All horse people need some understanding of equine behavior and training to handle our horses safely and treat them well. And the more horses we interact with, the more knowledge we’ll need. Developing true horsemanship and effective horse training techniques is a lifelong endeavor. Here are some wise and practical horse training quotes to keep you motivated:
“For a human to win, it is not necessary for a horse to lose. You should not have to take things away from a horse or break him in fragments in order to train him; rather you should add to the horse. The goal should be making, not breaking.”
– Cherry Hill, Making, Not Breaking: The First Year Under Saddle
“I call my horses ‘divine mirrors’—they reflect back the emotions you put in. If you put in love and respect and kindness and curiosity, the horse will return that.”
– Allan Hamilton
“If all learning is zero through ten, then the most important part of learning is zero through one.”
– Monty Roberts
“If you act like you’ve only got fifteen minutes, it will take all day. Act like you’ve got all day, it will take fifteen minutes.”
– Monty Roberts
“Horse training is not about fixing the horse. It’s about fixing your leadership.”
– Linda Parelli
“If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong.”
– Pat Parelli
“Masterful horsemanship is nothing more than simple things done with excellence.”
– Pat Parelli
“The horse has such a docile nature that he would always rather do right than wrong, if he can only be taught to distinguish one from the other.”
– George Melville
“You cannot train a horse with shouts and expect it to obey a whisper.”
– Dagobert D. Runes
“A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any certain method, technique, or tool.”
– StraightnessTraining.com
“Horsemanship should be fun. By learning how to control your horse in any situation, your confidence will greatly increase. When you’re confident, you can relax and enjoy your partnership.”
– Clinton Anderson
“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”
– Clinton Anderson
“When training the horse, do little and frequently.”
– Erik F. Herbermann
“Brutality begins where knowledge ends. Ignorance and compulsion appear simultaneously.”
– Charles de Kunffy
“In training horses, one trains himself.”
– Antoine De Pluvinet
“A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while they are young, but also when they are old and past service.”
– Plutarch
“Here’s the secret: never give up. Get a tortoise tattoo if you need to, but just stick it out, slowly and patiently, because consistency is the greatest kindness a horse will ever know.”
– Anna Blake, Relaxed & Forward: Relationship Advice from Your Horse
“Don’t do it halfway ten times. Do it correctly three or four times.”
– Brad Barkemeyer
“There’s never a time when losing patience benefits you in training a horse.”
– Casey Deary
“Punishment as a training tool should be obsolete. Your horse wants peace with you, and he’ll adapt his life to achieve it.”
– John Lyons, March 2016 Horse & Rider
“You can’t train a horse that’s not on your side.”
– Don Murphy
“Horses are happiest when they clearly understand what you want from them.”
– Ty Brazeal
“Do the basics better than anyone else.”
– Brad Kearns
“A lot of people, they want it all to be fuzzy and warm and cosmic, but it’s no different with a horse than with a kid…You can’t always be the kid’s best friend. First, you have to be the parent.”
– Buck Brannaman
“I’ve always wanted to do the right thing by a horse—that’s never changed. It’s just that as my knowledge grew I’ve been able to offer the horse a better human being.”
– Buck Brannaman
“The horse needs to respect you, but sometimes people confuse respect and fear. And they’re not the same at all.”
– Buck Brannaman
“Fear has to do with helplessness. The only thing that conquers it is knowledge. When you learn about how a horse thinks and makes decisions, that helplessness goes away.”
– Buck Brannaman
“The horse responds to comfort, they respond to peace better than about anything else you could do. So if the horse responds to you and you give him a little peace and comfort that means more to him than anything.”
– Buck Brannaman
“Let all your actions always be guided by love and responsibility towards your horse.”
– Nuno Oliviera
“The horse you got off is not the same horse you got on. It is our duty to always leave the horse a better horse.”
– Unknown
If you have another favorite motivational quote about training horses we should add to the list, please let us know!
