Horsemanship- Helping vs Challenging the Horse

 Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

Helping vs Challenging the Horse 

Learn the difference between helping your horse versus offering communication that creates fearful, reactive, and defensiveness behaviors.

New videos Fridays on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel 

Eliminating the Hurry to Improve your Horsemanship

In western society, people tend to hurry, and unintentionally carry their chaos into their horsemanship.

Their self-imposed urgencies of task accomplishment often become the focal point, rather than prioritizing the Quality of Communication with the horse. The general unspoken standard of "if the horse's behavior doesn't scare me, we're still okay," leaves many horses in the gray area during a majority of human interaction. If the horse "mostly" complies, the tendency is to add more to what is being asked of him.

Horses and Safety- the skill of "Doing Something"

 

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

"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.

Horse Problems - I want it NOW

I was teaching a session yesterday at a clinic, a new student was filling in a last-minute opening and had been unable to trailer her horse to the facility. She asked to do an unmounted session focusing on her body awareness and aid usage while in the saddle- without the horse. Many horse people would probably balk at the thought of paying to participate in a clinic without a horse.

How to Choose a Horse Trainer

Tuesday Trainer Tips- How to Choose a Horse Trainer

Choosing the right horse trainer is easier when owners know the questions to ask. Too many horses are sent to trainers without owners understanding the training approach used or what and how the horse has learned. They often receive no update on the horse's progress, nor how to interact with the horse when they take it home, leaving owners feeling frustrated and horses resorting to previous unwanted behaviors. Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach offers tips for horse owners seeking a trainer for their specific situation.

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Horseback Riders and Equine Enthusiast Tips- Stop overwhelming Yourself

Stop Overwhelming Yourself
It is very easy to become overwhelmed by everything that "isn't" or is challenging, frustrating, and exhausting with the horse.
Unrealistic expectations, hopefulness and continuously comparing ourselves or our horses to what "everyone else" is/can do, is detrimental to the Quality of our interactions and leads to less-than-ideal scenarios.
I wish more folks gave themselves permission to literally and figuratively focus on being present and addressing themselves and their horse in small segments. Each segment of Clarity in Communication can connect to the next, which influences how the "final" piece of accomplishment is experienced by the horse.

Help! My horse won't respond

If you feel like your horse doesn't listen or respond to your communication watch this Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series video explaining the root causes of unwanted, resistant, disinterested, slow, heavy equine behaviors. 

November's Exclusive LIVE Content with Q & A Opportunities in the Alternative Horsemanship Locals Community addresses this behavior in a 4-part series. 

Horseback Riding Tips

 So many horseback riders I meet have forgotten...

Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach Quote

I meet many horses that are living in a constant state of anticipation and physical tension.
Often the human is distracted by the horse's unwanted behaviors- without acknowledging the root source(s) often stemming from the animal's mental and emotional state.
Without starting in a mentally clear, present, and available place, many horse enthusiasts unintentionally "dump" their
life's chaos and stress upon the horse, and it becomes their filter of how they perceive the equine's behavior.
So much lack, delay, and miscommunication occur if the human's emotional rollercoaster is delegating their interaction with the equine.

Learn how to improve your equine partnership, refine your communication, understand equine behavior, and so much more by joining the FB group, subscribing to the YouTube channel, enrolling in 1 on 1 Remote Horse coaching, learning from the Video Catalog, or becoming part of the Alternative Horsemanship Locals community for weekly live streams with Q & A opportunities.

 

Horse Rider Tips Unintentional Communication

Alternative Horsemanship Horse Trainer shares three horseback rider tips to bring awareness to the horse rider of unintentional communication creating unwanted responses in the Horse. For exclusive LIVE Content join the Alternative Horsemanship Locals community

Preparing the Horse to Safely Tie

Tying a horse can quickly become dangerous without quality preparation in the horse's training. In this video, Sam discusses tips to assess how the horse responds to pressure, in order to diminish traumatic and dangerous behaviors such as pulling back. She uses two different horses as examples to help viewers see what a horse looks like when he is ready to be tied up and one that is defensive towards pressure and needs more preparation to safely tie.


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Prioritizing Addressing the "Scary" Horse

Sam discusses why it matters to help horses during stressful times, fearful, or concerning experiences and what many people unintentionally teach their horses leading to unwanted and dangerous behaviors. Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series- Prioritizing Addressing the Horse Subscribe for weekly Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach videos.

Is my horse misbehaving or in pain?

Many unwanted horse behaviors are a result of an animal that is experiencing pain. In this video Sam shares tips about how to translate or recognize a few of the common signs or indications that a horse may be in pain which may be the root cause(s) of dangerous or resistant equine behavior such as biting, kicking, bucking, bolting, difficult to catch, saddle, bridle, or mount, etc. Subscribe to the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel for more Tuesday Trainer Tips videos.

The Resistant Horse

When the horse is...

Resistant to being caught
Constantly pulling when led
Pulls back or gets stressed when tied
Swishes his tail every time you walk behind him
Always is moving away when trying to tack him up
Steps away when trying to mount
Walks off as soon as the rider is in the saddle
Is drifting, bracing, or anticipative when ridden
Takes "a while" to load into the trailer
Might explode backward during the trailer unloading
Is "buddy" or barn "sour"
Has the same "issue" with the same scary spot repeatedly
Offers dramatic behaviors when something unexpected arises
Paws, paces, cribs, weaves, wall kicks, bites while in his enclosure
Is aggressive towards other horses or at feed time
Etc., etc., etc.

Adaptability in the Horse and Human

Adaptability

People and horses get stuck in a mental/physical rut as to the quality and intention of the Conversations and interactions with their horses.
Without having to "go anywhere" there are so many scenarios that you can create to help you assess, then address and refine, in your own clarity, communication, and adaptability.

Discussing the "Quiet" Horse

The "Quiet Horse" 

Here's a brief video of a horse that reflects many equines I meet whose owners are struggling to understand what is happening with their animal because the outward behavior looks so quiet.





I often hear things like:
He's bored.
He's going to sleep.
He's disinterested.

This week's live video in the Alternative Horsemanship Locals community November 4th, Friday at 6pm pst.

You can post questions related to this topic before the live event and I'll try to answer as many as I can during the Livestream. If you're subscribed as a supporter you can access, watch, replay and learn from all live content.