Brent Graef is dedicated to helping people find a way to offer their horses a better deal. He's learned to see things from the horse's perspective, and works with his students to help them understand how the horse sees and understands things. Brent has a gift for teaching, and feels very blessed to be able to share the information he's learned with so many people who are seeking to improve their horsemanship skills.

Brent can improve your confidence and ability to communicate with your horse, regardless of your riding discipline. He is patient, kind, gentle and caring about both the humans and equines that come to his clinics. He focuses on teaching people how to get into the horse’s mind; how to read their expressions, how to get in time with the feet, how to make the right thing obvious instead of always resorting to making the wrong thing difficult.

Communication is one of the big keys in horsemanship. Communicating with the horse is more than just getting progressively firmer until they do what you want. Communication is about preparing the horse and learning ways to make the right thing obvious so he'll understand what you're trying to convey to him. It's about learning how to listen to your horse. It's about improving your own feel and timing. It's about trying to look at things from the horse's perspective, and presenting your idea in a manner that is polite to the horse, makes sense to him, and keeps him in a learning frame of mind.

There is a HUGE difference between a horse moving to evade pressure, and a horse that is following a feel, seeking the release. Evading pressure is avoidance, and creates brace. A horse that is following a feel and searching for a release is a horse that is thinking, and is much more likely to be supple and soft.

Brent has become a student of the horse. "There are many teachers to learn from. The greatest teacher of all is the horse. The horse can teach us so much, if we'll just take the time to learn how to listen to him!" As a student of horsemanship, Brent continues to study with those he respects. His views on horsemanship have been influenced by the teachings of some great horsemen… among them, Ronnie Willis, Buck Brannaman, Joe Wolter, Ray Hunt, and Tom and Bill Dorrance.

One of my mentors, Ronnie Willis, said "Son, with anything you do with horses there are about a hundred different ways to get it done. About 70 of them will be effective. About 10, maybe 15 of those ways will be a good deal for the horse. Your duty to your horse is to find a way that's effective, and a good deal for your horse." As students of the horse, these are words for us to live by.

Working cattle and starting young horses have been a big part of Brent's life. He started his first colt at age eleven, under the watchful eye of his Grandpap. As a lifelong student of the horse, he is continually working to learn better ways not only to communicate with horses, but also and clearer ways to help humans understand these concepts

Brent brings a unique style of teaching to Horsemanship. His genuine care for horses and people make him a great asset to the horse world.