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Horses and Horse lovers are my passion. I will share my experiences and knowledge about horse/people relationships.

The Key is Balance!: After going to the NE Horse Expo in March it occurred to me once again that the key to good horsemanship or learning anything new is balance. I don’t mean the kind of balance where one stays upright without falling down, rather I refer to a mental and emotional steadiness which brings harmony.
A horseman who stays balanced has a stability produced by equality between two sides. When we learn not to lean too far to either side of the road and go at a reasonable speed we will have fewer crashes along the way. An aesthetically pleasing integration of common sense elements will keep you traveling in an upward spiral of success. When a balanced approach is taken your journey will be safer and you’ll have a lot more fun.

Whenever many horse people gather together you will find a variety of different experiences, perspectives, styles, techniques, and purposes being professed and applied. Even though we may all be involved in the same endeavor (HORSEMANSHIP) diversity does abound. But if one looks close enough you can find some common threads of similarity underneath the differences. It takes a discerning eye to recognize both the differences and at the same time the similarities. If you can learn to do this you will be able to stay balanced and your horse will thank you for it.

Part of the balance needed to succeed with horses is having a means of judging and deciding what is right for you and your horse. Every horseman will at some time have to cope with several often conflicting ideas, factors, or situations at the same time. To horse owners this can often be confusing and frustrating. Thus to learn what it takes to become really good with horses and develop a system that works for you and your horse it requires a balance of openness, skepticism and common sense!

Everyone of us hopes to find that holy grail of horse training which will solve every problem we have with our horses. We hope to find a perfect working system which fits every horse and every owner. The problem with every system is horses are masters at pointing out the weakness in any system. So it takes a balanced person who is able to work within a system yet think outside the box in order to resolve our weaknesses and allow the system to accomplish our intention.

I believe that if you are with horses it is because consciously or not, you desire to be challenged and to learn. However you will never learn anything new or gain deeper understanding if you go in with the attitude that a certain “way or training system” is wrong or not for you. I used to compete in rodeos and my beginnings with horses could be considered pointing in an opposite direction from where I am now. I have lived and breathed on opposite sides of two very different systems, but for me they were both pointing at the same thing… the horse! As I reflect on the people, horse and systems which have influenced my brand or style of horsemanship I see they share similarities as well as differences. I choose to focus on the common threads between those two systems which I have experienced, as the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

The horse doesn’t care what we call ourselves….natural, dressage, barrel racer, roper, cutter, trail rider, competitor, western, english, professional or amateur, the horse just wants us to understand him mentally, emotionally and physically. I believe I now have a better understanding of people and horses because of my diverse experiences and willingness to live somewhere in balance between openness, skepticism and common sense. Plus I have put myself under a proven training system and at the same time I allow myself to think outside the box when needed. I have also given myself permission to experiment and learn from my mistakes.

We can all learn and benefit for each other because at least in the basic form any performance or discipline you choose does not need to be different from “natural horsemanship”. No matter what activity you do with a horse a solid foundation is needed where you can carry freestyle riding into the finesse it takes to compete at higher levels. We will all be better off, especially the horse, if we begin to focus on the commonalities between our systems and celebrate our strengths rather than our weaknesses.

Happy Trails,

Sherry Jarvis

PS:

A balanced horseman has the ability to stay poised no matter what situation is thrown at him.

Sunday March 22, 2009 - 04:13pm (CDT) Permanent Link
Authentic Leadership: The buzz word about dealing with horses these days seems to be leadership. But what is authentic leadership? I will start with what authentic leadership is NOT!

I am learning that authentic leadership with either horses or humans is NOT as much about communication as we may think. It is NOT about taking personality or horsenality assessments. Authentic leadership is NOT about focusing on what you think someone else needs. Or giving them what you think they need.

We often think leadership is all about management and control. But that is NOT true authentic leadership either. A heavy focus on management and control is about being the boss. Leadership is NOT about telling others what to do and controlling the outcomes.

The real key in leading others is to understand the difference between managing and controlling versus leadership and leading with people or horses. Authentic leadership is about finding what is important to others, what they need and creating environments where they can reach their own potential. Authentic Leadership starts with being able to lead yourself first! You cannot lead anyone until you can first lead yourself!

