"It's not about how much pressure you put on, it's how good you are at taking it off." - Buck Brannaman.
"The devotion it takes to get a horse truly bridled - where he's a damn sure enough bridle horse - far exceeds most peoples ability to dedicate themselves and work that hard. It's a hell of a thing, but it's the payoff. You wish everybody could feel it, cause then they would never get enough" - Buck Brannaman
"For a lot of people, they want it to be all 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" - Buck Brannaman
"Anytime you are with a horse, no matter if you are a daily rider or one who just gets a chance to ride to the mailbox, you are interacting with your horse. It is all about the quality of the communication, not the quantity. Doing something right once in a while will far surpass anything done wrong more often." - Buck Brannaman
"Think of the horse as your partner and it's all one great dance. That's not to say it's always going to be easy or you won't have to work through issues. But when a horse is troubled or uncomfortable in our world, rather than show contempt for him, you must demonstrate empathy and work to convince him that you mean him no harm. You have some things that you'd like him to do 'with you', as opposed to 'for you'- and the best way to do that is as partners." - Buck Brannaman.
"It’s not so much what we do, it’s how we do what we do. And all you are trying to do is get this horse to where you can operate the life in his body, through his legs to his feet, through his mind. The mind might come last because he don’t understand. But you have to give him space to learn. So it’s got to come from US to the horse. And what is your responsibility? It’s no different than raising a child. So this horse is running over you, walking on you, doing things you don’t want. Why would you let him do that? Who is the instructor? Who is the teacher? Who is taking care of this outfit?" - Ray Hunt
"Whenever a horse is over-flexed, it means you're not having an influence on the feet." - Buck Brannaman.
As a horseman you'd get a sense of what kind of presence you needed for the situation. You may have a horse that has been sort of spoiled and he's disrespectful that you may need to have the presence as if to appear to be 10 times your size. But then five minutes later you might be dealing with a horse that's very timid and very fragile and very emotional that you might need to have the presence of being 1/10th your size. It's for the human to be able to adjust that and a lot of it is your posture and your body language and the way you move around the horse that gives him the message whether or not he should be threatened or not threatened by you. Well of course you're trying not to be threatening at all, but the way you present yourself on one you might have to adjust it on another horse in order to be able to fit the situation. 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." - Buck Brannaman
"For a lot of people, they want it to be all 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" - Buck Brannaman
"Anytime you are with a horse, no matter if you are a daily rider or one who just gets a chance to ride to the mailbox, you are interacting with your horse. It is all about the quality of the communication, not the quantity. Doing something right once in a while will far surpass anything done wrong more often." - Buck Brannaman
"Think of the horse as your partner and it's all one great dance. That's not to say it's always going to be easy or you won't have to work through issues. But when a horse is troubled or uncomfortable in our world, rather than show contempt for him, you must demonstrate empathy and work to convince him that you mean him no harm. You have some things that you'd like him to do 'with you', as opposed to 'for you'- and the best way to do that is as partners." - Buck Brannaman.
"It’s not so much what we do, it’s how we do what we do. And all you are trying to do is get this horse to where you can operate the life in his body, through his legs to his feet, through his mind. The mind might come last because he don’t understand. But you have to give him space to learn. So it’s got to come from US to the horse. And what is your responsibility? It’s no different than raising a child. So this horse is running over you, walking on you, doing things you don’t want. Why would you let him do that? Who is the instructor? Who is the teacher? Who is taking care of this outfit?" - Ray Hunt
"Whenever a horse is over-flexed, it means you're not having an influence on the feet." - Buck Brannaman.
As a horseman you'd get a sense of what kind of presence you needed for the situation. You may have a horse that has been sort of spoiled and he's disrespectful that you may need to have the presence as if to appear to be 10 times your size. But then five minutes later you might be dealing with a horse that's very timid and very fragile and very emotional that you might need to have the presence of being 1/10th your size. It's for the human to be able to adjust that and a lot of it is your posture and your body language and the way you move around the horse that gives him the message whether or not he should be threatened or not threatened by you. Well of course you're trying not to be threatening at all, but the way you present yourself on one you might have to adjust it on another horse in order to be able to fit the situation. 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." - Buck Brannaman
“Most people don’t understand what it’s like when it’s life and death to a horse. It’s just 'breaking' them. I understand from being with a horse what he’s dealing with and that, from his point of view, he is just trying to survive.” - Buck Brannaman.
"Simply put; I'm trying to see what I can get done with the horse without him being troubled about doing it."
- Buck Brannaman
"Think of the horse as your partner....and it's all one great dance. That's not to say it's always going to be easy or you won't have to work through issues. But when a horse is troubled or uncomfortable in our world, rather than show contempt for him, you must demonstrate empathy and work to convince him that you mean him no harm. You have some things that you'd like him to do 'with you', as opposed to 'for you'- and the best way to do that is as partners." - Buck Brannaman.
"Once I get the horse where he’s responding and working for ya and has a good frame of mind and a good attitude, it’s not just the horse that needs fixing. It’s the human that needs fixing and it’s the human that created that in the first place." - Buck Brannaman
“Don’t be a victim. Be busy with your horse so you stay out of trouble – otherwise, trouble will come and find you. Be assertive but don’t be aggressive, if you are aggressive you’ll make the horse flighty. The horse needs perimeters like anyone else. Give them guidance, support, rules. The same rules. Don’t change the game, don’t let them have excuses just cause of their past.....and love them.” - Buck Brannaman
"Once you have seen quality horsemanship and are exposed to the things you can do to help a horse be gentle and dependable, then why wouldn't you do those things? No matter what your horse's age, you are going to try to offer him the best that you can. If you adjust what you are doing, he will adjust too; horses have an amazing capacity to make changes. There is always hope." - Buck Brannaman
"It’s been a long time since I was afraid. Fear has to do with helplessness. The only thing that conquers it is knowledge. When you learn about how a horse thinks and makes decisions, that helplessness goes away."
