Balance Horsemanship

Balance Horsemanship Rebecca has a gift of understanding horses and people and offering her knowledge, support and guidance to enhance their relationships.

Lessons in-hand, groundwork, long reins, liberty, riding in tack and riding without are all available. Rebecca has loved horses for over 20 years and has dedicated her life to learning how to better herself, her riding and her relationship with her horses. As she improves her knowledge and understanding she continues to adapt her approach. Rebecca shares her jouney with her students and tailors he

r teaching to the individuals she meets, offering her insight and providing guidence towards goals and dreams. Rebecca teaches private lesson clinics in Devon and Cornwall and also teaches regularly near Gothenburg in Sweden. Other locations on request.

Thoughts on ThursdayI've been watching a few youtube videos of Cesar Millan and his dog training and he rehabilitation w...
14/08/2025

Thoughts on Thursday

I've been watching a few youtube videos of Cesar Millan and his dog training and he rehabilitation with owners.

The biggest thing he make a priority is calmness, correction and follow through. Then patience, exercise and reward.

There are similarities with horses but different psychology applies from herd to pack.

The thing that is the same is the horse's level of training is equal to the understanding and expectations of the owners.

Here are two young horses. For me young horse starting has two parts. The emotional/confidence of accepting the rider and then the knowledge/understanding/training of learning the language needed to be safely ridden.

Learning only happens when a horse is in curiosity mindset. If they have adrenaline in the system then you are going through the motions but the learning will not be retained. So a curious mindset is a priority and supporting them to come to calm and relax rather then showing any signs of fight, flight or freeze.

Then you have to train voice, rein, leg, seat, body and stick cues to the horse.

One by one like learning the alphabet until you have stop, stand, back up, right, left, forward, hind quarter, fore quarter, sideways, flexion, bend, turn, yield, walk, trot, canter and any given combination of....

Slowly letters become words, words become sentences and sentences become paragraphs.

Each rider can create their own unique language and dielect with their horse but this comes from their expectations and follows through to explain what they want and how to do it to the horse.

What you allow you teach.....

So number one: focus on bringing your horse's awareness and focus on you when you are teaching them.

number two: be willing to correct then consistently until they understand the expectations you are setting and communicating.

(I'll continue this topic on going!!!)

Wednesday Wisdom I joke that because I avoid interacting with conflicting people (and thankfully when self employed you ...
13/08/2025

Wednesday Wisdom

I joke that because I avoid interacting with conflicting people (and thankfully when self employed you get to choose who you work with for the most part) God sends me horses to shape and grow me on a personal level.

A horse has the ability to mirror your emotions back to you, to react to your behaviour and provide you with consequences and expand you capacity beyond your current knowledge of yourself.

I also find if I ever need an ego check a horse show up to give me a big one! Some horse's have a past and a problem and by working though their's I get an opportunity to work on mine.

In the coming weeks I want to share more of the integration between horses, faith, healing of my heart, character development and God's miracles through it all.

Smushy below has many stories with his part in them but the more significant for me was accepting the parts of him that I can't control or change and loving myself even when his behaviour feels like rejection.

If I walk out to the field with a head collar, some days I can catch him, other days I can't, what I came to understand is he has a YES/NO flip switch attached to how he feels about the herd. If I walk in without a head collar he comes to me, always. If there is no intent to split him from the group. If he feels he might get separated then he can shift into herd mode and off he goes trotting and catering and prancing about. My first thoughts originally were, "I'm not good enough for him, he doesn't like me or love me, he doesn't enjoy our riding as much as me.... " All very ME focuses thoughts, take responsibility for the problem as I was taught.

Then God encouraged me to slow down, to observe, to take the time to see the behaviour pattern and finally I could see the connection to the herd and Smushy's part in this. He had limited horse socialisation when I bought him having been a stallion for much of his life. Now that he feels secure in the herd, he simply like to be with them, to take care of them, be together with them, he is not thinking about me, he is focused on them.

This revelation that even with a bond this personal, that sometimes the choices simply weren't about me, allowed me to see that people are often wrapped in their lives too, it lowered my anxiety and gave me new perspectives and an experienced where I could accept the bond Smushy and I share is not impacted by his choices on any given day. So when I do need to catch Smushy out of the herd, I know to make time, wait for him to be ready, wait for him to choose to surrender his freedom and come and be my partner.

