Amy Skinner Horsemanship

13/07/2025

Confidence -

Confidence comes from humility
Humility comes from experience

I have confidence that I can do it, through many experiences wherein I didn’t think I could, and hung on and made it

I don’t think I’m great, I don’t think I’m more skilled or better in any way than other people- I just know that for years, I’ve made steady progress and watched myself start over many times when I’ve failed. I believe in my ability to put forth effort and to regroup -

I like the rider and person I am when I’m really focused on doing what my teachers guide me to. I know that’s in there and some day I’ll be able to maintain it without the help, but for now I believe in my ability to listen and to try.

That’s my favorite part of confidence : you don’t have to wait til you’re excellent to have it. You just build it by many repetitions where you gain trust in your own efforts. You develop a relationship with learning and yourself wherein you aren’t let off the hook for mediocrity but you aren’t disappointed when you fail either, because you’ve proven many times you can start over.

Confidence is nothing like arrogance because it is not focused on the self - it’s actually a freedom from obsession about the self - youre freed up to learn because you don’t have the constant turmoil of wondering if you’re good enough; or obsessing over every flaw you have. It is knowing the knowledge can pass through you given enough time and become part of you. It’s trusting the process and letting go of vanity, worry, insecurity, and anything else that doesn’t serve the learning process or your own well being.

13/07/2025

Trying to get everyone in a group lesson on the same page

12/07/2025

12/07/2025

Is the horse really spooky, unfocused, and so on - or is the human lacking the ability to guide?

This is a hard pill to swallow but an important one. Stay with me before you get all upset, because it’s not personal and it’s not just you - it’s the human condition

We go to quick work labeling the horse: bird brained, spooky, unfocused, ADHD - whatever we call the horse.

But if horses were designed to be so unfocused, nature would have eliminated them.

They are not unfocused, they are not focused in our presence. Big difference.

We can teach focus by creating calming parameters - requiring self discipline, awareness , and - you guessed it- focus ourselves.

Or we can teach the horse to feel more anxious and feel the need to become hypervigilant or seek comfort everywhere but us by not guiding adequately.

Some horses are more sensitive than others and need you to be there EVERY second.
Others can get by on a lot less.

But no horse can be focused without a person being there mentally. They can go through the motions , making us feel like they’re with us - but that just speaks to how tuned out we really are when we’re satisfied with that.

In a lesson, I often work hard to keep the student focused - to keep the chatter from taking over. To keep the “but what about…” monster at bay. To keep the random distracted thoughts jumping far ahead of where we are from leaving this moment.

It takes a LOT of work to teach a person to stay tuned into the lesson step for step without their thoughts scattering around like bowling pins -

And I’m not judging. My teachers worked hard on me too. It’s not an easy task.

But I found horses I was describing as spooky suddenly become very calm when i focused - and so we have to accept the cold hard truth -

We don’t often know this horse at all. We’re seeing a projection and labeling it as who they are. And that’s very unfair to a horse.

11/07/2025

90% of good horsemanship is spacial awareness. The other 12% is learning how to make up statistics.

11/07/2025

10/07/2025

Movement should never be a punishment. Movement IS the reward- movement in balance, never away from the person but WITH them.

Quite often I encounter horses who escape the drive aid, are anxious about forward movement, or escalate when going up into the trot and canter.

If we want the horse to be both forward AND calm, we have to think logically about how we present the drive aid and movement. If the horse isn’t getting in the trailer and we run them around in circles outside the trailer, frantically out of balance, until they get in - how will they magically transfer this to balanced movement on the lunge line? If we spin them around in circles at the gate to make stopping here the “wrong” thing, how does the horse know when going back to work that movement is no longer adverse?

How is the horse supposed to parse out when we don’t care if they’re balanced and when we do? How are they supposed to know movement is a punishment one moment, but not another? How are they supposed to become calm and centered if we use the very thing we want them to do, which is move, as a way to put them off balance enough to “behave”?

A calm and balanced horse requires a calm and thoughtful handler- I try to take things one step further. After this horse in on the trailer, how will these principles apply later? After this horse is away from the gate, then what? Good training is layered in thoughtfully, one moment at a time.

09/07/2025

Acceptance of the bit? Or resiging to it?

What’s the difference?

Acceptance is a quiet mouth, a happy body and a horse who willingly reaches out to your hand- because the body is able. Like a handshake, a dance, a hug- it isn’t coerced, it is nurtured and then allowed.

Resignation is a horse who is repeatedly put back into a feeling desired by the rider, whenever they resist. It can be done “softly,” but it is repeatedly done by the mouth, until the horse learns to not resist.

There is a world of difference in the body feel between acceptance and resignation, and two very different ways of going.

08/07/2025

Lynn is a quality human. I’ve known her for years and never found a scrap of pretense. A very caring human wrapped ip in sarcasm and humor

Last weekend, I didn’t post anything here.

Like many Texans, I felt heavy. The news from the flood zone was devastating — especially the loss of so many young lives. It didn’t feel like the right moment to talk about riding.

But this morning, I kept thinking about all the kids I've taught, who've come to me to learn from the horses. How they slow down, breathe differently, and start to notice things — like how a horse shifts its weight or softens its eye. That’s where the real learning begins.

And maybe that’s the quiet reason I’m still offering the Ride Like a Kid Again workshop next week.

It’s not a lesson in technique or goal-setting. It’s an invitation back to the part of you that loves being near a horse, without pressure.

The part of you that rides for joy — not for mastery.

For calm, not control.

If you’ve been feeling heavy lately — or disconnected from why you started riding in the first place — this is for you.

🗓️ Wednesday, July 17 @ 7 PM CT
📍 Live on Zoom | $27 (includes replay + printable guide)
🔗 https://horsewisecoach.com/ride-like-a-kid-again/

08/07/2025

An excerpt from my new book, “Stumbling With Grace”
—-

“It’s better to make a mistake in rhythm, than to lose balance correcting.”

My teacher said that to me yesterday in our lesson, and she meant in hand work.

But there’s a perfectly timed life lesson in there for me.

When things get messy, that’s when it’s the most important to soften, and to let yourself flow. Don’t dig into the mistake and spend energy in resistance, or you just get bowled over. Soften your face, your arms, your mind, and let go for a minute, then reintegrate.

It’s the hardest thing in the world. It feels like losing. It feels like your entire life is falling apart. It feels like a burn inside of an ache, until you let go, and accept it for what it is. It’s a mess. But we can make it productive still.

Let go of the original plan. Reinvent. Let’s make something entirely new.

“Don’t suppress the horses’ energy,” she said to me. “Take it and flow with it. Then you have all the power, but with a calm state of mind.”

There is power in trouble, power in pain. We resist it because, naturally, it feels bad. But what if we lean into it, and make something beautiful of it?

All of the power, with a calm state of mind.

07/07/2025

2016 to today! He still loves a good roll! Lol