity. And for that, there comes responsibility. If the horse is gonna work for you and work with you, then the best thing I can do for the horse is to make it as good a life possible.
You have to plan ahead so that rather then seek revenge for the horse's misbehavior, you see his aggressive behavior shaping up and can redirect it. You change his mind before he's acted and move on to something else.
In nature this animal would have nothing to do with you. "Natural horsemanship" is just words. It's not natural at all. There's an abundance of trust that must be developed for you. Imagine if humans were that pliable.
That’s my credo - My work is play. I don’t complain about work. I enjoy it. I like the feeling of being able to lay down at night and you’re so doggone tired, you’re just hoping to get undressed before you fall asleep.
There's a difference between mastering something physical and working with an animal. There's a spiritual component to working with a horse. You're dealing with the spirit of a live animal that thinks and makes decisions.