Amy Skinner Horsemanship

11/10/2025

One of the reasons I love the work I’ve been taught by my teachers is the dramatic changes in horses temperaments.

When they are tight, unbalanced physically and emotionally, they can present as cranky, resistant, dominant, what have you.

With some work in balancing their bodies and minds, they can become almost unrecognizable. Cranky horses become love bugs. Fighting and resistance turns into melting. Jarring and uncomfortable movement turns into floating.

This friesian/andalusian mare was ear pinning, resistant, cranky, heavy, and not forward. With some work on balancing her body, her temperament is completely different some months later - a total sweetheart, lunging with a beautiful bend on a cold windy morning. When I first met her she would have been kicking at me and trying to pull away on a day like this - ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

Her behavior and temperament wasn’t who she is - it’s how she felt and how she expected to be treated.

I adore watching horses blossom into who they really are. It’s really simple, but sometimes it takes a leap of faith

10/10/2025

Any system or methodology should come with a framework of skillsets. These skill sets should build on each other to create a web that gives the outer picture.

Consider the collected horse moving in harmony with its rider - the ultimate end on the ladder of education. This ladder is made up of many little skills taught from the first halter on a foal, leading logically one step at a time until collection.

I think this often when I'm teaching a very wide variety of people - I don't necessarily need your framework to be MY framework, especially if I'm here to help you along the way by integrating into whatever you're doing. You don't need to convert to my "religion" to benefit from a clinic - but I do need to know what that framework and skill set ladder is and where it's going to be able to help you.

I find so frequently two very disturbing things in the world:

1- Horses and people are not being given real life skills in their studies and pursuits.

Things like leading reliably, trailer loading, standing tied or still in some capacity, picking up feet, etc - the stuff of a safe daily interaction with horses is becoming less "popular" and sometimes taught as being unethical - and so horses are confused, unregulated, spinning around in barn aisles and not able to manage a good life.

2 - People are not being taught what the end result is made up of: how each skill set is brought to the next, and layered until it creates a result.

People are not being taught WHY they are doing what they are doing beyond an immediate goal. Example: doing this makes the horse do that now - but how does it get you to tomorrow's ride, and the next day's, and your end goal? We are learning "tricks" and "hacks" and methods but not methodologies or principles.

What can you, as the rider, do about this?

-When you go to learn from someone, look at the end goal. What is it that attracted you to that? Try to define it. Emotions can be helpful to pull you in, but don't let it end with "ooo" and "aaa." What do you like about the horse's way of going and how do you see yourself in there? What is it MADE of, to your best estimation?

For example - I love watching a particular video of the Spanish Riding School riders from a particular time period. I use it as my mental goal, understanding as best as I can now their system that created that. But what I like about it is the horses look so rhythmic, so swinging, so floating - What I dislike about other time periods is a more jerky movement, a more distressed and compressed horse - and so on. Some things I like vs what I don't want is helpful.

-As questions about the system. If you are not offered, don't panic. Sometimes a teacher can only get so much information in, and maybe you haven't been around long enough. Don't immediately assume the teacher is swindling you because there are many dynamics in teaching. So ask!

Ask, what. basic skills does my horse need?
what basic skills do I need?
How does the gaining of this skill I currently lack lead me to the end goal? To tomorrow's ride, and so on?

Don't be afraid to ask questions. A teacher can teach you all they have, working with what's in front of you. But you have to be the steerer of the ship - you have to decide what you want out of education and pursue that.

Where do you want to go? Why? What steps are entailed in that process, and what do you need to do to get there?

Photo by Jessie Cardew

09/10/2025

The Seduction of Clarity

For many horse owners, few things are more powerful than the desire to help your horse. When your partner is lame, anxious, or “just not right,” that ache to understand and fix what’s wrong can consume you. It’s an emotional vulnerability — and it’s precisely what some “top” figures in the equine industry have learned to exploit.

They don’t sell education, they sell certainty. This is why they often can become very successful - even with little riding education and experience of their own going unnoticed.

The horse world can feel confusing and divided. Every clinician seems to have their own “method,” every social media expert their own jargon. People who care deeply about their horses — often those who feel overlooked or dismissed by mainstream trainers or professionals — are drawn to anyone who speaks with confidence.

Manipulative figures understand this psychology. They speak in absolutes:
“Traditional methods have failed you, but this is the missing link.”

