Horse Help- Understand and Communicate Clearly

 

In Conversations with the horse, we are asking them to mentally "search" for what is being presented, and then to physically act upon those thoughts.

Horse Skills- The missing "tool" of the Positive Alternative

 In many training approaches, the moment a horse does something unwanted, the response is correction. The focus is only on stopping, blocking, and criticizing the equine behavior, to “teach him a lesson.” This leads to what I call “surviving” the experience/ride.

Horse Learning without Guarantees

 The only consistent thing I have found to be true is humans ARE seeking connection.

Repeatedly, social media videos that “do best” show the horse that is willing to interact with people, offering an emotional connection. The promise gives viewers hope, triggering interaction… A great motivator for change, or to “activate” people- whether to react, sign up, or buy into a belief system- is to engage the human emotion of hope.

I have to vs I get to- Horse Rider Mindset

 

"I have to..." vs. "I get to..."

I was listening to a non-horse related lecture and it reminded me of something I "knew" but I wanted to revisit more specifically.

Building the Horse's Trust

 

Building the Horse's Trust

The Equine's current behaviors reflect what he has learned from his previous human interactions.

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Developing a Quality Relationship with the Horse

Every week I receive 20-30 "Ask the Trainer requests"... From unwanted trail behavior/lack of manners to groundwork issues to equipment suggestions to feeding options, etc. from around the world. People often expect a "step by step" or "cut and dry" answer. Their focus is on the unwanted physical action without considering the horse's mental or emotional status.

Developing the Horse's Confidence

Confidence- just because a horse is going through the motions of "doing things" and is "learning" does not mean that he is gaining confidence and feeling secure from his experiences.

The horse may "quietly" tolerate a situation a few or even many times before he starts to show more obvious signs of stress, insecurity, or fear about what is being presented if he is being coerced to physically comply.

A great example is the famous "wet saddle blankets" theory. Does a horse learn better though numerous physical repetition? If the person is solely focused on the physical movement/tolerance of the horse, without assessing the quality of his mental availability- or willingness- and the softness of his movement, they may not realize that repeating something is actually making things worse for the horse and teaching him to be defensive in the future.

Horse Tips to Interrupt the Hurry in Your Equine Time

The simplest synopsis I offer students regarding time with their horse is that five minutes of quality communication has far more short and long-term value to the equine, than chaotic longer, "dutiful" by-the-clock sessions.

Learn Horse Behavior to Build Trust

 

Learn to build a horse's trust. Can you recognize the horse's communication? 

 Join Alternative Horsemanship™ while she is working in South America with a fearful Marchador horse in the latest equine behavior video teaching insight to develop your horse skills building the animal's trust and try. 

 Want to learn horse behavior? Join The Remote Horse Coach in the Reading the Horse 7-Part Equine Behavior Course  

All Learning Links 

Empathy + Horses 🚫= Weakness

 

There is a constant human imposition upon each other and horses... 

 

Unrealistic ego-based demands without having accountability as to how a person's clarity of thoughts and intention, quality of communication, adaptability in energy, accuracy of timing, and everyday mindless interactions, are constantly "teaching" horses unwanted responses that people then criticize and chastise the equine for.

Preparing the Horse for the Farrier

Preparing the Horse How not to Hurt the Farrier

Two big challenges for many horse owners are trailer loading and having their horse stand well for the farrier.

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. 

Building the Horse's Confidence and Trust

Building the Horse's Confidence and Trust The video (beginning of week 2 with me) is of a 17 yo Quarter Horse gelding who was a stallion until 2 months ago. He'd never been outside a barn, had no horse skills, was very anticipative, and was physically pushy because of his defensiveness towards human interaction. (Follow his story from arrival to present on https://tiktok.com/@AlternativeHorsemanship or Instagram https://Instagram.com/alternative_horsemanship #alternativeHorsemanship)

Building the Horse's Confidence by Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach

Confidence- just because a horse is going through the motions of "doing things" and is "learning" does not mean that he is gaining confidence and feeling secure from his experiences.

The horse may "quietly" tolerate a situation a few or even many times before he starts to show more obvious signs of stress, insecurity, or fear about what is being presented if he is being pushed to physically comply with the task given.

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.

Dear Sam: Horse Help *Changing Human Intention Improving Equine Partnership

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series *Shifting the Human Intention to Change the Equine Partnership Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach shares the latest advice and storytelling of how shifting the human intention led to a total difference in the equine behavior offered, rebuilding the horse's trust, increasing their confidence, and reawakening their curiosity to try.

Subscribe to the YouTube Channel HERE

Horseback Rider Help- Letting go to feel the Horse

"Letting Go" to Feel the Horse

Learning to ride and becoming clear in the mechanics of aids to communicate can be a challenge in itself. And that is what a majority of folks limit their riding goals to. The experience is solely about the human.

But for those seeking connection, balance, and fluidity, they have to "let go" of gripping, holding, bracing, making, leveraging, and constantly driving the horse with pressure.

The willingness and connected feel of the horse comes from "letting go" of containing him in order to feel his feedback, acknowledge it without criticism, and address it, without it becoming a fight.

The "with-you-ness" of the equine partner- where the rider feels they have options to ask anything at any time- and the horse offers to try- comes from the human mentally "letting go" of and replacing hopeful, passive, reactive communication with the mental presence and proactive interaction with the equine.

Finding the peaceful, calm, quiet, and softness in the horse experience comes from the human "letting go" of their emotional chaos and distraction before they are ever in proximity to the horse.

"Letting go" of self-imposed or society's have-tos, allows for unexpected Opportunities to arise that often become some of the most valued and trust-building times- for both the human and the horse.