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QUOTES FROM RAY HUNT 2/3/01 - Rising Creek Ranch

  • "A lot of humans put themselves above the horse"
  • "Life in the horse's body through his legs to his feet to his mind" - From his feet to his mind."
  • "Fix it up and let them learn it."
  • "Fix things so it'll work - let them work at it" - "I don't have it all yet, but I'm working on it, and my horses help me".
  • "For stepping over behind: first they have to shift their weight, then they move their feet."
  • Ray on ground in roundpen, directing colt: he was directing and supporting - when he stopped directing (leading hand) and supporting (driving hand), the horse stops. "How 'bout that - just like your car - turn it on, it goes, turn it off, it stops" - PS from Katy - his timing is impeccable. You have to see it for yourself.
  • "The horse prepares by shifting it's weight; then the feet move. Notice (aka reward by release) the smallest try and the slightest change."
  • "Pride and ego get in people's way, it gets in the horse's way."
  • "Get the animal where it's not afraid, he's not scared."
  • "Keep him out of trouble - it's the hardest thing you'll ever do"
  • "Control the life in the body, so then the mind gets it, when the mind understands, then the feet understand."
  • Bridling - Ray keeps the halter around the horses' neck, uses cheek pieces of bridle to tip horses' nose back to you - reins are " the last thing to go on"
  • "Put his feet back - pretty soon they'll stay there".
  • "Shift the weight, then the feet will go".
  • "If he isn't moving, you can't get it done. Until the legs know what to do the mind is lost. When the feet get knowing what to do, the mind understands".
  • "I can fix it so it'll work, but I can't make it work".
  • "Make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy"
  • Exercises: rope around the butt from the opposite side - they should feel the pressure and unwind. (Note from webmistress - Linda Tellington Jones' "Body Wrap" is very similar and used for the same reason - to relax and recognize/feel the whole body. Horses don't necessarily know they have a "rear end".
  • Re: tieing - he likes to tie them high, so if they want to pull back they elevate themselves. (Thus, not causing stress on neck and spine.)
  • "Horses don't do wrong things - horses are never wrong".
  • "When a horse is right on his feet, he's right in his head".


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