Brothers Tom Dorrance and Bill Dorrance (January 19, 1906-July 20, 1999) are considered among the founders of the modern Natural horsemanship

Natural horsemanship

Natural horsemanship is the philosophy of working with horses by appealing to their instincts and herd instincts. It involves communication techniques derived from wild horse observation in order to build a partnership that closely resembles the relationships that exist between horses.- Basic ideas...

 movement. Born and raised on an Oregon cattle ranch with a background in the Great Basin "Buckaroo

Cowboy

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

" tradition, they promoted natural, gentle methods of horse training

Horse training

Horse training refers to a variety of practices that teach horses to perform certain behaviors when asked to do so by humans. Horses are trained to be manageable by humans for everyday care as well as for equestrian activities from horse racing to therapeutic horseback riding for people with...

, emphasizing "feel" of the horse and observation of its responses to the handler.

They had a particularly strong influence on Ray Hunt

Ray Hunt

Ray Hunt was an American horse trainer and clinician of significant influence in the natural horsemanship field. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.-Natural horsemanship:...

 and Hunt's disciple, Buck Brannaman

Buck Brannaman

Dan M. "Buck" Brannaman is a horse trainer and a leading practitioner within the field of Natural horsemanship, which is a philosophy of working with horses based on the idea of working with the horse's nature, using an understanding of how horses think and communicate to train the horse to accept...

 as well as Arabian horse

Arabian horse

The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses...

 breeder and trainer Sheila Varian

Sheila Varian

Sheila Varian is a breeder of Arabian horses who lives and works at the Varian Arabians Ranch near Arroyo Grande, California. She grew up with a strong interest in horses, and was mentored in horsemanship by Mary "Sid" Spencer, a local rancher and Morgan horse breeder who also introduced Varian to...

. Many horse trainers claim influence from the Dorrance brothers.

"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

"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

Sources

• 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
• Death of a Legendary Horseman, Bill Dorrance obituary, New York Times, July 24, 1999