Buckaroo Texan Blog

I recently got to thinking about all the negative that surrounds us everyday.  This I believe is a human trait.   Horses are not negative unless their encounters with the human have made them that way.  We get picked at to be perfect, time deadlines for this and that, service of any sort is suppose to be right now if not sooner.   None of that makes any sense to the horse.  If you look at the world in a real sense, the beauty of your surrounding is not made in a flash, it takes time.   Relieve the stress by looking for the good in everything.    This relates to your relations with horses more than you know.  Horses just want to be peaceful, calm and comfortable.  Sounds really good to me too!  I remembered something I have heard from Ray Hunt and Buck Brannaman.  When you are working with a horse, on the ground or in the saddle, just ignore the stuff you don’t want and reward the stuff you do want.  With time that other stuff disappears or is something you will want later.    Look for the good in your horse and those around you.  We are all at different places in our horsemanship. Encouragement of the good and seeing the good, just makes it all better.

This past weekend, I attended a Horsemanship Clinic with Buster McLaury in Paducah, Texas located in the Texas Panhandle.    We had warm wind, cold rain, sun, fog and fantastic cloud formations.  No arena, just panhandle pasture for this clinic.

Buster is a cowboy that studied for years with Ray Hunt.  He is a darn good cowboy poet, knows the cowboy ways, but is also and foremost, a fine horseman.  As you study, learn and ride with Buster you can feel the presence of Ray Hunt.

 I took two young horses to ride with Buster, for the experience and one in particular that has had problems of coping with riding around other horses.   As we discussed the background of my sorrel gelding, Rojo, Buster reminded us of a saying of Ray’s “ A horse learns what he lives and lives what he learns”.   I had heard this phrase before but on this troubled young horse it really hit home.   The bad experiences he has had is what he had learned, so we had to understand his living what he learned and try to gain his confidence that living and riding around other horses could be a good experience.  We were able to set up some situations that he could be exposed to and allowed me help him with moving his feet, directing him, show him he could move to a comfortable spot and use his energy in a productive way.  This allowed him to gain some confidence and ride the rest of the session a lot more relaxed than he ever had around other horses.

 Rojos’ session on Saturday was after a cold rain, he was shaking, tight in the tail, tight in the flank, stomach and his mouth.  Buster had me direct him with a lot of ground work to get to his  mind.  To work in such a way that he was out of trouble if he stayed focused on me.   The ground was slick in spots and for this horse, just staying even with yesterday was big progress.  I was able to build a new depth of closeness between Rojo and I, a deeper confidence, that is so easy to destroy if a person is not aware and responsible.

We worked out in the pasture bending our horses so they could go straight.  A horse needs to be balanced, straight even if he is making an arc with his path or a straight line.  The rider needs to direct the horse with an idea and know that idea before he asks the horse to move a foot. We broke down our exercises to realize and actually feel when were getting the horse soft and working on his mind.  As we got the horses prepared to move out or stop, we prepared.  We felt of him, felt for him and then we felt together. 

We directed our horses to better their stops, backing up hills, bringing the hind and the front, hobbling, roping, and transitions.  We asked for the slightest try and got great results by remembering we were really working with their minds. Sometimes you get to the horses’ feet through his mind and sometimes you get to his mind through his feet.

The 2012 Legacy of Legends event is being planned and the dates are set.  Mark you calendars and start making plans to attend this fantastic event.  The next event will be held February 3-5, 2012 at the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center in las Vegas, Nevada.     Go to www.alegacyoflegends.com for more information and details as they come available.   I attended last years’ event and I have made my plans to attend this event.        Photo by: Heather Hafleigh

Join us for what will become an annual celebration continuing the vision of Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt for the next generation of horsemen and women. 

  $75/day, $200 for three days (in advance via the web site)

Schedule:  (New work each day)

9:00 AM- Colt Starting with Buck Brannaman and Martin Black

11:00 AM- Cattle working with Martin Black

1:00 PM -Show Jumping with Melanie Smith Taylor

2:00 PM- Cutting with Doug Jordan

3:00 PM- Reata Roping and Cattle handling with Buck Brannaman and Martin Black

Email: think.rayhunt@gmail.com    website: www.alegacyoflegends.com

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DECEMBER 3-5 , 2010-A Legacy of Legends- Old Fort Worth Stockyards Coliseum Ft. Worth, Texas. Join us for what will become an annual celebration continuing the vision of Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt for the next generation of horsemen and women. More information coming soon.

Photo by:  Cindy Meehl

It’s hard to change the human. It’s easy to change the horse, but it’s hard to change the human.” – Ray Hunt

“If the horse is right on his feet, he’ll be right in his head.”  Ray Hunt

Photo by:  Gary Reicherzer

“Thought with purpose gives the horse direction.”  RAY
HUNT

 
I had the good fortune and extreme pleasure of attending the Ray Hunt Memorial clinic the last weekend of February.  The atmosphere was euphoric as over 600 auditors and 21 participants gathered to pay tribute to Ray Hunt.  Ray was truly a legend in his own time.  It was not by his choice.  He never set out to be, but it became obvious to so many what a special gift he had, that it was just the natural progression of things.

The whole purpose of the clinic was to use the language of horse communication to start colts with the full best interest of each horse in mind, as Ray Hunt had taught.    The colts had been briefly handled  when weaned and then turned out to pasture to grow.  They were hauled to Ft. Worth from an Arkansas Ranch for the event.  The participants worked individually, 3 at a time, in individual round pens while their peers commented, much as Ray Hunt would have done, about the relationship building between the horse and horseman in each pen.

 The colts were worked for a short  45 minutes.   It was wonderful to see the unsure, scared and a few that were very defensive,  colts start to relate to the human in the pen with them, and then accept and  start helping the human complete a task.  Each horseman has his own style, but you could see the inspiration that each had learned from Ray Hunt.   You could watch and see the horseman look for a try, a change in the direction they wanted the horse to go and how each rewarded the horse.

 The skill of these 21 horsemen and horsewoman was phenomenal.  It was truly a sight to see the horses with their own personalities relate to the horsemen with their own personalities, get haltered,   accept ropes around their bodies and legs, allowed to move out away from the horsemen, to know that they could move their feet, then come back on their own to the horseman and getting soft on the inside and the outside.  Most of the colts were able to be saddled and ridden in the first session, and a few took more time and were ridden by the second session.  During the third session all the colts were being ridden together as a group

The benefit for me and others watching:

 Reinforce the horse training tips I have learned that is part of the Western Buckaroo Way.

Re-affirm the essence of true horse communication   and

Honor the horse through the recognition of the horse communication methods taught by Ray Hunt.

If you would like help on your horse communication methods contact me. 
My training is in the Buckaroo Way and I offer consultation services to those who believe in partnership of horse and rider.