#ThrowbackThursday

Here is some feedback from clients from recent clinics, training sessions and Remote Coaching consultations...

"I had told my neighbor about you for years, but he wouldn't listen until he became scared with his new horse." Laurie, ID

"I tried to explain that my success with my once very difficult horse was NOT overnight nor was it by chance, rather with your support and guidance, and my commitment and energies, we started to see consistent, long term changes for the better..." Meghan, AZ

"I'm not sure why people think working the horse from the ground is a 'touchy feely' thing. The way you present learning to read the horse, have a conversation with the horse, I never realized how much I was completely missing. Without understanding that part, how do you ever feel comfortable with them when you ride?" Susan, WA

"My horse never 'did' anything wrong or bad or scary. But I knew something wasn't right. I could see from the blankness in his eyes that he was putting up with me, but he really wasn't enjoying our time together. With just a few simple 'tools' you taught us, you have completely changed our relationship." Jenna, MT

"How do people ride for years without ever paying attention to what the horse is trying to tell them? Even though I didn't understand what mine was saying, it was clear that I was unable to help him. Asking for your help, building both my own and his confidence, it was life changing." Susanna, FL

There are a million horse trainers out there "selling" the same the traditional approaches... Sometimes it takes thinking outside the box. looking within oneself, and trying something new to get dramatic, quality and long lasting changes.

Find out more at Alternative Horsemanship Website to sign up for training, lessons & clinics. Like the FB page AlternativeHorsemanship to follow Sam and her latest thoughts, travels and training tips.

Join the FB group Alternative Horsemanship to enjoy discussions, live Q & A and more!

Subscribe to the Hoofprints & Happenings Newsletter (click on the right sidebar of this page)

Private Individualized Horse Clinics with Samantha Harvey

Clinics... Have you ever felt like you'd prefer a one on one intensive and confidence building learning experience where you and your horse could have the undivided attention of the Clinician? 

Find out more about  Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey and the Private Individualized Clinics she offers at The Equestrian Center, LLC in Sandpoint, ID

Recent feedback from a Private Clinic participant:

"I'm so thrilled, I just have to tell my friends. Samantha Harvey is awesome. After two days and 6+ hours of lessons, I can say it is the best money I ever spent. As an example, the last thing we did was loading. In 20 minutes she had me loading Sunny very quietly and gently, literally step by step in and out. I rode Sunny in the round pen, getting her to turn left and right, all very gently, no fuss. Through the gate, step by step, all very calm. Absolutely amazing.

Does it work at home? Yep. Unloaded easily. Nice calm walk to the pasture and back. Brought her back to the pen, de-wormed her, no fuss.

Her technique is all about horse communication. Walking through the gate is the same as loading, walking though narrow spaces, putting on the saddle, etc. There's no going round and round in the round pen. I suspect you guys already know all about this. I guess Samantha just talked my language and it all made perfect sense to me. It's a process I can work with.

Cheers."
Bill B., Sagle, ID

Building Confident Horses

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.

Mental and Physical Avoidance Horse Behavior: The Accordion Effect

Physically: A shrinking of the horse's top line; starting with the ears becoming rigid and angled slightly back, the length of the neck shortening with a tension or bulge in the neck muscles, the back becoming dropped or hollowed towards the ground, the muscles along the rib cage parallel to the ground will bulge out with tension, and the hindquarters are making chaotic, short, choppy, upright steps- think like the movement of needle in a sewing machine, with more energy seemingly up and down, versus powerful and pushing forward.

Mentally: The horse is lacking a soft, confident "forward thinking" mentality, this stems from him being defensive towards whatever is being asked of him by the human. So the physical shrinking away from the pressure is a reflection of his mental state.

How to address it: First there needs to be an assessment as to how early his concern appeared, even if he wasn't at his peak resistance. Most folks label a lack of "forward" in the horse with a human emotion, such as "he's lazy," or "he's being stubborn." But if we learned to first respond with empathy, by translating his physical unwanted behavior as his brain asking for help. He is moving in a defensive manner because he is unsure. So where did he start to feel that? What did we begin to ask of him that caused concern, insecurity, fear, or was unclear? Then how did we initially address it? Did we just "add gas" and make him move more? This unfortunately is the most common response and does nothing to improve the softness in the horse's brain or body.