You cannot lead yourself until you are really committed to the truth. The truth about yourself and the fundamental core values you have will affect how you lead anyone be it horse or human. You must know what your core values are and be able to define them before you can become an effective leader. You must have a clear idea about who you are what you want to become, and where you want to go before you can lead. Otherwise it is the blind leading the blind.

You cannot lead others until you are willing and able to truly listen to them. Listening to those you are leading is a top priority for an authentic leader. I mean really listening by focusing on every word that comes out of their mouth. Also by watching every move or expression of the horse because that is how he is communicating to you. Everything one does or says means something to them even if it isn’t clear to you. When you really learn to listen you won’t have to tell people or horses what to do or what they need. You will ask them what they need and what you can do to help them?

An authentic leader takes a position of service, rather than what can I do to get the ones I’m am leading to do what I want. Authentic leaders have an attitude that helping others be able to lead themselves is of upmost importance. Then when those you are leading can lead themselves they in return become of service to you.

In order to do this you choose to understand what truly motivates the people or horse you are working with to try harder. You choose to commit more to what is important to them than what is important to you. You choose to create things that they never believed possible to become reality.

Choosing to truly listen and understand those you are leading while serving them will create authentic leadership. When one leads with authentic leadership the product is more authentic leaders not a bunch of blind robots who follow without question, or worse yet a forced performance which causes stress and tension.

You can be what ever you choose to be. This is self-leadership. Believing you can create who you are going to be tomorrow is the first step on Self-Leadership. If you want to be an authentic leader for your horse or anyone else you must master Self-Leadership first.

We have created an on-line survey to ask you what you need so we can help you with it. Please Click Here to fill out our survey. It will help us serve you better so thank you ahead of time for participating.

Happy Trails,
Sherry Jarvis

"Horsemen share knowledge. Showmen hide it in a corner and go home." -- AQHA Judge Dale Livingston

Friday March 6, 2009 - 10:09am (CST) Permanent Link
New Happenings: NEW CLASSIFIED PAGE ON WEBSITE
Free to Heart in Your Hand Horsemanship Clients

NE HORSE EXPO
March 13-15, Lancaster Event Center, Lincoln, NE

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNTS FOR CAMPS AND CLINICS
Save up to $200 on a camp and 15% on a clinic.
Deadline for taking advantage of the savings is March 15, 2009.
So register at the Expo and SAVE! Put the money towards fuel to travel.

“WIN YOUR HORSE’S HEART” (And Be a Better Horseman)
Buy your personal signed copy at the Expo: Only $19.99 (tax included)
Also available on-line at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble
They are only $15.95 on-line but will not be signed plus,
I have to pay about $3.00 shipping to get the books to me,
when it is delivered personally I have to charge sales tax, thus the $19.99 price.

EQUINE MASSAGE DEMONSTRATION BY SHERRY
At NE Horse Expo, Friday March 13th at 5:00 in round pen.
Handouts will be provided. Learn how to relax your horse while building the relationship
and releasing sore tense muscles. Based on Masterson Method.

ENTER TO WIN FREE ITEMS
at Sherry’s Booth at the Expo

Kent Feed and Heart in Your Hand Horsemanship Caps

50 lb Bag of Kent Dynasty Pro Horse Feed

3 Hour Private Lesson with 2 Hour Trail Ride with Sherry
(Only at Sherry’s place near Burwell, you call to set date, non-transferrable)

50% off Women’s Confident Leadership Camp
(Only At Calamus Outfitters May 15-18, non-transferrable)

The drawings for the caps will be during the Question and Answer Sessions and at her demo on Fri. at 5:00.
(Must be present to win)
The drawings for all the other items will be at 3:00 on Sun.
(You do not have to be present to win!)

FREE QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS

(At Sherry’s Booth at the Expo)
Come ask Sherry a burning question and fill out a survey to help her better serve your needs.
Fri. 3:00 & 7:00
Sat. 11:00; 3:00 & 7:00
Sun. 11:00 & 1:00

15-20% OFF SMOOTHSTRIDE RIDING PANTS (At Expo booth)
Only a few sizes left from 2008 inventory.

RIDE FOR FREE by Hosing a 2-day Clinic
Hosts a 2-day clinic and positively gets 7 other people signed up with deposits and ride for free.
You will also be required to make arena arrangements, plus a few other duties. For more info go to our hostess page.

