Okay, so people ask me about this Ray Hunt stuff sometimes. How I got into it, what I actually did.
It started pretty simple. I was having trouble with a horse, a young gelding, real stubborn, or so I thought. Tried a bunch of the usual things, you know? More pressure, different bits, longeing him till he was tired. Nothing really worked long-term. Felt like I was hitting a wall, just fighting all the time.
Then I stumbled across Ray Hunt. Didn’t know much about him. Someone mentioned his name, said he was different. So, I got my hands on one of his books. Wasn’t fancy reading, pretty straightforward talk. He kept talking about the ‘feel’, about working with the horse, not against it. Sounded good, but kinda vague, you know?
Putting it into Practice (or Trying To)
So I decided to actually try it. Went out to the round pen with that same gelding. The first thing I tried was just… being there. Sounds dumb, right? But Hunt talked about setting the horse up to want to be with you. So I just stood there. Didn’t stare him down, didn’t try to make him move. Just existed.
Felt weird. I kept wanting to do something. Make him yield, make him turn. My hands kept twitching, wanting the rope.
- I focused on my own breathing, trying to relax.
- I watched him. Noticed the little things – an ear flick, a shift in weight, him licking his lips.
- I tried presenting the ‘feel’ Hunt described. Not yanking, just picking up the rope, offering a suggestion, and waiting.
Man, it was slow going at first. Sometimes he’d just ignore me. Sometimes he’d test me, push into the pressure. My old habits kicked in hard. I’d get impatient, want to force it. Had to constantly check myself. Stop. Breathe. Offer the feel again. Release the instant he gives. That release part was key.
The Shift
It wasn’t like a magic light switch flipped. It was gradual. Little moments. Like asking him to yield his hindquarters. Instead of bumping him hard, I just applied steady, soft pressure with the rope, looking where I wanted him to go. The moment I felt him think about shifting his weight, I released. Boom. Big reward in that release.
He started looking for that release. Started paying attention to the subtle things I was asking, because he knew the pressure would go away as soon as he tried the right thing. It wasn’t about making him scared or tired anymore.
I started applying it to everything:
- Leading: Just enough feel on the rope to suggest ‘come with me’, release when he moved.
- Saddling: Slowing down, watching him, making sure he was okay with each step. Not just throwing the saddle on.
- Riding: Thinking about where I wanted us to go, using my body, my focus, before resorting to the reins. Trying to get light.
It took time. Lots of time. Lots of just standing around, waiting, observing. Had days where I felt like I made zero progress, or even went backwards. Got frustrated plenty. But I kept going back to that idea of ‘feel’ and ‘release’. Making the right thing easy and the wrong thing a bit uncomfortable, but not scary.
Now? Things are different. That gelding? He’s still got opinions, but the fight is gone. We understand each other better. It’s not about me being the boss and him obeying. It’s more like… a conversation. Still working on it, always will be. But getting there feels a whole lot better than the old way. It just makes more sense to the horse, I think. And definitely makes more sense to me now I’ve spent the time doing it.
