Buck Brannaman Quotes

It’s amazing what a healing effect horses can have on kids, particularly troubled kids, that might bridge the gap that a well-intended human just can’t do.

Theoretically the human is supposed to be the smart one so as you get acquainted with the horse, you explore what it's going to take for him to understand what you would like him do, with as little trouble as possible. You're trying to avoid conflict, not trying to create it.

As a rider, you must slowly and methodically show your horse what is appropriate. You also have to discourage what's inappropriate, not by making the inappropriate impossible, but by making it difficult so that the horse himself chooses appropriate behavior. You can't choose it for him; you can only make it difficult for him to make the wrong choices. If, however, you make it impossible for him to make the wrong choices, you're making war.

Every time you interact with a horse, you are teaching the horse.

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.

It’s not about how much pressure you put on, it’s how good you are at taking it off.

Discipline isn't a dirty word. Far from it. Discipline is the one thing that separates us from chaos and anarchy. Discipline implies timing. It's the precursor to good behavior, and it never comes from bad behavior. People who associate discipline with punishment are wrong: with discipline, punishment is unnecessary.

Your Horse is a mirror to your soul.

I don't want the horse to get trained, because training the horse is absolutely finite. But if you get the horse to where he operates as if to be your legs, an extension of you, you've far-exceeded that whole training notion.

I’ve always wanted to do the right thing by a horse, that’s never changed, its just that as my knowledge grew I’ve been able to offer the horse a better human being, as time has gone on.

That's the cool thing about horses - they don't have prejudice. They don't care if you're tall or thin or if you're dark or if you're light, or if you're rich or you're poor, if you're handsome or not so handsome.

The horse needs to respect you, but sometimes people confuse respect & fear. And they're not the same at all.

When you're younger, you ride with 90% physical and 10% mental. But if you could learn how to use 90% mental and 10% physical you'd be better off.

You can't make something happen with a horse, but you can fix things up and let it happen.

Horses and life, it's all the same to me.