So there I see a whole new parable of God, he's always willing to connect to us, always allowing us to make our choices, the divine is ever present, ever patient and ever merciful. Faith is only a thought away, an attachment to the world or to the divine is but a choice and God's delight is comes from our choosing to focus on Kingdom and grow in the fruits of the spirit.

To be filled to over flowing with Gratitude, Love, Joy, Peace, Grace, Mercy, Compassion, Honour, Truth and Trust

"For I the Lord will guide your steps" Proverbs

Monday Magic Seeing a horse transform is magical to me. The work I ask is postural and giving them exercises to access t...
11/08/2025

Monday Magic

Seeing a horse transform is magical to me. The work I ask is postural and giving them exercises to access the muscles that shift there posture. This horse had a habit of shortening his neck and leaving his pelvis trailing, through exercises that brought awareness to his hind legs and transitions on a soft rein using seat cues he gradually transformed into a swan. Long neck and active pelvis.

For me all horses can work in a positive posture if given the support to correctly access the muscle mechanism to do so.

To see Georgie's transformation, videos are in the post by Sam Darvill of SD Perfect Partners

11/08/2025

No matter the discipline, the BEMER Horse-Set has your horse covered. From racehorses to jumpers, dressage athletes to trail companions, rodeo stars to retired pasture pals—every horse benefits from better circulation, faster recovery, and deeper relaxation. 🐎💨

BEMER horse set available for hire. Contact Rebecca Harris BEMER partner
10/08/2025

BEMER horse set available for hire.

Contact Rebecca Harris BEMER partner

10/08/2025

Graduation day for Smartie today, her first ride in the saddle, we have been quietly preparing and after all the green lights from Smartie today I hopped on and she got to grips with carrying the rider.

She has been working on TREC obstacles from her very first school session in the Autumn so I used the continuation of something she's familiar with to build trust in guidance from the saddle.

Green lights for me are a calm happy horse who's able to easily move hind legs or front leg when asked, goes forward, backwards and over. Is direct able in a figure of 8, is comfortable to walk, trot, canter on line in a circle wearing her saddle and is relaxed in the environment she's in. Then can accept touch and tapping with the hands or stick or stirupps over her body, you can wave the stick over the top of the horse, tap on the saddle, swing on the outside and have her see movement in both eyes.

Smartie's also experienced two rein communication on long reins and see a rider overhead when riding and leading.

All theses little experiences she has confidence in led to a first ride where she got a bit stuck, did a few turns until she found her feet, did a lovely walk, stop, back up between the poles (video) then did a little weave between cones, came back through the poles, managed a figure of 8 round two barrels and returned to the mounting block. All using very simple voice and rein aids. Legs and seat very quiet not to overwhelm her and to allow her to just experience carrying me and being directed. Lovely quiet first ride with a few polo breaks and a great introduction to riding. She's a long way from fully backed or rideable but we've taken a great step in that direction today.

She'll have a week to think about it and we will build on this next lesson ❤️

Soul food Sunday Let your imagination run free and see you and your horse in the relationship you dream of, let the love...
10/08/2025

Soul food Sunday

Let your imagination run free and see you and your horse in the relationship you dream of, let the love you share fill your soul and pray your prayer of gratitude for the life you live together.

Let your breath in deep, your chest expand and feel your heart overflow. Find childlike awe for the amazing gift that is the horse in all his glory. Let the awe and wonder feed your soul and dwell in the beauty of love in its purest form. Feel the love for your horse and let it wash back over yourself and fill you up for your week ahead.

Go in peace, go in love, go in wonder.....

Had a grey horse day yesterday! Morning ride in the forest on Sureno, bodywork and groundwork lesson for Lottie, groundw...
24/04/2025

Had a grey horse day yesterday!

Morning ride in the forest on Sureno, bodywork and groundwork lesson for Lottie, groundwork and riding lesson for Fatto and then a ride on Dartmoor with Akbar and so many adorable lambs out and about such a beautiful feel that spring has sprung 🌱💐🌳

Riding out is a great opportunity for horse to get fit, climb hills work on balance, bravery and trust. Plus it's just lovely to view the world from behind a pair of ears.

