Tom and Bill Dorrance

Brothers Tom Dorrance (May 11, 1910 - June 11, 2003) and Bill Dorrance (January 19, 1906-July 20, 1999) are considered among the founders of the modern Natural horsemanship movement. With a background in the Great Basin "Buckaroo" tradition, they promoted natural, gentle methods of horse training, emphasizing "feel" of the horse and observation of its responses to the handler.

They had a particularly strong influence on Ray Hunt and Hunt's disciple, Buck Brannaman. Many other natural horsemanship practitioners also claim influence from the Dorrance brothers, including Pat Parelli and others.

"The thing you are trying to help the horse do is to use his own mind. You are trying to present something and then let him figure out how to get there." - "Tom Dorrance" [True Unity, First Edition, Word Dancer Press, 2003]

"When people think of natural horsemanship that could mean a lot of things. It isn't natural for a horse to be around people, and it's not natural for a person to be sitting on him either. When we use these words we speak about what's natural for the horse to do within his own boundaries" - "Bill Dorrance" [True Horsemanship Through Feel, Lyons Press, 2001]

ee also

*Natural horsemanship
*Horse whisperer
*Horse training
*Horse breaking

References

ources

*"True Horsemanship Through Feel" by Bill Dorrance and Leslie Desmond. ISBN 1599210568
*"True Unity," by Tom Dorrance. First Edition, Word Dancer Press, 1987. ISBN 1884995098
*"The Revolution In Horsemanship" by Dr Robert Miller et al. ISBN 159228387X
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E7D8123EF937A15754C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Death of a Legendary Horseman] , Bill Dorrance obituary, "New York Times", July 24, 1999