"Whether we’re riding horses or just handling them, I think we’re all after the same thing. We all want our horses to be responsive to us. It’s just a matter of how we go about getting it done and I almost didn’t live long enough to get this sorted out in a way that was really fitting to the horses.” - Bill Dorrance
"When I observe people and horses; it often seems to me that when the horse is trying to avoid something, or maybe is not doing what the human is asking of him, it is because the horse's sense of self preservation is immediately taking effect. This may seem as though the horse does not want to cooperate. But the human needs to recognize the whole horse. The horse has a basic need for self preservation." Tom Dorrance.
Struggling with a horse can sure bring out the less attractive self-preservation aspects in him.............and we’d rather he didn’t need to rely on these when we are anywhere near him." - Bill Dorrance.
"It’s too bad that people are so ready to blame their horse’s poor response to them on a deficiency in his makeup, or on a previous owner, or trainer or vet. They wouldn’t need to spend time blaming the horse or other people for the situation if they had an idea of what changes they needed to make in themselves. That’s where the problem is.........them not being able to figure out what they should do." - Bill Dorrance
"It’s important [for the] horse [to have] a nice mellow feel. This is really more about the way his mood and his mind are, but there’s a place in there where his body takes part in the understanding of this mellow feel. Without [the human] around, the horse is that nice mellow way in most cases. So, if he’s not that way when [the human] is around him, then it’s up to [the human] to bring this out in the horse." - Bill Dorrance
"The horse knows where the person is all the time. Now we are trying to help the person know where the horse is all the time. The horse knows where the person is; the person needs to learn to catch-up with the horse on that." - Tom Dorrance
The first important thing is to think about riding the horse straight out - between your hands and legs. Have the life come straight through his body." Tom Dorrance
When the horse understands what you want, he will do what that is, right up to the limit of his physical capacity.................and sometimes well beyond it.” - Bill Dorrance
It seems like most people working with horses are working from the person to the horse. I start with the horse and try to figure out where he is. The horse tells me where he is and then I try to figure out how to present myself to the horse in a way that’s understandable to the horse. Some people will expect the horse to know what they're asking it to do, while the horse has no idea what is being asked. It's as if they expect the horse to ALREADY KNOW.” - Tom Dorrance.