Alternative Horsemanship with Samantha Harvey is based on more than three decades of equine-related experiences as an equestrian student, equine competitor, horse instructor, mentor, equine business consultant, and offering horsemanship clinics worldwide.
Sam offers many services including starting colts and rehabilitating "difficult" horses, working with various breeds, ages, and disciplines at both a local and national level. She teaches horsemanship clinics, groundwork, horseback riding lessons, and more. Her Alternative Horsemanship training approach helps both competitive and pleasure riders of all levels and backgrounds. She teaches Horsemanship groundwork and riding lessons to help riders interpret and understand horse behavior and to refine their communication, and build trust with their horses.
She has lectured, presented, and offered demos at equine symposiums and expos. Sam has taught horsemanship skills and equine behavior to pre-veterinary students, been a featured speaker on nationally syndicated radio programs, and regularly posts to her award-winning horse blog. She also has a regular Horse Trainer column and has contributed to several published horsemanship books.
Samantha Harvey offers specialized horsemanship clinics worldwide working in South America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and most recently in Asia. She also offers several intensive Equine Retreats each season teaching horseback riders how to refine their mental, emotional, and physical approach to improve their partnership with the horse.
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Discussing the subtle often overlooked behaviors that reflect equines carrying tension.
APOLOGIES technical problems in first few minutes start at 20:23...
Understanding Horse Behavior : Learning Signs of Pain, and Defensiveness towards both Saddling and Human Pressure (Sound on)
Addressing this common self-sabotoging issue that interferes with the quality of the human and equine partnership.
Livestream Sunday 4pm pst
Replay available.
Weekly LIVESTREAM videos with Q & A
Tension
February 4, 2023 @ 9am pst
Fear
February 11, 2023 @ 9am pst
Avoidance
February 18, 2023 @ 9am pst
Defensiveness
February 25, 2023 @ 9am pst
So many horseback riders I meet have forgotten...
"It" isn't just about the human experience, the end goal, their emotional outlet, or their temporary escape from reality.
"It" isn't about creating a one-sided experience filled with demands and self-imposed "have tos."
"It" isn't about keeping up with anyone else's accomplishments, trying to fit in, or follow trends.
When riders let go of the thoughts and intentions that sabotage so many equine partnerships, "it" can become about mental presence, observation, experimentation, two-way Conversations, refinement, emotional calm, developing skill sets, believing and acknowledging the horse, and allowing for time to build a trust based togetherness.
The theme of the past few days has been new folks asking for help with horses that are going "fine" and then the horse "randomly" or suddenly stops, or quits, moving forward.
First, nothing is random when a horse does it. You may not know why the horse did it, but it was not an accident... Including all those times he "accidentally" rubbed your leg on the fence or put you under a low branch while riding.
Second, the body is a reflection of the horse's brain and emotions.
So is the real problem the horse is not moving forward? No.
That is the result of his asking for support that was ignored and "answered" with a "driving" him into doing something. Which may have appeared to have "worked" until it didn't.
The question should be, what was all the activities or scenarios asked of the horse prior to the moment of "final resistance"?
When/where were the INITIAL signs of insecurity, resistance, or him being unsure?
So take a few minutes and play detective:
Did the horse start looking away ...