Until we "play detective" and start to learn and BELIEVE what initial triggers are causing the horse to become unsure or concerned in his thoughts, by trying to "make" the horse move with more quality but not addressing his mental concern, just offers critique of his behavior, a symptom, rather than addressing the root cause, his mental concern.

The more his brain is willing and unconcerned, the more quality his gait and movement will be. THEN you can work on refining the bend, the size of step, etc. because your horse is available for a conversation.

Attached Picture: This is me riding an older "trained' mare. Practice assessing the picture, starting at the nose and working your way towards her rear. You'll see each of the behaviors I've described previously about the accordion effect.

And yet for a lot of folks, at the initial glance, this may look "pretty" and "light" with my drooping rein, but that is really avoidance of pressure and a lack of coming through in her back to actually offer quality movement.

Being Hopeful in our Riding leading to Unwanted Horse Behaviors

Being Hopeful

Hopefulness. Waiting and Seeing. Reactive Riding. Taking the "try" and willingness out of your horse. What do all of the above have in common? They are a domino effect that occurs in the riding world far too often. Let me explain.

Live Q & A - Fifteen for Friday

In preparation of TGIF I'll be doing a #FIFTEENforFRIDAY

Guess what? I'm going to be answering Q & A on a LIVE FB video feed tomorrow-Friday- for fifteen minutes!!!

Be sure to join the facebook.com/groups/AltHorsemanship group for this fantastic learning opportunity!

You can submit you questions ahead of time or tune in at 5pm PST for a fifteen minute Q & A.

Don't worry if you are unable to attend, the video will be made available.

See you there!

Horsemanship

Taking a moment...

Horsemanship and Horse Training in the real world

Training with Reality

Most folks do not rely on their horse for their livelihood and therefore lack a perspective of what kind of quality partner they could have and would need if their life literally depended on their horse.

The picture I have included was taken from the time I spent on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Besides the modern-day truck and trailer, much of the day-to-day life was just as it was 100 years ago, including staying in cabins with no water or electricity 40 miles from the closes paved road.

Keeping a Horse Riding/Activities Journal

Whether you are a trail rider, a weekly "lesson" participant, or a die-hard clinic auditor/participant you can get MORE out of your time, effort, and money spent by keeping a riding journal.

Now, hold on and don't sigh yet... I'm not recommending a "write everything that was said or learned" journal. Instead think of it more as something to highlight 3 focus points from your session.

Staying Neutral
Don't focus on the big or obvious things and don't write your opinion such as "I like that my horse..." Write your entries from a neutral perspective rather than an emotional one and jot several focus points that you worked on with your horse. The sooner you can make your entry after your ride the more accurate it will be. "Life" can happen and even just a day or two later you'll forget a lot of what you had noticed during your last session with your horse.

What to write about
You may want to include: what, when and how you asked something of your horse. Then observe the level of his participation mentally, emotionally and physically to your communication. You'll find his physical participation will be a reflection of his mental and emotional availability towards you.

Why keep the journal?
Many times we think we "know" our horses, but all too often the little details escape us. Once you start to make it a point to raise your level of awareness when working with your horse, you'll find that you'll also start to "learn" a lot more about both yourself and your four legged partner.

Examples journal entries:

•How long into a session when working your horse either from the ground or when riding does it take for him to sigh, like his lips or blow his nose?

•Is he "patternized" and require a "routine warm up" or is he mentally available to address whatever you offer whenever you might present it?

•Does he "always" respond in the same manner when you ask a specific task of him?

•Evaluate yourself when you present one specific task for your horse. What did you learn about you? How, when, and why did you do what you did? What are other ways you might be able to communicate the same desired result using different aids?

Keep in mind
Health Wise- if you notice odd physical behavior (coughing, runny nose/eyes, soft stool, etc.) make a note of it. A lot of times it can help prevent or diagnose an on-coming health issue. Keep track of worming, vaccinations, shoeing, etc. and notice if there's a correspondence to a change in your horse's health.

Lameness- if you start to notice your horse becoming sore after a certain type of workout you might be able to "break down" what is causing this and prevent any long term damage.

Learning from YOU
Learn from the past- REVIEW past entries in your journal once month. You'll be amazed at how fast your level of awareness and sensitivity increases once you make a point of noticing the small details. You'll also be amazed at how much you "thought you knew" but then had forgotten as you advanced on. It's always a good idea to go back and review the basics no matter what level rider or horse you have.

Enjoy!