NEW CLINICS FOR SPRING!

Young Horse Handling Class: April 1-5 and 24-27
Bring your horse on April first and participate in his natural beginning. Leave him for the rest of the month for Sherry and Erica her intern to work with them. Then come back at the end of the month to pick them up and play with them again under Sherry’s instruction.
Call 308-346-5663 for details.

Natural Horsemanship Clinics:
March 21-22 BKT arena Lincoln, NE
April 18-19 Madison, NE
May 3 North Platte, NE
May 30-31 Pickerell, NE

4-H Only Clinic
May 2 North Platte, NE

Friday March 6, 2009 - 09:47am (CST) Permanent Link
Possibility Thinkers: Sherry riding Dolly at Oct. Women's Confident Leadership Camp
Picture by Jessica McClausin from Custer County Chief
January always brings a time of reflection for me as I wade through the piles or receipts trying to figure out my taxes. Each numerical figure I write on the page reminds me about places I've been, the people I have worked with and the things I did throughout the year. With over 16,000 business miles on my car and the opportunity to personally work with over 200 great people eager to learn to be better horsemen it would be hard not to accomplished something. Based on my calculations 2008 was my best year yet despite the high fuel prices, stock market worries, and high unemployment. Both the personal and professional goals I have achieved and those I am still attaining to reach are an important part of my planning for 2009. As a possibility thinker I am setting even high goals for this year despite the doom and gloom stories the new reporters continue to feed us. I have never felt better about who I am, what I am doing, where I am at and the vision I have for the future, which keeps growing.

This month I am one of the guest speakers at Market Place Conference for Small Businesses in NE at North Platte. The topic of my presentation is "Creating a Vision for Your Business". As I am preparing the material I will handout I thought it would be a good time to revisit the vision I have for Heart in Your Hand Horsemanship LLC and then revise it once again.

I have trained horses and given riding lessons on and off all of my life, especially in the summer time while I was a school teacher. This has always been my passion but the vision to make it real didn't happen until 1998 when I went to my first natural horsemanship clinic. I knew from that moment forward that my life with horses would never be the same. This was a turning point in my life. On new years day of 2000 I wrote down a goal on a small piece of paper which was the beginning of actually living my dreams. It said, "I want to be doing something with horses where I can make a living at it by the time I am 50 years old." I quit my job 4 years ago to follow this dream and last year I turned 50 so I not only met the goal I have exceeded it above my expectations.

I believe that most of the success of Heart in Your Hand Horsemanship has been due to the leadership skills I have learned through natural horsemanship principles. Everything the horses teach me I have been applying to both my professional and personal life. Whenever I have a difficulty with a horse my first reaction is to believe it will be possible to resolve the difficulty. Second I start digging to see what the problem really is and how it can be solved. I don't just complain about the symptoms I look deep for the root causes. Third I am determined to use practical progressive steps which slowly build confidence and success. I don't get in a hurry to make it happen, rather I allow it to happen because I set it up for success. Fourth I have the drive to not give up until the work is complete.

The secret to horsemanship is being a true leader and it is the secret ingredient to building a business as well. When leading horses our intention and focus must be clear if we desire the horse to follow our suggestions. A horse will flounder without this clarity and so will a business.

Nobody else can set your dreams for you. However, I challenge you to be a possibility thinker this year. Let faith be the force that sets your goals, guides your decisions, solidifies your commitment, and glues everything together allowing the dreams to become reality.

Best Wishes,

Sherry Jarvis

Sunday February 1, 2009 - 11:03am (CST) Permanent Link
High Headed Horse: Question: I am shopping for a new horse. One of the horses I am considering seems to be quite high headed. Is this something I should be concerned about, or can I fix it after I buy the horse?

Answer:

If being high headed is an occasional thing as a result of the horses trying to look at something far off in the distance or being afraid of something new then that would be a natural reaction, which I wouldn’t be too concerned about. However, if the horse is carrying his head high most of the time while being ridden no matter what the circumstance or who is riding him, then I would be somewhat concerned. Of course, all problems are solvable with all horses if you have enough savvy and time. It just depends on how good your feel is, how well you can read the horse, and how much time you are willing to spend with the horse to cure the problem. The more engrained the problem is the more skill you will need and the longer it will take to fix it because it has become a habit for the horse.

