Description
An in-depth study of Horse/Man relationship
by Ray Hunt
edited by Milly Hunt Porter
“When you ask your horse to do something it should be his idea….He wants to do it, he likes to do it, and he does it.” These words are typical of the way Ray Hunt expresses his philosophy of the ideal relationship between man and horse
That philosophy is discussed in this book, in a manner that makes the reader feel as if he is listening to Ray talk. It is persuasive talk- gently persuasive; this man’s ideas make a lot of sense, and the success he has achieved with those ideas is impressive.
Ray Hunt travels around the country-and into other countries-working with groups of riders who are interested in his philosophy of harmony with horses. As Gene Lewis says in his Foreword to the book, Ray’s theory is “to unite the hoers and rider into one working unity of both mind and body. He has developed a language that most western people can understand and has become a wonderful teacher, demonstrator, and philosopher.”
Included in the book is an interpretation of the “Ray Hunt method of schooling a horse,” written by Vincent W. Carpenter, who attended one of Ray’s clinics He tells amazing stories that Ray might not tell about himself and summarizes the whole philosophy in a clear and objective way.
Also included is a question and answer section, in which a number of the questions most often asked of Ray are answered in detail. And throughout the entire book runs the simple, basic idea: think harmony.
Hardcover, 87 pages.
From the back flap of the book:
“Ray has given me a whole new way to think about horses, and life. He has taught me what I want to learn: how my horse and I can move as one mind and one body.
“Being on horseback is my favorite recreation. Ray’s system shows how every moment can be a joy.
“On top of that, Ray’s the best teacher I’ve ever watched. The lessons he teaches apply not just to horses, but to humans too. In the book “Zen In The Art Of Archery,” we see how teaching archery can teach all of life. Here we see how learning to communicate with our horse and be in harmony with her can teach us all of life, too.
“But don’t let the simplicity of this book fool you. It took Ray his whole lifetime of working with horses to get it this simple, and he isn’t near finished working on it yet. The ideas sound simple , and they are easy to understand, but they are the hardest thing in the world to apply because they involve handling ourselves as we handle the horse. The real test is in our application. Until you and I can walk into a corral with a strange horse and in a few minutes have our idea also be his idea, we don’t really know what Ray is talking about, no matter how well we seem to understand his words. So get into the book and see if it doesn’t open up a whole new world of good feeling between you and your horse just like it did for me.”
Jesse Lair, writer
I Ain’t Much Baby, But I’m All I’ve Got, and other books
Bozeman, Montana