I hope you're enjoying the spring sunshine with your horses ###

One of the most important things you develop over time as a horseman is rope skills and feel. It's the same handling a r...
16/04/2025

One of the most important things you develop over time as a horseman is rope skills and feel.

It's the same handling a rope as your reins. How you holding them effects the cue/signal/feeling the horse receives and responds to.

I wrapped the rope around my hand in two different ways shown below this week without really thinking about it.

I like to handle ropes with an open hand and often like the have the back of the hand to the sky as it's a lighter feeling in the arms when your direct the horse.

Who would be interested in teaching on rope/rein skills and feel through the fingers?

Trot on the circle, Photos are bridle less, showing the bend from the ribs and base of neck. On a correct circle - the i...
15/04/2025

Trot on the circle,

Photos are bridle less, showing the bend from the ribs and base of neck.

On a correct circle - the inside hind steps under the point of weight, the rib cage swings to the outside, the base of neck is carried closer to the outside shoulder giving room for the inside fore to lift and lighten. The outside fore reaches around on a circle and the outside hind uses a slight swing to complete the picture of a curve in the spine and a step pattern that propels the horse forward and around on a circle.

I picture a circle starting with the shift of the ribs and that aligns the spine and legs onto the circle line to create alignment on a circle.

If the horse is struggling walk a small tight circle around a barrel or cone to exaggerate the rib motions and hoof placement and then increase the circle size and decrease the bend accordingly.

My last week of clients and activities, I love the variety that my work provides even if I complain about the driving! T...
14/04/2025

My last week of clients and activities, I love the variety that my work provides even if I complain about the driving!

The young horses I'm privileged to support educate are all exploring the world at the moment.
I got to exercise one horse in the forest and one on the moor. Beautiful spring weather for riding out.

Ready for another week of learning and growing with them 🪄🦄🥰

Variations of Trot, descriptions on each photo, due to the ability to change stride length, vary the upward, downward an...
12/04/2025

Variations of Trot, descriptions on each photo, due to the ability to change stride length, vary the upward, downward and forward components of the stride in the hind limbs then there are many variables to the trot step a horse can take. The swing in the ribs can also increase and add more Swung to the gait.

When you start with variating the trot, be pleased with small changes, I start with the idea of open and close the steps, then I might work on a change of frame, stretching in the back with open frame, then closing the frame and lifting the head, neck and shoulders before stretching again.

For me the ability to variate prevents over working one muscle group for an extended period of time.

Ultimately the highlight is to be able to maintain the rhythm of the diagonals from piaffe to passage to school trot to extended trot and back.

Extended trot requires both flex, lift and reach with the hind legs. With time and strength the extension come from an increase push of the hind legs and allowing the neck and forelimbs to extend forwards.

Piaffe is a downward activity, the handle joints flex and load into a squat, under the horses body. Then the diagonal step is from one diagonal to the other, often the suspension phase is missing when the horse learns and strengthens.

Passage is a upward increase in the step, the hind limb should flex and load then release the spring upward creating a short step. The hind legs are more behind the body to push it forward with each stride.

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Balance is the key to Success

I believe the first requirement for both horse and human is to understand one another, to appreciate the experience that each individual has acquired in their lives and treating it with kindness and respect. By taking a wider view of the feelings, needs and opinions of a horse and human combination change can be initiated through deeper levels of consideration. Focusing first on healing any areas of pain, fear or insecurity, through bodywork and conversation, then creating a space of relaxation and peace of mind to establish softness from within. Seeking to create a space of togetherness and connection where there is true openness of conversation from horse and human. My teaching encompasses Natural Horsemanship philosophy and exercises with Classical training principles to work towards mental, emotional and physical balance in the horse and a strong connection and willingness to please the human. I work horses from the ground in hand, on line and at liberty. I teach riding and ridden development work in the; halter, hackamore, snaffle bridle, double bridle or bridleless. The equipment and techniques may vary to get the best path to the goal for the partnership. My gifts include connecting with horses and my knowledge and skills extend into Equine Bodywork, saddle fit, hoof balance, natural horse care and injury rehabilitation.