Buck Brannaman Quotes

Horses are very keen on body language, and what I refer to as “presence”, and expression. They know quite a bit about you before you ever get to ‘em. They can read things about you clear across an arena.

Buck Brannaman

• Expression
• Horses
• Body language

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Quotes to Explore

• The horse is a mirror to your soul... and sometimes you might not like what you see in the mirror.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Soul
  • Horse
  • Mirror

• 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.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Kids
  • Human
  • Healing effect horses

• One of the biggest challenges of a horsemen is to be able tot control your emotions.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Control
  • Challenges
  • Emotions

• Don't be a victim. Be busy with your horse so you stay out of trouble - otherwise, trouble will come and find you”, Brannaman would say. “Be assertive but don't be aggressive, if you are aggressive you'll make the horse flighty. The horse needs perimeters like anyone else. Give them guidance, support, rules. The same rules. Don't change the game. Don't let them have excuses just cause of their past. And love them.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Horse
  • Victim
  • Brannaman

• Someone who doesn't know anything about the ways of the horse could be fooled into thinking the approach is all cosmic or mystical. It's not. Anybody can do it who has a passion to do it and has put in enough time. These people are horsemen and horsewomen, not whisperers.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • People
  • Horse
  • Ways

• If I heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times from Ray Hunt. He said 'make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy'. Then he said 'but don’t make the wrong thing impossible'. Well.....you learn from making mistakes. It’s that simple.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Learn
  • Mistakes
  • Ray Hunt

• Whether it's horses or whatever it is you do, it doesn't become an art until your soul goes into what you do.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Art
  • Soul
  • Horses

• Not all horses are going to be show jumpers, not all horses are going to be dressage horses. So you have to sort of find where the horse physically fits into what might suit him, but all horses can be comfortable and all horses can have good, solid fundamentals.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Horses
  • Jumpers

• 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.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Horse
  • Extension
  • Training notion

• In life, we don't know why things happen. I believe God is not responsible for the bad things that happen to you. Sometimes I think He's responsible for the good things, but sometimes it's something you shape up for yourself.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Life
  • Responsible
  • Believe God

• 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.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Choices
  • Horse
  • Behavior

• Anytime you are with a horse, no matter if you are a daily rider or one who just gets a chance to ride to the mailbox, you are interacting with your horse. It is all about the quality of the communication, not the quantity. Doing something right once in a while will far surpass anything done wrong more often.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Chance
  • Horse
  • Rider

• There is something in the human psyche that there is a connection between horses and humans, a real special kind of a thing, and I guess it’s always been there. I hope it will always be there, I hope we don’t evolve past that.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Humans
  • Horses
  • Human Psyche

• I started to realize that things would come much easier for me once I learned why a horse does what he does. This method works well for me because of the kinship that develops between horse and rider.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Horse
  • Method
  • Rider

• My expertise lies in what I've devoted my life to. I wouldn't pretend to be a great gift to any other animal. My interest has always been in the horses.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Life
  • Animal
  • Gift

• Controlling your emotions is the biggest challenge for a horseman.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Challenge
  • Emotions
  • Horseman

• My daughter's all grown up now compared to what she was, but I used to say, I’ve got to have my horse to where if she’s leading my horse somewhere, and she’s got a big armload of Barbies and drops something out of her hand, that son of a buck ought to stop and respect her while she’s gathering up all her dolls and not to walk on her or take advantage of her. And if I’ve done my work right, by gosh, that’s what they’ll do.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Horse
  • Advantage
  • Barbies

• My teachers used to tell me you need to learn to adjust to fit the situation. Don't just do what you've always done because it might not always work.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Learn
  • Situation
  • Teachers

• You get that horse to really operate as if he’s your legs and you can take that anywhere you want. You can dress up in any kind of clothes you like. You can be a jumper, dressage rider, trail rider, cowboy, anything.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Horse
  • Cowboy
  • Rider

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

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Horse
  • Interact

• A horse that has made a positive change in his behavior needs an opportunity to soak, to concentrate on & digest what he has learned. He needs his quiet time. Given this opportunity, his response will be better the next time you work with him.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Opportunity
  • Horse
  • Behavior

• You can accomplish amazing things with this if you have a passion and you work hard - I just think it’s a cop out to say 'I wasn’t born with this, so it’s OK if I fail'. You can make up the difference with hard work and devotion.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Work
  • Passion
  • Devotion

• I often tell people that I truly want the horse to be my feet and legs. I want to be an extension of the horse and him to be an extension of me. That's what I'm always working toward when I'm on a horse.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • People
  • Horse
  • Extension

• Horses are very keen on body language, and what I refer to as “presence”, and expression. They know quite a bit about you before you ever get to ‘em. They can read things about you clear across an arena.

  

  Buck Brannaman
  • Expression
  • Horses
  • Body language