If you are going to teach a horse something and have a good relationship, you don’t make him learn it you let him learn it.
Ray Hunt
One has to have an immobile hand with mobile fingers.
Nuno Oliveira
Don’t have the tendency to want to hurry and not let the horse find it. You fix and wait for them to find it; then it’s their idea when they move their feet.
Tom Dorrance
The rider should reduce his actions to the minimum and give the horse freedom in his movements.
Etienne Beudant
Recognize the smallest change, the slightest try.
Ray Hunt
When I hear somebody talk about a horse or cow being stupid; I figure it’s a sure sign that the animal has somehow outfoxed them.
Tom Dorrance
You’re not working on the horse, you’re working on yourself.
Ray Hunt
Feel the whole Horse: 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 rider asks 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 rider needs to recognize the whole horse; the horse has basic need for self preservation.
Tom Dorrance
First of all, I believe that dressage should be the foundation for all horse sport disciplines. But, I also think the dressage community would benefit from the skill sets that natural horsemanship principles provide.
Walter Zettl
Once the horse gets to responding, then you try to get the response you are asking for with less. You try to cut down what you are applying and get more response with less pressure, until it almost gets to be just a thought.
Tom Dorrance