- Buck Brannaman.
"That's the thing with a horse; you can't just love on em and buy lots of carrots. Bribery doesn't work with horses, no different than trying to bribe a kid. All it does is make a contemptuous, spoilt horse." - Buck Brannaman.
“Horses are consistent and logical. The horse will do what is easiest for him. If you make it easy for him to buck you off, kick you and run away, that’s just what he’s going to do. And more power to him. But if you make it easy for the horse to be relaxed and calm and accurate — and also have it be a beautiful dance between you and the horse — it won’t be too long before he’ll be hunting for that just as hard as you are. Whatever you make easy for the horse, that’s what he’s going to get good at.” - Buck Brannaman
"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." - Buck Brannaman
"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." - Buck Brannaman
"Simply put; I'm trying to see what I can get done with the horse without him being troubled about doing it."
- Buck Brannaman
"Think of the horse as your partner....and it's all one great dance. That's not to say it's always going to be easy or you won't have to work through issues. But when a horse is troubled or uncomfortable in our world, rather than show contempt for him, you must demonstrate empathy and work to convince him that you mean him no harm. You have some things that you'd like him to do 'with you', as opposed to 'for you'- and the best way to do that is as partners." - Buck Brannaman.
"Once I get the horse where he’s responding and working for ya and has a good frame of mind and a good attitude, it’s not just the horse that needs fixing. It’s the human that needs fixing and it’s the human that created that in the first place." - Buck Brannaman
“Don’t be a victim. Be busy with your horse so you stay out of trouble – otherwise, trouble will come and find you. Be assertive but don’t be aggressive, if you are aggressive you’ll make the horse flighty. The horse needs perimeters like anyone else. Give them guidance, support, rules. The same rules. Don’t change the game, don’t let them have excuses just cause of their past.....and love them.” - Buck Brannaman
"Once you have seen quality horsemanship and are exposed to the things you can do to help a horse be gentle and dependable, then why wouldn't you do those things? No matter what your horse's age, you are going to try to offer him the best that you can. If you adjust what you are doing, he will adjust too; horses have an amazing capacity to make changes. There is always hope." - Buck Brannaman
"It’s been a long time since I was afraid. Fear has to do with helplessness. The only thing that conquers it is knowledge. When you learn about how a horse thinks and makes decisions, that helplessness goes away."
- Buck Brannaman.
"That's the thing with a horse; you can't just love on em and buy lots of carrots. Bribery doesn't work with horses, no different than trying to bribe a kid. All it does is make a contemptuous, spoilt horse." - Buck Brannaman.
“Horses are consistent and logical. The horse will do what is easiest for him. If you make it easy for him to buck you off, kick you and run away, that’s just what he’s going to do. And more power to him. But if you make it easy for the horse to be relaxed and calm and accurate — and also have it be a beautiful dance between you and the horse — it won’t be too long before he’ll be hunting for that just as hard as you are. Whatever you make easy for the horse, that’s what he’s going to get good at.” - Buck Brannaman
"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." - Buck Brannaman
"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." - Buck Brannaman
"Horses are consistent and logical. The horse will do what is easiest for him. If you make it easy for him to buck you off, kick you and run away, that’s just what he’s going to do. And more power to him. But if you make it easy for the horse to be relaxed and calm and accurate — and also have it be a beautiful dance between you and the horse — it won’t be too long before he’ll be hunting for that just as hard as you are. Whatever you make easy for the horse, that’s what he’s going to get good at.” - Buck Brannaman
""When a lot of folks can't get a horse to operate on a feel, in a snaffle, what most are going to tell you "hell, get a little more bridle, get a little more shank on it, get a chain on it" and then when he's really wanting to flip over then "tie his head down". If he really runs into the tie down then "get a bicycle chain over his nose" I mean it doesn't stop, it becomes medieval what they do.
But when you get a horse to where he's operating on a feel; it doesn't make much difference what you have. Whereas a lot of people leave the snaffle bit because they flunked out, they failed and then they go and get another bit. Of course these tack salesmen love that. They go and get another bit and then they flunk out in it, ruin their horse. Then they ruin them in that, then get another bit and then pretty soon they've got a whole wall full of bits and they still can't operate the damn thing.
All that money they've wasted on bits; they could've probably bought a decent saddle for the horse so he didn't have to put up with the junk they were riding in. Now that would have been something that would have been worthwhile.
So if you don't get it done in the snaffle (the basics that a horse needs, the fundamental movements that all horses need to do for whatever you have in mind for them) before moving on to something else, well, you're not going to get it."" - Buck Brannaman.
But when you get a horse to where he's operating on a feel; it doesn't make much difference what you have. Whereas a lot of people leave the snaffle bit because they flunked out, they failed and then they go and get another bit. Of course these tack salesmen love that. They go and get another bit and then they flunk out in it, ruin their horse. Then they ruin them in that, then get another bit and then pretty soon they've got a whole wall full of bits and they still can't operate the damn thing.
All that money they've wasted on bits; they could've probably bought a decent saddle for the horse so he didn't have to put up with the junk they were riding in. Now that would have been something that would have been worthwhile.
So if you don't get it done in the snaffle (the basics that a horse needs, the fundamental movements that all horses need to do for whatever you have in mind for them) before moving on to something else, well, you're not going to get it."" - Buck Brannaman.