By a strange and poignant coincidence, I bought a copy of Ray Hunt’s book Think Harmony with Horses the day before he died. The book is currently out of print… but is well worth tracking down a second hand copy if you can. If not, I will share with you Ray’s thoughts on horse training and riding.
Ray Hunt, Master Horseman
31 August 1929 – 12 March 2009
It was a privilege to attend a rare Ray Hunt clinic on the shores of Lake Wanaka (New Zealand) in 2002.
Those interested in natural horsemanship will have heard of Ray, along with Tom and Bill Dorrance. These three are seen by many as the pioneers of a different movement in horse-handling; they advocated a gentler way than the ‘buck ‘em out’ style that was popular in the United States, Argentina and many other countries in earlier times.
Ray Hunt was a gentleman cowboy from “Idaho, ma’am”.
I thought I would share with you, some of Ray’s tips from the day I was called “ma’am” back in 2002.
These are the first of a series of posts sharing Ray’s insights.
If the horse is eating, he is not giving you his full attention. DONOT let the horse eat while you are handling him, it is like a kid chewing gum in class!
Never let a horse know how strong he is.
It is our responsibility to help the horse stay out of trouble.
Never ask a horse to do something you don’t mean. Follow up.
We are looking for a soft feel, not a tug or pull.
The horse raises his head when he is worried. Don’t stop until horse does the right thing, otherwise it teaches the horse to raise his head.
Mounting from the fence: move the horse around, forward, backward and sideways, while you are sitting up there. Relax after each positive leg move. Get the horse to lower his head, soften and ‘turn loose’ to you, to your suggestions.
Riding:
Count cadence when the leg is leaving the ground.
Learn where the horse’s legs are. All four legs should be equal (in their stride length).
Can teach the horse most of the things he needs to know at a walk – moving front and back end.
Reins and hands should never come back behind the saddle horn. Keep the hands out in front.
To get the horse’s head to lower down to the ground, widen hands softly out to the sides and let the horse take a soft feel down.
Slow the legs down, see how slow you can get him to walk ‘as thought he could walk on an egg and it wouldn’t break’.
Don’t try to stop anything, just make it difficult e.g. firm feel when horse tucks his head right in (behind the bit), soften when the horse is right.
When moving the front end, just use hands and knees.
Always ride your horse on a line – correct him each time he goes off the line.
Aim to do less all the time.
Trotting with a soft feel – ‘offer the best deal possible’. See how quickly he can stop.
Question: If the horse is getting grumpy or worried, what can you do?
Ray’s answer: “Use legs/hands to get the horse’s mind on something else, for example lift one hand at a time.”
Stay tuned for more wisdom from Ray…
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