High headedness is just evidence of something else being out of whack. Usually if you remove the cause of the evidence the problem will solve itself. A horse who is high headed is thinking about evasion. He is seeking to relieve some kind of pressure. The first thing I would do is investigate the mechanical side of the problem. Is there any pressure causing physical discomfort for the horse? If I can eliminate mechanical problems then I need to look at the mental and emotional aspect. Is the horse being force or intimidated into performance without understanding which has caused the horse to brace in his body, especially his head and neck? Does the handler or rider have poor feel and timing causing confusion, fear, or resentment?

When looking for physical discomfort I would recommend starting with having a vet check his teeth. Does he have wolf teeth or a broken tooth which would give the horse reason to avoid a bit? Second check saddle fit. An ill-fitting saddle can cause a horse to lift his head and neck up to try to relieve pressure. Third have a vet or good farrier check his soundness. Old injuries or long term discomfort will cause the horse to adjust the way he carries himself in order to ease some pain in another area of his body.

Fourth, video and watch objectively your riding skill. A person can inadvertently cause physical discomfort to the horse with poor riding. If you watch the smaller things that indicate what is bothering the horse right before he throws his head up in the air you may be surprised that you are causing the problem. The horse may be trying to get away from your poor hands, bouncing seat, or legs which are squeezing while at the same time pulling back on the reins. When a rider’s body is more in tune with the horse’s body the horse will relax and lower his head. Learning about the timing and placement of the horse’s feet is a must when working to help a high headed horse quit this habit. Teaching the horse to give his head and neck in soft supple lateral flexion will go a long way in helping this horse quit bracing which results in a raised head.

If relieving any known physical discomfort doesn’t fix the problem then we have to look at the mental and emotional reasons the horse has developed this undesirable habit. A high head horse may have been starred at in the eye, dealt with too firmly, at too close of distance, too often which has caused his defensive behavior. Quick hands, loud voices, lots of motion right in front of the horse where he has no space for himself so he can lower his head in his own world can put too much mental pressure on the horse. When this happens the horse doesn’t feel secure enough to lower his head and be himself in your presence.

A horse that has been punished in the face will create high headedness on the ground and it can transfer to riding. This will take the horse some time to get over. If a horse has this kind of history I would recommend less touching on his face for quite a while. Wait until he presents his head to you. When he is ready he’ll look to you for affection or support at the place where he has been traumatized.

Unless a high headed horse’s spirits been broken he still has a tremendous amount of instinct that will work in your favor which you can use to help him break this defensive behavior. Use his natural curiosity about what is going on around him, and his inborn willingness to get along and be of service to your advantage. Slow down and give him a chance to get his confidence back.

Here are a few more ideas which might help you succeed faster with a confirmed high headed horse where you have eliminated physical discomfort as being the main problem and have determined the main issue is mental or emotional. When you bring this horse home the best thing to do may be to leave him alone for a while. Let him be with other horses, and get adjusted to a new environment in his own way and in his own time. When you approach him the first few times, don’t put a hand on him any closer than the shoulder. You might even go to the hip first brush his tail then walk away.

Next I would suggest a few sessions of bucket sitting with him. Let the first move be his toward you. Set it up so he has to reach down and toward you. Whatever you do DON’T reach up to him, remember let him come down toward you then you can touch him. This will be the start of him feeling comfortable with his head down around you, until it becomes the new habit. When you halter him make sure you don’t follow his head up, wait for him to come down to you. Try to position him so you set up his shoulders and hips where it causes him to want to reach down.

The habit of being high headed is usually a product of handling which doesn’t encourage the opposite, or is a result of something being out of whack. So if you think you can determine what is out of whack and encourage a more desirable habit then I would say you could fix this problem given enough savvy and time.

If you have other questions for Sherry you can e-mail her at sherry@heartinyourhand.com , attend one of her horsemanship clinics, camps or lessons, visit her website at www.heartinyourhand.com, or read her newly released book “Win Your Horse’s Heart (Be a Better Horseman)

Monday January 26, 2009 - 12:39pm (CST) Permanent Link

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