The Backstory: Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey



All of you have varying levels of familiarity with me and I thought today would be a great day to share a past blog post I'd made... It might fill in the blanks as to why my current persistence in my teachings is what it is, my drive to help others and perhaps my story and journey might help you with your own experiences... Enjoy!

It had been a long time since I’ve galloped. Literally.

Patternized human behavior... Breaking the habit!


People and horses easily fall into habits out of convenience, laziness, lack of intention or focus and most usually out of not wanting to "rock the boat" in how they interact with their horse.

For those in the habits of patternized behavior, the illusion that all is "well," is frequently shattered the day the pattern or routine has to change due to unforeseen circumstances.

So rather than "waiting to see what will happen," first by focusing on yourselves, you can start to make subtle changes in how and what you present, noticing your habits, and improving your awareness.

Here are FOUR easy ways to start noticing and changing your own brainless, habitual patterns. By noticing these things, it can work as an opportunity for you to "mentally check-in" so that you can be more focused. This will allow you to be clearer and more specific with your communication towards your horse!

5 Ways to Improve your Horsemanship



As folks are learning with their horse or experimenting with a new way of communicating and interacting, they can unintentionally develop intensity in their facial expression, posture, energy, and movement. 

Helping yourself without an on-site Riding Instructor


15 Questions Horse Owners should be asking!


20 Questions Horse Owners should be asking!


Assessing and improving your horse maintenance...

Improving the communication with the horse: Five Tips

I frequently suggest to folks there needs to be a beginning, middle and end to the conversation. By presenting pieces of the "whole" conversation, the rider or handler can have an improved "real time" interaction with the horse. 


In order to help the human become more clear in their thoughts, communication and skill set, I suggest asking themselves the five questions posed below. The person's answers will help clarify what, where and when things might need to be refined between horse and human conversations.