Horse Communication Skills

 Hjalmar learning to "follow a feel."

New Year New Goals- Improving and Evaluating the Equine Relationship

 New Year New Goals- Assessing and Improving the Equine Partnership

This is the week without fail that I start getting "urgent" pleas from horse folks for advice with decisions about whether or not to keep their current horse.

I came with these six GOALS to help equine enthusiasts keep perspective when assessing their horse relationship.

I see so many horse people posting photos and referring to the horse like the animal is an accessory. 

The focus tends to be on the human agenda, rather than addressing the Quality of what THE HUMAN is bringing to the Equine Partnership.

Too many riders are so very quick to critique the horse without ever acknowledging how their own grey-area, inconsistent, unfair communication is influencing the unwanted responses in the equine.

Buying and selling a variety of different horses isn't going to "fix" anything if the person is still unable to recognize, believe, and address horse behavior nor will it improve their skill-set.

Perhaps let's make the GOAL for the upcoming year to focus on improving ourselves rather than blaming the horse.

Horse Help and Advice by Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey

Horse Help and Advice 

I receive daily pleas for help from good-intentioned people who in their attempts to save the troubled, neglected, or abused horse, and are now far in over their head in the responsibility it takes to truly rehabilitate a horse rescued from severe circumstances. 

Unfortunately, as people are "paying" the price financially, emotionally, mentally, and physically, it is the horse who ends up in yet another bad scenario. 

Please seek the help of professionals experienced with all this involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of the horse.

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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Improving the Relationship with your Horse- by Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach

Building Confidence in the Defensive Horse

Ask yourself this the next time you're with your horse...

Horseback Rider Communication and Equine Behavior- the Box- Help by Alternative Horsemanship

The BOX

First and foremost I developed the concept of "the Box" because I was finding too many people wanting to be polite and kind in the communication with the horse, but were lacking specificity, boundaries, or spatial awareness.

5 Horse Handling and Riding Tips by Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey

When learning or experimenting with a new way of communicating and interacting with the horse, people can unintentionally develop intensity in their facial expression, the tension in their posture, increased energy, and tight movement.

 
Without meaning to, as a person is trying to mentally assess, process, and physically coordinate their communication with the horse, they may also be conveying unintentional signals to their horse.
This adds unnecessary confusion when attempting to change old patterns in the interaction.

So here's a checklist for My TOP 5 Physical Assessment Opportunities of yourself any time you work with your horse, but especially if you feel out of your "comfort zone."

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series *Deconstructing the Trained Horse

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

*Deconstructing the Trained Horse 

Samantha Harvey discusses the details of how, why, and what creates the obedient and compliant "trained" horse. She addresses the potential dangers of the mentally and physically resistant horse and the reeducation involved in the reawakening of the equine.