Helping the Defensive Horse

 Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

Helping the defensive horse 

Watch on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel. New videos are posted every Friday.

Tips for Riding out, Building Confidence for the Timid Horse Rider

 Tips for the Insecure or Timid Rider

What about building the rider's confidence for riding out?

Reactive Riding - Horse Help & Tips

 Reactive Riding

When people sit down in that saddle their brain tends to focus solely on themselves. Instead, if they treated their horse-like they were "on the same team" and told the horse what the PLAN was ahead of time, the horse would have a better chance of offering the desired response toward the rider. 

Horse Skills Tips - Misconceptions of a Circle

One of the most misused "techniques" I have found is how people present asking the horse to move around a circle.

Horse Behavior- After the session assessment

How often does your focus "leave" as you are nearing the end of a session with the horse? Mentally moving on to something else?

Horsemanship: Reviewing The Release

As with everything, there are many interpretations when it comes to the terminology associated with horses. I try to be clear and precise in the words that I'm offering, but there still can be a gray area in the human student's understanding. This often comes from their level of awareness, background, and unintentional anticipation/expectation of their mind "getting ahead" of wherever they are currently at with their horse.

Alternative Horsemanship April Livestreams

 Join  Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey for the Following a Feel Livestream

Discussing the everyday, overlooked opportunities during the horse interactions that either refine the equine's mental and physical directability or unintentionally teach the horse to avoid and be defensive toward human communication.

Saturday, April 13th at 5pm pst.

Click the link to learn more

Horse Problems and Unwanted Equine Behavior Video

 

Dear Sam: Horse Help Horsemanship Series 

Horse Problems, Unwanted Equine Behavior & Uncomfortable Discussions

Click the link to watch the latest episode on the Alternative Horsemanship YouTube Channel. 

Ponying the Horse Tips

 Ponying the Horse- Continuing Quality Conversations

I find when ponying, many folks focus on getting the ponied horse to follow the movement of the ridden one.  This can create mindless movement in the ponied horse and contributes to what seems to willingly compliance (as long as nothing specific is asked of him) but he is not thoughtful, mentally directable, or physically adaptable. 

Horse Goals & Interaction Tips

 What intentions do you have for you and your horse? What are you doing to work towards them?

Refining Groundwork with the Horse

Refining Ground Work with the Horse

Whenever I show up to work with a horse I go through a mental checklist assessing things such as:
Where is the horse’s mind today?
How is the horse looking/feeling in his postures, breathing, and movement?
What was the feeling or energy he offered when greeting me in his pasture or stall?
Does he seem mentally available as I ask to halter, lead, and stop at the gate?
If I ask for him to change his focus, "let go" of a mental distraction, decrease/increase his energy, step on/at a specific spot, or pause while I "fix" something else, is he getting defensive for my opinions or his he willing to try?

Human Emotions Sabotaging Equine Partnerships

I've had many comments over the years about how I seem to never lose patience with the horse during moments that for most people would trigger a rollercoaster of emotions... such as in the scenarios of when a horse:
Resists being caught
Difficult to Trailer Load
Bolts when Led
Won't stand quietly tied
Avoidant towards the farrier
Has excessive movement when tacked or mounted
Is sensitive about fly spray or bathing
Is buddy or "barn" sour