Day 1 #Equi-Quality Challenge with Alternative Horsemanship™

 #Equi-Quality Challenge

Day 1

People are often surprised at how much building a Quality Equine Partnership starts with themselves.

Unexpected Experiences and The Human's Knee Jerk Responses - Horse Help

Over the past 20+ years of posting online and on social media, there's been a wide array of "key board" behaviors that I've witnessed or experienced firsthand from viewers.

Horse Riding Tips: Letting Go of Physical Tension

 Riding Tips - Letting go of Physical Tension

A rider's physical tightness usually starts with clenched seat bones. This tension creates rigidity that travels up the spine between their shoulder blades, into their neck and shoulders, down the upper and then forearm, ending with gripping in their fingers on the reins.

Tips for Riding out, Building Confidence for the Timid Horse Rider

 Tips for the Insecure or Timid Rider

What about building the rider's confidence for riding out?

Reactive Riding - Horse Help & Tips

 Reactive Riding

When people sit down in that saddle their brain tends to focus solely on themselves. Instead, if they treated their horse-like they were "on the same team" and told the horse what the PLAN was ahead of time, the horse would have a better chance of offering the desired response toward the rider. 

New Year, New Horse Goals, and New Intentions by Alternative Horsemanship

New Year, New Horse Goals, and New Intentions

Human Intentions influence everything - creating either a positive or negative outcome with the horse.

I often hear people fixate on the long list of all the things they don't want their horse to do, rather than focusing on how they will help their horse accomplish human goals.

Horse Rider Tips- Anticipation and Unwanted Equine Behaviors

The urgency of the stories in our head...
So many good-intentioned equine enthusiasts unintentionally get pressured and distracted by the "story" of
*last time...
*that one time...
*what if...
*what others think...
*I hope...

Horse Rider Tips

 Tips for Resetting your Breathing and Releasing YOUR Tension at the Halt

Without realizing it, many riders hold their breath quite frequently when interacting with or riding the horse.

Horse Rider Tips- Assessment Opportunities

TOP 5 Physical Assessment Opportunities

PC: Cassy Kendall

Of yourself, any time you work with your horse, but especially if you feel out of your "comfort zone."

When learning or experimenting with a new way of communicating and interacting with the horse, people can unintentionally develop intensity in their facial expression, tension in their posture, increased energy, and tight movement.
Without meaning to, as a person is trying to mentally assess, process, and physically coordinate their communication with the horse, they may also be conveying unintentional signals to their horse.
This adds unnecessary confusion when attempting to change old patterns in the interaction.

Horse Rider Help- Breathing

 Tips for Resetting your Breathing and Releasing Tension at the Halt

Without realizing it, many riders hold their breath quite frequently when interacting with or riding the horse.

Horses Mirroring Human Tension

 Learn how physical tension in the human limits quality equine communication with the horse that creates fearful, reactive, unwanted, and defensive horse behaviors. All new Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series sharing trainer tips

*Tension Limiting Quality Communication with the Horse

Watch the all NEW Alternative Horsemanship YouTube video. 

Connecting the Dots of Horseback Riding

Connecting the Dots

(This will be a several-part entry that will be covered over the next week or so...)

When resistant, unwanted, and/or dramatic behavior occurs with the horse, people get distracted by the big-ness of the horse. In my mind, the “big” is an after-the-fact response by the horse. The root of the problem has occurred or began to occur anywhere from minutes to months before the horse finally resorted to undeniably dramatic behavior.

Horseback riding and Horsemanship- Stop Overwhelming Yourself

 One Step at a Time

It is very easy to be overwhelmed by everything that "isn't" or is challenging, frustrating, and exhausting with the horse.

 

Horse Goals vs Creating a Quality Equine Partnership

Horse Goals vs Creating Quality Equine Partnerships

It is very easy to fall into a pattern of setting goals and getting fixated on them while losing sight of assessing if there's quality during the interaction with the horse.

Intention and Horses- Improving the Equine Partnership

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.

Much of what we initially consider as being "horse issues" typically are an accumulation of smaller undesired moments, reflecting our level (and lack of) awareness, mental presence, and intention.

Unintentional Human Behavior to the Equine Partnership

 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.

Horseback Rider Awareness by the Remote Horse Coach

Self-awareness- A Crucial Factor

The next time you're with your horse, ask yourself...

#Equi-Quality Challenge Day 2- Change Hands to Improve Adaptability

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