Wisdom from Ray

"In the boldest print of all, remember the word THINK. Be aware and alert, visualize what you want. realize you are working with a mind. A lot of people think it's just a horse, but there's a mind operating that horse. This mind gets him doing things because he wants to do them. Or you teach him to do things he doesn't like to do but feels he has to do them anyway."

You can't judge a book by its cover. And that certainly goes for Think Harmony with Horses by Ray Hunt. It's this itty bitty brown book that looks like it could be more of Beatrix Potter's illustrated stories than wise wisdom from one of the greatest horseman who ever lived.
In this little brown book, I've found a lot of truths that have changed my horsemanship and shaped it. As Eddie and I progress into more advanced things, these truths are more pronounced and I have to make sure that I continue to live by them.

I used to measure my aptitude in horsemanship by my ability to do things more advanced people could do.
Or I measured it by how many things I could check off a list.
And then I measured it by how happy Eddie was. That wasn't too bad of a way to go, but it was left to my own interpretation. As you can imagine, some days I got it right and some days I got it wrong and misjudged his mood.
Now I've switch my mind around, I did a 180 and after reading a phrase in Ray's book this morning, and after thinking about it long before that...
I don't 'measure' it anymore. We are where we are and that's good enough for both of us. My goal with Eddie and with all horses is for us to someday be in perfect harmony.
Then there's Ray's quote: "It's like a light at the end of the tunnel. It gets brighter and clearer all the time."

We'll always be working towards it and once you get a taste of it (which we have) you'll be chasing it for the rest of your life. You'd rather do that than eat.


~Lea & Eddie~