Learn horse behavior, communication, and improve horsemanship skills in weekly articles from Alternative Horsemanship™ with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach. Sharing her horse training philosophy developed over three decades. She coaches riders of all experience levels in clinics worldwide and offers distance horse coaching, instruction, and consults. Her horse video learning catalog has webinars, courses, classes and more. Subscribe on all social media platforms #alternativehorsemanship
Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series
*Intention- Quality replacing Hopefulness in achieving Goals
Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach shares her perspective on how hopeful interactions with the horse lead to potentially dangerous scenarios with the horse and decrease the chances of accomplishing horseback rider goals.
Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach shares her musings on recent horse trailer travels across the country. She shares her perspective on how to handle the mental stress and anxiety of hauling horses long distances and what to do when unexpected scenarios arise during the travels.
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.
