Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey the Remote Horse Coach Articles and Advice Blog

Improving Horse Transitions

Horse Transitions- Mental and Physical

Most horses I meet fall into two categories:

*Fearful or defensive (tight, rigid, lethargic movement) when moving forward

*Hyperreactive and overreacting with fast, fleeing movement when moving forward

Pressure & Horses- Refining Human Awareness

Pressure & Horses

I’ve never had an “English” language conversation with a horse, but over the years I feel that I’ve found some degree of a “common language” with which I use to communicate with them. I explain to students there is no “one” way to do things, and I always tell people “Take what you like, leave what you don’t” from any learning situation. I finished reading a horse blog the other day and realized that in this day and age, I don’t think you can participate in any aspect of the horse world without hearing the word “pressure” in reference to communicating with the horse.

Horse Training Discussing Pressure & Force Free

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series Horse Training & Pressure

Discussing horses, human communication using pressure and thoughts on force free approaches.

Does your horse understand your communication?

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series Does your horse understand your communication?

Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach trainer discusses how your horse may not understand your communication creating unwanted equine behaviors.

Horse Help- Problems with Mindless Horse Training Methods

I am the first to admit that I’m quite resistant to “step by step” methods of training.

I find that although what/how you ask something of your horse may “seem initially clear” with a one, two, or three type of instruction, due to the focus on the end goal, it also limits a person’s perspective in seeing what is ACTUALLY happening in what I call “real-time.”

Weaponizing Horsemanship

Weaponizing Horse Communication

The Horse's Behaviors reflect their mental and emotional state. How often are you critical, demanding, and inserting a human emotional filter without considering what the equine is experiencing during the interaction?

4 Horse Rider Tips with Alternative Horsemaship

4 Horse Rider Tips

Are you breathing?

When riders focus they tend to hold their breath. Talk. Tell your horse what you are doing (literally, it also helps you keep track.) Sing to him or whistle. Anything!

Breath is the most underrated aspect of interacting with our horse. It affects our softness and specificity, mental clarity, muscles, and the effectiveness of our aids.

Horse Help Concepts- The Box an Alternative Horsemanship tool

The "Box"

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

The concept of the Box was to give the humans a mental image of where they needed their horse to be to communicate clearly without being distracted by the horse's counteroffers of often leaking, fleeing, drifting, or pushing into them movement.

Horse Tips and Skills Alternative Horsemanship Series

Join Alternative Horsemanship the Remote Horse Coach in this new Horse Tips & Skills series addressing a variety of overlooked opportunities in the horse interaction to improve adaptability, build confidence, increase self-awareness, refine intention, and specific communication.

Subscribe to the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel for this ongoing series.

Horse Help- Improving your Equine Communication- Eliminating the Brace

Have you ever felt the horse:

Heavy on the lead rope- "dragging" the horse around?

Loading or unloading a horse from the trailer/lorry that you couldn’t “stop” or “move him” to a different place from what he was offering?

The horse would not move out of your personal space when working from the ground?

The horse was resistant to transitions whether being worked from the ground or in the saddle?

The horse is pushing, leaning, heavy, or dragging on the bit/bridle?

When trying to turn in one direction the horse slowly “leaks” the opposite way?

When trying to ride a straight line the horse is constantly “throwing” or “locking up” his shoulder or hip towards the opposite way from which you are traveling?

Picking up the reins and feeling a general “lethargic” response from your horse?