In nature this animal would have nothing to do with you. "Natural horsemanship" is just words. It's not natural at all. There's an abundance of trust that must be developed for you. Imagine if humans were that pliable.

Whether one was going to have a horse, or a dog, or a child, with that comes a great responsibility to raise them.

I often tell people in the clinics, the human possesses the one thing that means more to the horse than anything in the world, and that is peace and comfort.

There's a difference between mastering something physical and working with an animal. There's a spiritual component to working with a horse. You're dealing with the spirit of a live animal that thinks and makes decisions.

Horses are incredibly forgiving. They fill in places we're not capable of filling ourselves.

A lot of times, rather than helping people with horse problems, I'm helping horses with people problems.

Some guys make their careers off one horse; kind of a trick horse, a wonder horse. I'm not knocking that, but for me I'm trying to get better and study. That means taking out new horses. It's a life study. When I've finished a horse, I turn him out and basically stop riding him, except taking him to the occasional branding so I can enjoy him.