For someone feeling lost, those words land like a lifeline. The message is intoxicating: You haven’t been wrong; you’ve just been excluded from the truth.

How Manipulative Tactics Work

These figures use a familiar playbook:

Overpromising: They frame soundness, confidence, or connection as guaranteed outcomes of their system — things that can be “restored” or “reprogrammed.” All you have to do is follow the system.

Pseudo-science & mystique: They use technical or spiritual language without ever offering transparent evidence. The vagueness creates the illusion of depth.

Authority branding: They position themselves as a hybrid of healer, scientist, and visionary. Their titles and certifications, often self-invented, lend the aura of legitimacy.

Manufactured exclusivity: They create tiers — certifications, “inner circles.” Each level promises the next revelation. The follower is kept forever almost there.

Isolation from outside influence: Mainstream professionals — vets, farriers, other trainers — are subtly (or overtly) undermined. If you question the method, you “don’t get it.” If your horse doesn’t improve, it’s because you did it wrong.

Emotional bonding: These figures often project empathy and spirituality. They tell heartfelt stories of redemption and struggle, positioning themselves as both savior and fellow sufferer. It builds trust — but also dependency.

The people most often pulled into these systems are not naïve. They’re conscientious, introspective horse owners — usually women — who are trying to bridge the gap between traditional horsemanship and a more ethical approach. Many have been dismissed or patronized by professionals, leaving them hungry for belonging and validation.

That loneliness becomes fertile ground for manipulation. When someone finally tells you that your compassion and intuition are right, it’s deeply affirming.

The tragedy is that these manipulative programs rarely deliver lasting results. Horses remain sore, unbalanced, or confused, while owners are told they must invest in yet another level of training, another course, or more expensive offering.

Meanwhile, genuine experts — veterinarians, physical therapists, and experienced, educated trainers — are painted as closed-minded or “stuck in old paradigms.” The industry fractures further, and the people who wanted to help their horses most are left questioning their instincts and bank accounts.

The antidote isn’t cynicism — it’s critical thinking paired with compassion. Horse owners deserve to feel empowered, not ashamed. You can protect yourself from manipulative tactics by asking a few simple questions:

Where is the independent evidence?

What happens if this doesn’t work?

Are the claims specific and measurable, or vague and mystical?

Do they encourage you to consult other professionals, or to rely only on them?

Does the message make you feel afraid, guilty, or inadequate without their guidance?

A good education gives you the tools to think for yourself.

Helping your horse should not mean surrendering your judgment. Real horsemanship — the kind rooted in empathy and awareness — thrives on humility and questioning. It acknowledges that no one person, no single system, has all the answers.

The true path to soundness, both physical and moral, lies not in secret methods but in curiosity, collaboration, and the courage to remain uncertain.

Photo by Caitlin Hatch

09/10/2025

Those who lead people by following the Tao
don’t try to force issues,

For every force, there is a counterforce.

The Master does his job
and then stops.

He understands that the universe
is forever out of his control,

and that trying to dominate events

goes against the current of the Tao.

Because he believes in himself,

he doesn’t try to convince others.

Because he is content with himself,

he doesn’t need others’ approval.

Because he accepts himself,

the whole world accepts him.

Verse 30 (abridged ) -Tao Te Ching

Photo by Jasmine Cope

09/10/2025

08/10/2025

the punitive leg -

a horse is not born understanding a leg aid. Anyone who's ridden green or young horses can attest to some actually balking, slowing down or even backing up from the leg. It is a concept that has to be taught to the horse.

We teach the horse how to go forward when we are up on their backs with assistance from the leg. There are, of course many types of leg aids to give, and each discipline has different leg aids to teach. Even between people within the same discipline, there will be variations of how a leg aid is applied and how a horse is expected to respond to it.

Within most of these is some degree of incongruence between weight aids/sensory input to the horse and leg. In other words, we are giving one input with our weight and body and another with the leg - the horse can figure this discrepancy out through repetition and release or reward, but ideally the weight and leg are saying the same thing.

Ideally, when we use the leg, we don't block the hip or push the horse in the opposite direction we are requesting, and so on. A centered seat teaches the horse the leg is an extension of the seat - this is the best case scenario for a horse.

