Harmony Horsemanship Korea

09/04/2023

Happy Easter! Thank you to all those who came to help with the event! The weather was perfect and the horses were all very happy and relaxed. Hopefully we can have more events like this in the future.

25/11/2022

What a difference two months of proper food and exercise does for the mind and body.
Lemon the off the track thoroughbred - one of our boarder horses - came to Harmony Horsemanship about two months ago very skinny and a little depressed. He wouldn’t do much more than walk about the arena by himself and ignore the other horses, but now he is one of the most energetic!

With lots of suppling and stretching exercises on the ground, he is starting to develop topline and a proper hind end. We offer lessons on natural horsemanship and groundwork as well.

We thank his owner for entrusting us with his care.

Harmony Horsemanship is open to boarders as well as lesson clients. We offer premium timothy and alfalfa, as well as plenty of grain and supplements for those who need it. Our on-site groom is here at night for emergencies and we have CCTV cameras set up to alert us around the clock. We are a licensed sports facility with regulation-size indoor and outdoor arenas.

We offer horses of all types and sizes for both children and large adults.
Our horses work only once or twice a day and get plenty of time outside to play outside and destress. Also, a video at the end of some of our horses just being horses!

05/10/2022

Harmony Horsemanship and our wonderful volunteer photographer is offering mini photo sessions with our horses!

We are able to have up to 6 horses either loose or in hand. Outdoor and indoor settings are both available (outdoor preferred for black horses).

The traditional Korean clothing, hanbok, will be required for the shoot (a modernized style is also great!) so please bring or wear your own.

Please contact for scheduling:
Grace 010-5933-6743
[email protected]

23/09/2022

There has been a few horse abuse related incidents in Korea that made the social media circuit and the news this year. I’ve also recently visited a few different equestrian facilities with less than healthy looking horses that prompted me to write about the condition of the club horses. I posted this in Korean to a couple forums (네이버 카페) that most Korean horse people like to visit often and thought to translate to English as well.

Most club horses in Korea have little to no muscle, and sometimes are just plain skinny. But since riders are not responsible for tacking up their own horses, the customers are not always fully aware of the extent of the poor condition of the horse that they are riding.
But you can always check out the back and withers before the horse is tacked up or when they are in the stalls. Often they are so skinny that the withers, spine, and hip bones look like they are protruding and the neck is built straight and sunken in front of the withers.
Even with the saddle you can see whether there is sufficient fat and muscling on top of the croup and around the hip bones, as well as the neck. For example, if you see a rooftop from behind the horse, he is most likely too skinny or is has not been properly exercised (no topline).
If there is no topline (muscle along the top of the neck, back, and croup) you are riding on the spine and not on the back. Since there is nothing protecting the bone and the various joints there is a higher chance of damage to both the horse and rider.

Without muscle and fat to protect the back, the more you ride the more damage you cause to the horse. The saddle cannot fit properly so usually there are sores or some type of discomfort and pain, which prevents the horse from lifting its back. Getting the horse on the bit becomes impossible and the rider starts to depend on draw reins or such devices to get the head down.
The horse tires faster with no muscles and since he is in pain it may cause him to behave unpredictably. Having the rider off causes immediate relief, and once the horse learns this he may start bucking or spooking to try to get out of discomfort.
I’ve also included a picture of what a normal horse should look like. From the back you can also see the difference in the hind end. The neck is slightly rounded on the top and connects to the top of the withers.

There are also pictures of a couple of the horses that I regularly use for lessons. I only do one on one lessons so I am able to control how the horse is ridden and make sure that my clients are exercising the horse in the correct position.
But friends, forage, and freedom is just as important (three F’s). They get plenty of hay and all lesson horses and boarder horses are turned out every day in a herd setting.

Of course for a racehorse it is normal for ribs to show slightly because fat cannot disperse heat quickly, but they are filled with muscle. The back may not be well muscled but it is not sunk, and the neck, chest, and hind end is round. A riding horse on the other hand must carry a heavier rider for a longer amount of time, which requires a good topline and some fat for endurance. In most cases it is not appropriate to have ribs showing.
If you are riding a club horse (lesson horse) please take the time to check the horse over without the saddle. You can apply a little pressure along the spine and see if they have any pain response. Just like putting on a helmet, checking the wellbeing of the horse is the first step to safe horseback riding.

17/04/2022

13/04/2022

Trying to steal some hay evem before it's unloaded...

18/03/2022

Some of the animals of Harmony Horsemanship!

17/03/2022

One of our young students all the way from the east coast city of Gangneung on Chablis the KWPN. He may be a dressage horse but he doesn't seem to mind trotting some poles from time to time, especially for someone who had to drive nearly 3 hours for a lesson!

14/03/2022

The schoolmaster Silver helping his rider get a feel for her balance! He always knows to go slow and steady with the beginners.

14/02/2022

Happy Valentine Day from our Barn to yours!

