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.

Time and Horse Improving Skills

Wonder if you're progressing with your horse? Do you feel pressured to keep up with your horse friends' accomplishments? Feeling stuck in your horse's training? In the latest Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series video Sam discusses *Time, horse skills, and how self-imposed urgencies are detrimental to the equine partnership.

Horseback Riding- Trail Riding Tips to Improve Confidence and Clarity by Alternative Horsemanship

 One of the greatest challenges I have is getting folks to switch from reactive to proactive behavior with their horse.

Although for a majority of people riding is supposed to be a fun outlet or escape from other aspects of their life, it isn't always the romanticized experience that initially inspires most folks to start riding in the first place. But it can quickly become an emotionally frustrating experience when the human has intentions that may not yet be appropriate for their own abilities or that of their horse.

I can't count how many people I meet that seemed to have woken up one day and randomly decided to start doing something with their horse and then wondered why it ended in disaster.

Horseback Riding- Preparing for the Spring Season

Preparing for 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!

Horse Communication Skills

 Hjalmar learning to "follow a feel."

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series *Avoiding Conflict with the Horse

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

*Avoiding Conflict with the Horse 

Many horseback riders and equine enthusiasts try to avoid anything that might bother their horse. Often by evading potentially bothersome situations, it increases the unwillingness and resistance in the horse. These unwanted scenarios add fear and defensiveness diminishing the confidence of both humans and equines. In this video, Sam shares her perspective by breaking down why avoiding conflict contributes to so many unwanted and increasingly dangerous responses in the equine partnership. 

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Educating the Horseback Rider to Help Horses by Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey

The Masses vs The Individual

Over the years I've had many people comment on experiences learning from me, even after just one session.

The Horse's Thoughts, Movement, and Ear Direction- Equine Communication

What are your horse's ears telling you?"

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series *Curious vs. Fearful horse

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

*Curious vs. Fearful Horse and Unwanted Behaviors 

Sam is joined in the pasture by a young horse born in the wild. 

She discusses how prioritizing keeping the horse's curiosity versus using Horse Training tactics can create fear as the young horse training progresses. She explains how this influences the horse's future willingness to participate and the reasonableness of his behaviors when doing so.


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Horse Instruction and Coaching- Tips for Equestrian students to learn best?

Here are a few tips on how to get the most out of your horse learning experiences.

Horse offers to be Ridden: Liberty lining up at the mounting block

Uneventful Mounting Rose arrived defensive and anticipative about most things during the human/horse interaction. Saddling her would cause her to get twitchy, tight, and buck like she was in the rodeo. We did a LOT of digging out of her old "coping" patterns and helping her learn to stay mentally present and physically reasonable. There is always a moment where I can feel a horse is ready to mount. This was what it looked like after that moment when Rose was asked to line up at liberty at the block for the first time. For her, the slow, intentional steps are opposite from her rigid, reactive self that first arrived. No treats, nor any driving, or yielding to pressure. Rather an invitation for her to participate. This moment has NOTHING to do with lining up but rather is a reflection of all the previously established "tools" in our Conversations and how we communicate that has meaning to the horse. For many horses, asking them to think first, then move in slow, specific steps almost causes more concern as it counters their natural response to flee when unsure. Soon though you see the levels of concern dissipate as they learn to check-in with the human if the person offers specific supportive communication to the horse. In Rose's case, because so much of her past was about humans attempting to contain her, when I'm reintroducing her being ridden in a thoughtful manner, presenting a scenario like this creates a new experience for her. Did I do this the second ride? No. Every time will be different.

Misconceptions about the Horse's Headset

Often I talk about what I call "the Conversation" with the horse. This applies throughout any interaction with the horse. 

Horseback Riding: Directing the Horse's Thought vs. Making him Physically Comply

Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey shares a brief clip of riding Hjalmar the Fjord discussing the difference in directing the horse's thought vs. making him physically comply.

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Horseback Riding: Building balance in the Saddle

Many folks think whether in the competition arena or riding for pleasure have misconceptions as to what being balanced in the saddle is.

Horsemanship: Building the Equine Partnership

Curiosity in horses... a great place to start the Conversation.

Horsemanship: Continued learning for the Human

How often do you continue to practice learning with, about, without your horse?

This picture was captured a few years back at Horsemanship clinic in California. It was a Demo Day where the 15 participants learned WITHOUT their horse. Demonstrations, discussions, exercises, etc. were all taught.