Heart in Your Hand Horsemanship LLC

Heart in Your Hand Horsemanship LLC

with Sherry Jarvis

Way more than riding lessons. Become a better horseman.

Class Descriptions

Clinic or Workshops

Private Lessons

Women Horsemanship Camps

Youth and Youth/Parent Camps

Trail Ride/Family Horse Camps

Young Horse Development Classes

Apprentice Program

Success Journey

Articles of Interest

Serving Horse Lovers Since 2003

Sherry on Sorry a foggy morning ride at home. Photo taken by Jane Perez

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Services

Class Descriptions

Uncover the Joys of Horsemanship
By turning to our expert instructor Sherry Jarvis

TYPES OF LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Where you develop even more

Loyalty
Trust and Respect
Willingness
Responsiveness
Obedience
Precision
Exuberance

with your horse!

NEW On-Line Study Course for 2012

Starts Jan 9 through March 30 in 4 week sessions.

Session One Jan 9-Feb 3; Session Two Feb 6-March 2; Session Three March 5-30th.

Participate in one live evening chat session every week

Access to the chat group to ask questions and have discussions 24/7.

Develop better feel, trust, and respect with your horse.

Send in one video each week for evaluation by Sherry and the group

Share student videos and one video from Sherry with her horses each week.

Return to watch each session again.

Download written material with instructions.

NEW CAMPS ADDED IN 2011 will continue in 2012

Horsemanship & Trail Obstacles Camp: This NEW camp will include groundwork, despooking, horsemanship skills, and a variety of trail obstacles and fun trail rides. A friendly competition for extra motivation.

Trail Ride Camp: Information Packet: Similar to the Family Trail Ride Camps, this NEW camp is for people who are not interested in lessons, they just want a really cool place to trail ride. We provide the lodging for both horses and humans, the land to ride on, lease horse if needed, and the wrangler to guide you. Bring the whole family or a group of your friends. Space limited to small groups of 6-8.

Spirit Horse Retreat Camp: Information packet: This NEW camp is for those who want to grow spiritually and they love horses. I have found that horses can teach us so much about ourselves and our relationships. They are like mirrors with hair on them, they can teach us many truths about life. Round pen, ground work exercises, riding tasks, mixed with free times of reflection, plus guided discussions & bible study will round out your day. Bring your own horse or lease one of ours if you don't have one. (This camp is a free will donation for the instructional part of the camp only, and part of the proceeds will be donated to either HETRA or NE Humane Society Equine Program, however the lodging, meals, and horse pens are the same cost as our regular camps.)

Yoga for Riders Camp: Information packet:This NEW camp is for those who want to develop their physical abilities as a rider. We will be doing yoga class every morning for our own bodies. Then we will be doing stretching exercises for your horse to improve his suppleness, and then we will be transferring the yoga exercises to riding. You will go away more physically fit, a plan to continue it, and a more balanced rider.

Body, Mind, and Spirit Camp: This NEW camp is a combination of the Spirit Horse Retreat and Yoga for Riders Camp with common sense horsemanship skills which will keep you progressing. We will start the day with Yoga exercises (Body), work the common sense horsemanship skills in the middle of the day(MIND), and end the day with Bible Study (Spirit).

General Camp Information packet

Private or Semi-Private Lessons

	2-hour minimum lessons for 1-3 people;designed to meet your individual needs. Monthly in Omaha and Lincoln, anytime at Burwell. Available at other locations upon request. NOTE: For lessons and clinics more time or a lesson horse are available upon request. Arena and stall fees may be extra. No meals or lodging included in any of the clinics or classes. However these things are included in the camps near Burwell, NE

Mini clinics/Small Group Lessons

	2-4 hour minimum lessons; for 3-6 people; Concentrate on a theme. The lesson is formulated depending on who shows up, what experience levels, and the needs of the horses. We ask the participants "What do you want to work on?" Everyone tells what they want to work on, and we all work on those things. FREE Trail Rides are included when located at Burwell. Available at other locations upon request.

1, 2, or 3 Day Clinics

	8 hours of instruction for 7-12 people. Everyone does similar activities together. Ground activities in the morning. Riding in the afternoon. Also Classroom instruction without the horses. NOTE: Any location upon request. Locations outside of NE require extra travel expense fees. Be a Host for a clinic and Ride for FREE

Women Leadership Camps

	A Camp where women come together to saturate themselves in the horse experience and learn how to be the confident leader their horse needs them to be. 12 participants maximum. Note: All Camps located near Burwell, NE at Calamus Outfitters a working cattle ranch. Camps run May through Oct. Meals, lodging and pen fees included.

Youth Horsemanship Camps

	A Camp for youth from 12-18 where they will learn to improved their communication skills so they have even better success with their horse. 8 participants maximum

Youth/Parent Horsemanship Camps

	A Camp where a parent can come and learn right along with their child how to handle horses with safety and effectiveness. This camp is for youth under 13 yrs. old. 12 participants maximum.

Trail Ride Camps for the Whole Family

	This camp is for the whole family to enjoy the horse experience and learn together how to be savvy horsemen. You can bring your own horses or lease ours. 12,000 acres of land to trail ride on in the beautiful sand hills of central NE.

Apprentice Program

	Individual or small group apprentice programs which last 2-6 weeks (or more upon approval) where you can have a chance to bring your own horse, start young horses, or work with problem horses, and learn about being an instructor.

