Helping the Spooky or Highly reactive Horse

Spooky and highly reactive horses

Beginning of the week thoughts... Someone was asking about a highly reactive Thoroughbred and how fix his spooking issues, even after he had been at a trainer for two months.

Horse Help: Defensive Equine Behavior & Re-Education by Alternative Horsemanship

 

"Can you recognize signs of Defensive Horse Behavior?" 

Preparing the Horse to not Hurt 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.

Fearful and Reactive Horse Behavior

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

Fearful and Reactive Horse Behavior 

Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach discusses breaking down and understanding unwanted horse behavior recognizing the equine's feedback and differences between symptoms and root cause(s).

New videos posted on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel every Friday.

Click the link to watch now. https://youtu.be/_oIaZxvmj4I

Are you teaching the horse Unwanted Behaviors?

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

Teaching the Horse Unwanted Behaviors

Are you teaching the horse fearful, defensive, avoidant, or dangerous behaviors? Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach shares insight into common human interactions causing unwanted equine responses. 

Weekly LIVESTREAMS Content with Q & A Opportunities  

In-Person Learning  

Distance Horse Coaching & Consultations  

Alternative Horsemanship Video Catalog 

Avoiding Triggering the Fearful Horse

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series

Avoiding Triggering the Fearful Horse

Discussing Horse Help and Problems when trying to avoid triggering the Fearful and Distrustful Horse.

Weekly videos posted in the series on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel.

Horse Question Helping The Fixated Equine

 Thoughts on using the Human's Body to "intervene" with a scary object.

Answer:

One of the members of my Facebook coaching group asked me about the video with a dog where the owner used their body to "show" that a triggering object for the canine was "safe." They asked if a horse had a similar response and if I would approach it using my body the same way as what they tried to do with the dog.

The simple answer is no not at all.

Horse Trainer Help- Addressing the Horse that Spooks

We may giggle...
But in all seriousness, how did this become the norm?

We've probably experienced our horse spooking at least one or more of the things (and on more than one occasion) in this horse meme.

Helping the Traumatized and Fearful Horse Part 3

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series

Helping the Traumatized & Fearful Horse

Part 3

Horse trainer Thoughts & Perspective on the contributing Horse Training practices that create Traumatized and Fearful Horse leading to increasingly dangerous and unwanted equine behaviors.

Watch by clicking the link in the comments.

Subscribe to the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel for weekly videos posted every Friday.

 

Unwanted Horse Behavior Help

Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach shares insight into breaking down contributing factors leading to unwanted horse behaviors like difficult to catch, tack, lead, stand, mount, trailer loading, etc. Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series Unwanted Horse Behaviors

New videos posted every Friday on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel

The Human Agenda & Horse Problems

 The Human Agenda can often create blinders towards the Horse's Communication for so many who interact with equines.

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.

Dear Sam: Horse Help -Spooky Horses

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

*Spooky Horses 

Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach addresses why reacting after the fact or attempting to contain unwanted and dangerous horse behavior does not solve the long-term issues of the horse's insecurity and fear. 

New EPISODES every Friday Subscribe to the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube channel to not miss any.

Horse Problems- Tacking up Assessment

Most people never consider how the horse responds to just the sight of tack or notice if there are Quality Conversations while doing so.

Each part of the interaction influences the mental reasonableness and physical softness that follows.

While the norm (often out of convenience) is to tie the horse while tacking, the degree of bother or concern a horse may have while doing so frequently is suppressed.

I suggest practicing tacking the horse without tying him. The goal is not about getting tacked up.

 
It is an Opportunity to notice how your horse feels about standing while you are moving around him.

Unwanted Horse Behavior- Helping the Head Shy Horse - Dear Sam: Horse Help

Does your horse display unwanted behavior, is he head shy, difficult to halter or bridle? Is your horse defensive about you touching mirror his face? Watch the latest Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series by Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach addressing the head shy horse and learn what you might be missing to help change your horse's behavior.

Subscribe to the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube channel for weekly videos.

Deconstructing The Horse's Spook * Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series

Deconstructing The Horse's Spook

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series

Addressing the Human Consideration, Quality of Communication, and how the Horse's Mental and Emotional state influences his Physical behaviors.

Subscribe to the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel for more horse learning

Things Horses Spook At... and why the dramatic response

Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach shares common encounters or scenarios that cause many horses to spook. Rather than seeing the dramatic response from the horse a the issue, it is often reflecting the degree of the equine's mental and emotional containment. Subscribe for the upcoming Dear Sam: Horse Help Episode addressing this "issue" in depth.

Helping the Highly Reactive Horse with the Remote Horse Coach

Mid-week thoughts... Someone was asking about a highly reactive Thoroughbred and how to fix his spooking issues, even after he had been at a trainer for two months.

Dangerous, Dramatic, Reactive, Anticipative, Fearful Horses

 It isn't Convenient

When the horse is...

Resistant to being caught

Constantly pulling when led

Pulls back or gets stressed when tied

Always moving away when trying to tack 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 "awhile" to load into the trailer

Might explode out 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.

Every single unwanted unfortunately common horse behavior above, is a symptom.

Most people try to band-aid the symptom by adding more pressure to the already fearful and defensive equine.

Then one unwanted behavior morphs into another because the root cause was never addressed.

The horse that is left living in a state of constant fear and anticipation because they are defensive toward human interaction leads to mental and physical trauma.

It isn't a matter of "if" they explode, get hurt, or injure the human, but when.

Please stop ignoring the subtle, reasonable behaviors the horse conveys reflecting his fear and defensiveness.

Please start prioritizing slowing down, breaking down the communication to offer short, specific, clear, supportive, and non-critical information that has meaning to the horse.

The horse is not trying to wreck your day, annoy you, psych you out, etc.

The only thing he is trying to do is find a safe space. If every time you show up you bring chaos, distraction, hurried behaviors, anticipation, and unclear communication, what are you teaching him?

To get the Change in the horse, first we must start with the Human.

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.

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