Alternative Horsemanship™ with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach shares horse training and horseback rider coaching, philosophies, and approaches she has developed over three decades. Offering horsemanship clinics worldwide, distance horse coaching instruction, equine consultations, equine re-education and rehabilitation, colt starting, and lessons. Follow her #alternativehorsemanship on all social media platforms.
Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach shares thoughts on helping difficult, fearful, reactive, injured, distrustful, inexperienced horses in less than ideal scenarios.
Weekly videos in the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel
The Human Agenda can often create blinders towards the Horse's Communication for so many who interact with equines.
Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series
"Horses with people problems"
Learn what may be creating unwanted, excessive, dramatic, or dangerous behaviors and reactions from the equine.
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Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series
Learn how to recognize the horse's communication to understand equine behavior, what to address to build his trust, and how to improve reasonable behaviors.
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*Tension Limiting Quality Communication with the Horse
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Horses don't just "do" that...
What if we recognized and addressed the initial signs of concerned, fearful, or defensive equine behaviors before they erupted into things like:
Bucking
Bolting
Kicking
Spooking
"Over-reaction"
Biting
Fixating
Fleeing movement
Biting at the Air
Pawing
Jigging
Stomping
Weaving
Horse Problems- When things don't go as planned
Some days everything may go as planned with the horse, and other days nothing does. My personality is to "will" things to happen; it has taken a lot of years and daily intention to realize that approach wasn't going to work when it came to my interactions with horses.
Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series
Refining the Horse Communication
Horse Trainer advice to improve horse communication, increase awareness and understanding of equine behaviors, and acknowledge mental and emotional changes in animal reflected in his
Are you teaching your horse to Quit?
Nothing is random when a horse does it. You may not know why the horse did it, but very rarely was it not intentional...
Helping vs Challenging the Horse
Learn the difference between helping your horse versus offering communication that creates fearful, reactive, and defensiveness behaviors.
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"Doing something"
Reduce the chances of horse related accidents by learning to proactively communicate and interaction builds quality partnerships, increases safe horse handling experiences, decreases the equine's fear, and defensiveness.
New weekly videos on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel.
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One Step at a Time
Horsemanship... (my random morning thoughts)
It is very easy to come up with all the reasons why you can't or to avoid and delay addressing things with the horse.
Weaponizing Horsemanship "Tools"
"It" has been called a variety of names, has multiple different styles, and in the name of imitation without understanding, so many good intentioned horse people are using "it" in a destructive, aggressive, critical manner teaching the horse fear, flee, containment, and defensiveness.
It isn't Convenient
One of the greatest challenges I have is getting folks to switch from reactive to proactive behavior with their horse.
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Detrimental and hindering things the human often "brings" to a session with the horse...
Stigmas
Assumptions
Ego
Lack of Clarity
Rushing
Lack of Awareness
Mental Distraction
Critique
Judgment
Emotional Chaos
Hopefulness
Distraction
Avoidance
Fear
What if the "equine experience" started with first honestly assessing oneself, so that we could be mentally present, emotionally calm, and physically balanced to refine the intention, specificity, and Quality of communication to have thoughtful, two-way Conversations with the horse, rather than screaming matches.
Containment: physically trying to "stop" an unwanted behavior, which is usually the symptom and not the underlying "issue."
4 Horsemanship Tips
Are you breathing?
When riders focus they tend to hold their breath. Talk. Tell your horse what you are doing (literally, it also helps you keep track.) Sing to him or whistle. Anything!
Reviewing The Release
As with everything, there are many interpretations when it comes to the terminology associated with horses. I try to be clear and precise in the words that I'm offering, but there still can be a gray area in the human student's understanding. This often comes from their level of awareness, background, and unintentional anticipation/expectation of their mind "getting ahead" of wherever they are currently at with their horse.
Timing Matters
Acknowledgement of the horse trying and searching for what is being asked of him Matters
The Equine's Feedback Matters
The Human having Empathy for what the horse is experiencing Matters
The Human addressing the horse in a manner that builds the animal's trust Matters
Every moment of the interaction Matters
Quality Commuication Matters
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