Ray Hunt, Our Friend and Teacher

The fall of 1981, Dad and I were headed to watch a guy named Ray Hunt start some colts off the area ranches near Wheatland, WY.  I had no idea how that day would change the rest of my life…..

Ray Hunt died this past Thursday, March 12, leaving a HUGE legacy of helping the horse by helping its human.  I knew the day would come but there is always a shock factor of losing someone who has had such a big impact on your life.  My dad passed away 10 years ago this month and he is the one who passed on a passion for horses that will be there until the day I die.  Ray instilled a hunger to be right by the horse that will be there until that day also.  What I saw Ray do with horses, that first clinic of his I watched, wow….   I had no idea what he was doing, but I wanted my horses to look like his, and so my journey began.

I talk a lot about Ray and use his “Rayisms” when I teach that….until you all are probably sick of hearing it over and over.  Ray had  a way of saying things that made you “think” and sets you up to find “it”, and when that happens it will stick forever.  I joke about “Ray Hunting” my kids, but jokes aside….my kids, Liz and Ben are 2 of the nicest young adults you will ever meet, outgoing, kind, respectful and thoughtful.  That simple principal of “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult” applies to more than just working with horses.  What Ray taught was how to be a better person so you could look yourself in the “glass”, with your family, friends and your horses.

Tom and Bill Dorrance were exceptional horseman but it was Ray that brought this horsemanship, from the horse’s perspective, to the general public. Thanks aren’t nearly enough…just not sure how to put in word the incredible gratitude I have for Ray and what he did for me.

Ray is back in the saddle again…in the King’s stable…..

•     “Notice the smallest changes and the slightest tries.”
•    “You direct the life in the horse’s body through the legs to the feet to the mind.”
•    “Slow down so you can hurry up. In the end, it’s a good way. Speed ahead of accuracy is no good.”
•    “You think you’ve got to hold the horse, but you don’t have to. You’ve got to have a feel – a feel following a feel, not pressure against pressure. That’s what happens in the starting gate, pressure against pressure. We don’t really think about it in that manner, but the horse does because he learns what he lives. He learned it the way he lived it.”
•    “There has to be firmness and discipline. I’m responsible for running the show, and the horse is going to work for me. He’s going to go where I want him, but he’s not a slave. You make him want to do it. First thing you know, he’s your partner.”
•    Hunt compared the human-equine relationship to a dance between a man and a woman: “If I was going to dance with a lady, I wouldn’t just grab her and say ‘We’re going.’ I’d get slapped,” Hunt said. “A lot of people don’t understand that you are trying to get the horse to turn loose in the same way. There’s a place in there where he turns loose and then you give. I feel of him, I feel for him, and we both feel together.”
•    “I’m trying to get my idea to become the horse’s idea. It’s not like turning a dial that is going to work today. It’s what led up to today that you need to change. It’s the little things that make the difference.”
•    ”Keep in mind what you are working toward,” Hunt said. “You might not get him in (the starting gate) today, but when you feel he tries – which is a plus toward that – you can put him away. Quit on pluses, don’t quit on minuses. That’s negative; always quit on positives. He will never forget it. Build on positive things. When he finally wants to do things for you, that’s building confidence in him. By doing too much, you can take that confidence out. You’ve got to work from the horse’s point of view.”

– Amy