There are all kinds of bad legs to have as a rider: scrunchy, shovy, pinchy, squeezy, and so on. But the WORST leg there is to have is a punitive leg. This leg tells the horse the opposite of what the rider thinks they are telling the horse in every way, from emotional to physical -

The punitive leg is when the rider is frustrated with the horse's lack of response or motion and becomes a weapon. This is when the leg cracks, bangs, jerks, or attacks the horses side quickly, abruptly, and with force. I have heard riders be encouraged to "crack a rib" or "kick a fart out of one" before, encouraging riders to ride emotionally, punitively, and out of emotional and physical balance.

What does this teach the horse? Not going, that's for sure. Riders with these kinds of legs will find themselves perpetually threatening with their legs, and on horses who suck back frequently, catapult themselves forward after being attacked by the leg, and suck back again. You will not find freely forward with the punitive leg.

It teaches the horse:

-to protect their sides from random, impending onslaught of aids. To contract these muscles, tightening their backs, shoulders, and limiting breathing. If you've had someone punch you in the stomach, you get the idea - you can't have good range of motion like this, so it does not produce true forward, but it can get you a sq**rt forward temporarily.

-that the rider is emotionally driven, with untrustworthy aids.

-that the rider is tight and unmoving in their seat, with random and intense aids. The rider is behind the horse's movement and thinking in only noticing until it gets this far behind the leg, and does not follow forward motion when produced - therefore creating a sure bet at the horse sucking back soon enough in the future.

-to respond to the only greatest threat, and wait for that. It does not teach the horse lightness, or finding the rider's center or subtle aids - instead it teaches the horse, due to a cacophany of uncentered and unpredictable aids from the rider, to find the greatest threat to their safety and respond very quickly to that. It doesn't make the horse more sensitive because they miss or are unable to feel the other more important aids due to being in a state of self protection - they cue in more to the greatest threat, and less to the other aids.

If you find yourself on a not so forward horse, the most important thing to learn here is:

1- emotional control. It brings out frustrations, that is for certain. Every rider experiences these, but a good coach should be guiding a rider to empathy, self regulation and discipline, and developing skill sets - not attacking the horse with aids.

2- developing a steady rhythm and opening the body. A sticky horse is very closed. You open the horse through rhytmic movement, a following seat and open hip, and movements or figures that open the shoulders, back, and bring the hind legs through. A sticky horse is stuck on the front legs - we need the hind legs to generate power and take the hand brake off the front legs.

3- Learning to use the leg in good timing (not random timing) in coordination with the seat. The seat says forward, the hand opens the way, and the leg supports without blocking the hip.

A not forward horse is hard to do much with - but the rider carries a responsibility to check themselves before they wreck themselves, as I often lovingly say ;) It's the rider's job to educate themselves so they can educate the horse, and help the horse become forward, melting into the rider's aids through understanding.

Photo by Jessie Cardew of me doing the stanky leg

07/10/2025

Lameness vs compensation or stiffness - pain vs avoidance of new patterns?

Firstly before reading on, I am not a vet. I do not have a vet’s education and you should in no way replace veterinary investigation and support or advice with any thing i say.

But - a lot of times when people find their horse has some hitch in their get along, something has happened to their horse’s gait or normal responses to riding have changed, they fear pain and back off.

While we can never definitively say a horse is not in pain, there is a difference between pain and stiffness, uncertainty, or fear of changing a pattern.

And- even if there WAS pain and it is now treated, those patterns can still exist - leaving with us with a pain response and (assuming) no pain.

Quite often I help people and their horses through these spots, revealing a magically sound horse who was limping, balking, sucking back or unsteady in their gait just a few minutes or days ago-
It’s not magic, it’s mobility and movement patterns.

If the horse is actually lame - say a bone fracture - it will worsen with movement.

If the horse is STIFF or reserved in movement patterns, it should improve pretty soon with GOOD movement, not just moving around.

Where things get tricky is people often say the horse takes 15-20 mins to warm up and move out of it, and often these are sloppy or incorrect warm up patterns. We need to address range of motion, joint flexion, alignment, breathing, and of course most importantly help the horse feel safe in being in these.

To tie it together with a personal example: I found my knees and joints to be very sore and painful suddenly. I started a mobility training program and really disliked the first week of the work - but I was reminded if I feel stiff that is not the same as pain. I worked through it preserving correct range of motion over depth of squat or intensity and so on - two weeks later I already feel “sound” again.

Joints need to work through their correct range of motion, and when a horse hurts, they often protect themselves, often to their own detriment.