09/02/2022

One of our fantastic clients drew these after a few of her lessons! We love them and definitely had a good laugh!

The pictures read as follows
1) quickly (dismount)
2) sound of hoisting yourself up (mounting)
3) Thumbs up, close knees in rising trot, use inside leg and outside rein to keep the horse from falling in and use the whip if that doesn't work.
19 year old silver, a very tall, smart veteran

04/02/2022

Bobbing for carrots anyone? Spring, Alcapone and Silver think this is a great idea!

01/02/2022

Carrot thinks she's sneaky 🤣

21/01/2022

This is so true and very important to remember

13/01/2022

Hand dragging the arena edges and Mandu thinks it's a track for her 🤣

01/01/2022

17/12/2021

Our clients and horses are the reason we love what we do! Learning how to care for, train and ride are all part of the wonderful world of horses ❤

17/12/2021

Here at Harmony Horsemanship, we love horses of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds! 🤣

25/11/2021

Happy Thanksgiving from our barn to yours!

23/11/2021

First snow of the season at the barn! It makes it look as magical outside as it feels inside ❤ 🐎❄️

10/11/2021

What are the implications of mismatched front feet?

Many horses have high/low front feet, where one foot has a steeper angle then it’s opposite.
But do we realise how much effect this can have on the entire musculoskeletal system!?

We can have different types of high/low.
A boxy foot and an ideal foot.
An ideal foot and a flat foot.
A flat foot and a boxy foot.
Studies have shown that that amount of difference in angle between the two is proportional to the effects on the horses biomechanics.

These horses may require much more regular physiotherapy or chiropractic due to the profound compensations which are akin to sub clinical unilateral lameness. Especially in the back as Gomez Alvarez et al. (2007) measured the majority of compensations for lameness are seen in the spine.

This is a great example of how the hoof and the horse are inextricably linked as the hoof conformation is created by physiological influences. Below is a comprehensive graphic of the effects of high/low.

Read more…

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/post/high-low-hoof-conformation-farriery-and-whole-horse-relevance

More information and discussion in our webinars with Dr Kilmartin and Dr Clifford where we delve into the two way relationship of the hoof/horse connection at this link..

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/Conformation

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/Hoofhorse

09/11/2021

Silvers turn for clipping action!

09/11/2021

Clipping Day our resident dragon, Chablis 🤣

04/11/2021

In partnership with Daegwallyeong Safari Ranch, Harmony Horsemanship has been able to complete the first round of Korean to English Riding program! Our trainers traveled to DSR in order to help children learn English while horseback riding. All of the children did an amazing job and learned over 100 words related to the sport! At the end of the program, we threw a Halloween Party to celebrate!

In Korea, Halloween is not a widely celebrated holiday, so the kids got to experience it American style! Riding games included, Ride-a-buck, Egg and spoon race, and an obstacle course!
The ground games were just as fun! Donut eating with no hands from a string, a good ole sack race, and pumpkin carving!

We are so blessed to have been able to do this and we can't wait until the second session!

26/10/2021

This week we had the pleasure to host Penacova Equestrian and BMW at our stables. How fabulous are these pictures?! We are in love! Alcapone, Silver and Chablis all looking fantastic in their modeling debuts! #코오롱모토라드

11/10/2021

We are now offering a natural horsemanship group course!
For those who complete the groundwork course, a riding course will be available in the near future as well.

~~~~~

Natural Horsemanship Groundwork Course:
- Two 2-hour classes per week for four weeks
- 30 minutes of theory and 1 hour 30 minutes of hands-on work
- One horse per participant

Week 1: basic care (grooming, hoof care, boots and wraps, overnights, tack care), how to handle rope halter and lead, determining a horse’s level of training and experience, different types of training methods, praise and punishment, pressure and release, leading, personal space, focus exercises
4 hours (2 sessions)

Week 2: yielding the hindquarters, yielding the forequarters, desensitization, sending exercises, correct bending and focus on the lunge, lateral flexion, desensitization in motion, going through obstacles
4 hours (2 sessions)

Week 3: shoulder in and travers on the ground, leg yielding on the ground, parking next to the mounting block, basic lunging, cavaletti and jumping, leading on trail
4 hours (2 sessions)

Week 4: teaching the horse to accept tack, training with a bit, lunging for stretching and topline development, beginning Spanish walk and piaffe
4 hours (2 sessions)

16 hours total

~~~~~

Dates and hours:
From October 21st through November 12th
Thrusdays 2:30~4:30, Fridays 2:30~4:30 (Korean)
**dates and times for classes in English negotiable

Cost:
1,300,000won per person for a private session
1,100,000won per person for a group of 2
950,000won per person for a group of 3
**Discounts available for USFK members

Contact and Location:
Grace 010-5933-6743
Harmony Horsemanship Korea
31-54, Eopseong 3-gil, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea

https://www.harmonyhorsemanshipkorea.com/facilities

26/09/2021

Fel says it's nap time!