Buckaroo Texan Blog

 
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.