Don’t panic. Ride in rhythm - see what you get on the other end and re evaluate

06/10/2025

So honored and happy to have been able to be here with such a lovely crew!

06/10/2025

05/10/2025

Focus -

Many of us are happy to complain about our horse’s lack of focus. We want the horses full attention, but we often really have no idea just how scattered our own attention is!

We notice AFTER the horse does the wrong thing, but fail to have a clear picture in our minds of what we even wanted in the first place. Many riders chase down every little thing the horse does that we don’t like, but haven’t developed the personal discipline to know what we want and ride that in our bodies.

I often compare guiding the horse to singing next to someone who is off key. You have to essentially stick your fingers in your ears sometimes and sing the song as you know it goes, instead of following every mistake the off key singer does. We follow the off key singer’s tune into its highs and lows, and then try to pull the singer back to a tune we’ve gotten too far away from to recover - but the reality is, the horse can never know the tune if we can’t sing it ourselves.

Many of us getting lessons are unknowingly hooked on a steady diet of distractions - a stirrup problem, another horse too close, too hot, too cold, need a break, my horse is too close to the gate, and so on - and so progress , or even lining out a solid beginning is difficult or impossible because we cannot focus on the task or what we want for the duration of a session.

It’s pretty amazing to experience the distractions melt away, and the problems melt away, when we really focus on the ride - the horse no longer pulls to the gate, looks for his friends, veers in the corners and so on, because we are mentally present, and physically clear. Suddenly every little thing is no longer a problem because we are truly guiding.

It’s an incredible feeling to be in the “zone” with a horse and find them more than happy to be there with us.

So focus is truly a human issue, and rarely a horse’s. Horses like to be guided with peaceful clarity - but we have few experiences in our lives developing that, and so guiding with peaceful clarity is a weak muscle -

Just like any muscle, it becomes strengthened through repetition.

Set up your tack, clothes and environment, and then focus on the work.

Photo by Jade Premont

04/10/2025

There is an enormous connection between a person’s emotional state, how they feel about life and themselves, and how they ride.

When we get into the nitty gritty stuff- when I say I want you to open your chest, to breathe, to take up space, to be fully present, we get into the mud of the mind-

Why does the person shrink? Why do they avoid being in their own mind? Why do they tense, clench and grab?

There is far more behind these so called riding faults than just riding-
There is the perception of self and of life.

And this is where when I ask you to take up space in your own body and to be present in your own mind, you must find the courage to look inside and be who you were meant to be, not just to ride well, but to live a good life.

Obviously pics are not of riding but consider the emotional state and the accompanying posture

03/10/2025

Stuff can go wrong. Oh boy can it go wrong

If you’re around horses, it’s not a matter of if, but when.

But whether or not you learn from them, or become a victim of circumstance and chance is totally up to you.

The moments after a wreck or accident matter. Once you’ve all regrouped, attended to what needs attending to - injuries, repairs, some deep breathing - it’s time to take stock in what happened.

There are SOME freak accidents, but most could have prevented. Could’ve would’ve should’ve is actually helpful when trying to learn from a situation. At this point you have several options: let your pride and embarrassment swallow up any chances of learning and pretend it isn’t in any way your fault, or, become so engrossed in self blame that you are wallowing in pity to the point you can’t move on.

Being that neither one is super helpful, another option is:

Try to remember what happened.
What went wrong? Can you pinpoint an actual moment? Was there a judgement call made that turned out to not be right?

Were there skill sets missing on your part or the horses or those around you?
Were emotions involved? Time constraints? Social pressures?

What regrets do you now have that can help move you forward in a positive direction?

I find guilt to not be super productive because of its close association with shame - but some amount allows us to look accurately at what needs to change.

To err is human, to forgive divine -
But forgiving ourselves, I believe, means learning from the mistake so we can prevent it from happening again.

And if possible, make amends with those we failed. Ignorance harms many horses - we can’t avoid making mistakes from ignorance. But we can help those we have from our learning or pay it forward.

My path to education is littered with mistakes. Many very, very preventable that I now can help guide people to avoid. I owe a lot of horses many apologies for my ignorance and sometimes emotional interferences - and I try my best to now pay that forward. I’m sure there will be more, but each time I learn better how to accept my mistake without deflecting blame and trying to make up for it.

It can be pretty hard to be human sometimes. Horses are masters at teaching us how to be the best humans we can be.

Here’s me getting very lucky and learning from one such mistake