I never thought when I chose to work professionally with horses and help educate their owners that I'd be "taking on"...
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The human emotional chaos
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.
Horse Rider Tips: Improving Balance by Alternative Horsemanship
In this horse learning video in the Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series, the Remote Horse Coach shares insight into improving horse rider balance. Offering tips on how to create stability in the saddle to improve and refine the quality of the communication offered to the equine.
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New videos are posted every Friday.
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Horse Skills: The Check- In Learning to Acknowledge the Equine to stop Guessing
The Check-In
I often encounter people who are surprised or overwhelmed by their horse's responses. There tends to be a major gap in the human's perception of when/what/how things have occurred rather than an understanding of all the ongoing, continuous equine communication that was ignored, overlooked, or criticized and how the animal's feedback would "tell" the person what behaviors were coming next.
Alternative Horsemanship southern California Horse Clinics
When: Feb 28- March 4, 2024 & March 27- April 1. 2024
Time: 8am- 4:30pm
Where: Oakzanita Ranch, Descanso, CA
Working with a variety of breeds, unmounted, and riding, in and out of the arena... each session is adapted and catered to the individual human and horse's current abilities. The goal is to offer insight into understanding equine behavior and building the skills to communicate clearly and effectively with the horse to build a willing, trusting, adaptable equine partner.
These are also the only clinics where I allow free auditing... There are still a few one-hour individual participant slots available in the second clinic. Please contact the clinic host HERE for auditing details and sign up.
Working with a variety of breeds, unmounted, and riding, in and out of the arena... each session is adapted and catered to the individual human and horse's current abilities. The goal is to offer insight into understanding equine behavior and building the skills to communicate clearly and effectively with the horse to build a willing, trusting, adaptable equine partner.
These are also the only clinics where I allow free auditing... There are still a few one-hour individual participant slots available in the second clinic. Please contact the clinic host HERE for auditing details and sign up.
Honesty of Horse Conversations by Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach
One of the things that keeps me “motivated” in working with horses is their honesty. The interaction is not about whether I "like" what their behavior is telling me, but rather recognizing they are offering real-time feedback as to what they are mentally, emotionally, and physically experiencing.
Horse Problems: Mounting Issues Livestream by Alternative Horsemanship
Part 2 of the February Livestream series: Mounting Issues
Join the Alternative Horsemanship Locals community to watch the live stream teaching addressing avoidant, defensive, tension-filled horse behaviors while mounting.
Livestream: Watch now
Horse Trailer Loading Tips- Problems... or Opportunities?
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Fly Spraying without Fear
Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series
Many people struggle with fly spraying their horse without having reactive, defensive avoidant, chaotic, or unwanted horse behavior. This horse video learning session on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel shares a perspective on educating and Training horses without fear. The Remote Horse Coach offers insight into the contributors during the horse's education, affecting their willingness to participate while building their confidence. "It" is not about the task, but educating the horse to understand learning how to learn for whatever the human may ask of them.
Click HERE to watch
Spring Preparations for Upcoming Horse Riding Season
Preparing for the Spring Riding Season
Looking ahead to the upcoming riding season, whether you ride for pleasure or are a competitor, you can strive to offer a supportive partnership towards your horse. I will touch on two concepts that you can start considering, without even having to battle the outdoor winter conditions!
Helping the Horse that Spooks
But in all seriousness, how did this become the norm?
We've probably experienced our horse spooking at at least one or more of the things (and on more than one occasion) in this horse meme.
Haltering the Horse Assessment and Tips
In this horse learning video in the Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series, Alternative Horsemanship shares insight into how the quality of the catching and haltering of the horse affects the quality of the session. The Remote Horse Coach highlights recognizing the subtle horse behavior that offers feedback to understand the equine's mental, spatial, and physical defensive triggers that lead to anticipative, tension-filled, fleeing responses. She also highlights how changing the horse's expectation of patterns during human interaction can bring to light if he is offering a mindless conditioned response versus having the ability to think, adapt, search, and try for what the human is asking. https://youtu.be/jBPCFZ1ZVfw
Tips for Improving Horse Skills
Tips for Resetting Your Breathing and Releasing Tension at the Halt
(Mounted or Unmounted)
(Mounted or Unmounted)
Only when realizing it, many riders hold their breath quite frequently when interacting with or riding the horse.
This Unintentional simple act creates continuous containment of the horse due to the rigidity the human then carries in their body causing constant chaos, and miscommunication with the horse.
This Unintentional simple act creates continuous containment of the horse due to the rigidity the human then carries in their body causing constant chaos, and miscommunication with the horse.
Pressure and Horses
Pressure & Horses 
I’ve never had an “English” language conversation with a horse, but over the years I feel that I’ve found some degree of a “common language” with which I use to communicate with them. I explain to students there is no “one” way to do things, and I always tell people “take what you like, leave what you don’t” from any learning situation. I finished reading a horse blog the other day and realized that in this day and age, I don’t think you can participate in any aspect of the horse world without hearing the word “pressure” about communicating with the horse.
I was thinking about what “pressure” might mean to others; ideas and questions started to pop into my head.
I was thinking about what “pressure” might mean to others; ideas and questions started to pop into my head.
Tips for Improving the Equine Partnership
Learning the commonly taught mechanics to work with a horse from the ground or how to ride can be a challenge. It is also what most folks limit their horse education and goals to, with no understanding of the horse or his behaviors.
"Letting go" of one's emotional chaos, hopefulness, unreasonable expectations, and mental distractions before being in proximity to the horse, allows acknowledgment of what the horse is experiencing during the interaction. This then gives the human guidance on what needs to be addressed to help the horse better.
"Letting go" of self-imposed or society's traditionally taught hurried, repetitious, patterns, have-tos or "horse training rules", allows for unexpected Opportunities that can often become trust-building experiences between the human and the horse.
The more we learn to "let go," the more present in the moment and available we are to observe, experiment, and adapt which is then mirrored in the horse's willingness toward our requests.
Horse Behavior: Imposing at the gate
In this horse learning video, Alternative Horsemanship The Remote Horse Coach shares a young horse who is imposing upon the human as they approach the gate. This Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series episode highlights the importance of recognizing the dangers involved with a horse that is constantly spatially imposing on the human, especially for future scenarios if the equine is emotionally triggered, and how this can evolve into increasingly dangerous behaviors.
Watch now: https://youtu.be/gCOzmjk_hd8?si=kBO1WCVSFR4pGZ-I
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