Ray Hunt - Think Harmony with Horses: An In-depth Study of Horse-Man Relationship

My belief in life is that we can all get along together if we try to understand one another. If you find a friend in life before somebody else finds him youre real lucky. Youll meet a lot of people and have a lot of acquaintances, but as far as having friendsthey are very rare and very precious. But every horse you ride can be your friend because you ask this of them. This is real important to me. You can ask the horse to do your thing, but you ask him; you offer it to him in a good way. You fix it up and let him find it. You do not make anything happen, no more than you can make a friendship happen.

My goal with the horse is not to beat someone; its to win within myself. To do the best job I can do and tomorrow try to do better. You will be working on yourself to accomplish this, not on your horse. You will work to recognize how you feel toward your horse and how your horse answers you back; how he understands you, and how he takes it. There shouldnt be any hassle; there shouldnt be a big flareup. Mentally, your horse should not weigh anything. When you ask your horse to do something it should be his idea. This is the goal. In the end, when you ask your horse to do something, he wants to do it, he likes to do it, he understands how to do it, and he does it.

Youll find out when you get this accomplished that youre going to be a horseman. Not that I am one. Someday I hope to be one, but the horse has taught me this. To understand the horse youll find that youre going to be working on yourself. The horse will give you the answers and he will question you to see if you are sure or not. So its the confidence you give him and the understanding; the purpose and the meaning behind what you ask him to do that is going to make the big difference. As you work with your horse, see how much of this is the horses idea, or how much of it is all your idea and if he is forced into it. If hes not forced into it youll see a great attitude. Your idea should become his idea, and when it does, then there will be no drag.

You will all have different kinds of horses and of course there are all kinds of riders, and this is great. No one is any better than the next one. You are a precious thing in life because you are youtheres no one else in the world like you. Thats the same with the horse. Hes an individual and this is why I say hes entitled to his thoughts just as you are entitled to yours.

Often a person says, My horse isnt like that horse. Well, thats goodit would be a shame if all the horses were the same and all the people the same. You try to adjust to fit the situation. One thing were all working for and trying to learn is to adjust to fit the situation.

I want to respect your thoughts and Id appreciate it if somebody respected mine. I want to respect my horses thoughts and feelings. We are the teachers and have to cope with situations as they come up. It can be done. The way to do it is to work on yourself, to recognize and understand the situation. Therell be a lot of questions, and youll ask what do you do. You make the wrong things difficult and the right things easy as you adjust to fit the situation.

If the rider is alert and aware and in a learning frame of mind, the horse can be the same. The more you deal with your problems, the more determined you are to get something done and the more interesting it is for you to work at itnaturally, the more youre going to learn to respect and understand the horse. Its up to the individual.

A lot of guys say: How far can I go? How long will it be before I can do this? I dont know, but youll know because youre the one thats doing it. Youll know how fast you can go, how much time youve got, how much youre going to work at it. Youre going to be honest with yourself and set things up and see. So its up to each individual.

Its fun for me; of course it might not be to John Doe, but then maybe hes not interested in this kind of a life. If he isnt, well, thats fine too. But you will find out what Im talking about is a way of life. Only you know how much effort you want to put behind it. How important it is to you to get these things done. If you are satisfied with yourself, you dont have to satisfy me or satisfy John Doe, as far as Im concerned. If you have satisfied yourself, you are a winnerto me. The only person you have to prove anything to in your life is yourself. I think that a person who doesnt make of himself what he is worthy of is really cheating himself.

I dont know what you have to offer your horse so that your horse can come through for you, but the horse can do anything you ask of him. He can do this to the best of his ability. Some of them can do things better than others, but each one can do his thing his way as well as he can. For me, the horse doesnt have to do my thing my way, but I do want him to do my thing his way and like it.

If I had to work for you and I could do your thing my way and like it, this would benefit us both. But, if I had to do your thing your way and I didnt like it, it just wouldnt be me; youd be wrong in expecting me to stay and Id be wrong in staying. So again, this is how I want the horse. I just want him to do my thing his way and do it the best that he knows how. If a person is working for me and doing these kinds of things, thats all I can ask of him. Its the same with the horse. Maybe he is not doing it the way we want him to do it, but for him its the best he can do because thats the way hes made or thats the way he thinks. Its as clear as he can think to do it. Thats all you can ask of him. We should know this because we are horsemen and we can feel this. The horse tells you where he is. Work with him on his level. Work him with things he understands. The more horses you can work with, the more horses you can be around, the more different people you can watch and see things happen, the more you learn.