Quiet Riding

"...we must be absolutely aware that every, even the most minuscule, movement of our body, conveys extraordinarily powerful information, whether we are on the horse or on the ground. If we want to communicate with our horses we must first acknowledge that, to them, every expression of our body has content and meaning. Every movement becomes a word, a sentence, a paragraph: information. A person's entire energetic state can be known by and even transferred to the horse."

"To communicate effectively with the body requires the paring of movement and gesture to the barest essentials."

"Horses are often punished for responding exactly and promptly to signals people did not realize they were giving."

"...it is important to refine a signal with each repeated use."

"There are a number of very subtle signs and signals by which our equine partner lets us know if we are asking too much, or too little. We must focus not just our eyes but our whole attention on these very subtle signals from our horses."