More Learning Experience Descriptions:

The Success Journey: Phone Consultations and Video Evaluations with Sherry
THE MISSION: To help people Live and Achieve their DREAMS across the miles.
There are several packages to choose from with the focus to improve your horsemanship.
This program can help fight rising fuel costs while still get quality instruction to guide you toward success on the journey. THE SUCCESS JOURNEY is a personalized instruction and training program which can reach across the miles by using your phone, video camera, computer, and the old fashion paper and pencil.

Horsemanship Demonstrations: Perfect for a saddle club or 4-H group that want to learn by watching and listening to find out what natural horsemanship is all about. We can either provide horses, or use a difficult horse from the group.

The demonstrations would include showing a picture of the progression from lead rope to playing at liberty with your horse. It will also include a bridle less bareback riding demonstration to music. The Cherokee bridle, stick and snaffle bit may also be used to show the many different ways that we can direct our horse through focus, feel, timing, and balance.

We may also include a demonstration with a horse that does not belong to us. This horse may be one that someone wants us to help improve specific things, or one who has not been exposed to natural horsemanship principles. It is a truly amazing experience to watch someone else work with your horse. So if you would like to see your horse from another perspective, this would be for you. This should not be an extremely difficult horse, because of the time it takes to help a horse like this would be to limited.

The demonstrator will make comments about why and how they are doing certain things throughout the demonstration. There will be specific times set aside for question and answers to keep the flow going. These demonstrations are a cost effective way to introduce horse lovers to natural horsemanship ideas which can lead to a safer and more enjoyable relationship with your horse.
They are also inspirational and educational. Perfect for Expos, Rodeos, fairs, saddle clubs, etc.

Inspiration and Motivational Presentations: Sherry will present an inspirational talk about, motivation, success, setting goals and reaching them. Other topics include communication, listening, stress or conflict management, self-confidence, discovering Leadership qualities, overcoming fears, loving horses, and restoring the horse dream.
Also information on equine psychology and how we can relate it to our daily lives.

Tournament Games: A friendly competition for up to 20 people. About 3-4 hours long.
We will divide the group into teams of 3 or 4 members. We will have an obstacle course both on the ground and while riding to maneuver in, through, around, and over. There will be a point system according to the each obstacle and the way you approach it and there will also be a time limit to complete the tasks. There will be judges at each obstacle to keep track of the points. The team with the most points will then have a play-off to determine the overall high point person that will receive a prize. Instruction is not included this is for fun. No stalls, meals or lodging included.

12 DIFFERENT HORSEMANSHIP CLASSES

Some classes require previous clinics or experience.
I'm sure that we have a class for you!
If we don't, we will create one!

Please preregister for clinics as soon as possible,

as they are filled on a first come first serve basis.

Deposits are required to reserve a spot.

#1 EQUINE BEHAVIOR & COORDINATION EXERCISES These classes are sometimes available at community colleges and through local adult education courses. Or you can host one at your house with friends	This is a classroom study of horse psychology and behavior through lecture, discussion, brainstorming, question/answer sessions, group hands-on activities, games, visual aides,stories, poetry, and physical exercises. No horse is required. A 2-4 hour classroom session where you learn more about horse intelligence, natural instincts, emotions, and how they affect your relationship with your horse. Simulation activities for better feel. Exercises to develop stronger core and balance for better riding. Exercises will be experienced to help improve coordination required to have effective body language so that you can communicate better with your horse. Rope, stick, and string handling practice as well as knot tying will help you develop accuracy when asking your horse to perform certain tasks. We will also train our whole body for riding which will help you direct your horse and do transitions with less resistance.
#2 CREATIVE PLAYING ON THE GROUND FOR TRUST & RESPECT Equine behavior class recommended as pre-requisite but not required.	We will not be riding the horses, so the horse does not need to be broke in the traditional manner. Any age horse is fine that is at least one year old. No stallions please. Instruction and practice time of exercises that will develop feel of your horse, which will lead you both to more respect, trust, and confidence. You will discover ways to help your horse become more flexible, athletic, smarter, and braver. Desensitizing and sensitizing your horse will both be addressed as well as trailer loading, foot handling for trimming and last but not least worming. Finally, you will see how the fun and creative activities that you will play with your horse on the ground will transfer to improved riding maneuvers.
#3 COMBINATION GROUNDWORK & RIDING CLASS Class #1 and #2 are highly recommended but not required.	You should be able to ride the horse that you bring to this class at a walk and trot without huge difficulties. Age or breed is not an issue, but again no stallions please. The morning will be spent doing ground activities similar to those taught in Class #2 in order to reinforce, improve & refine the communication that you have with your horse. Some additional combinations and variations may be added according to the level of each individual student and their needs. The afternoon is the riding portion of the class. You will learn how to transfer things that you did on the ground to being mounted. We will help you feel with the horse; so that you can then help the horse feel with you. Some of the topics covered may include: saddle fit, saddling, mounting, dismounting, posture, balance, relaxation, independent seat, stopping, lateral moves, rein positions, and backing.
#4 FOCUS ON RIDING WITH REINFORCEMENT OF GROUNDWORK Class #3 is a pre-requisite. Class #1 and #2 are highly recommended.	Age and breed of horse is not important, however you must be able to ride your horse at a walk and trot on a loose rein with little resistance. It would be great if you can also canter or have at least tried it. All riding will be done in a rope halter. Please again, no stallions. We will begin with a quick review and evaluation of your ground skills before riding. Any horse that appears unsafe to ride will continue with groundwork until the horse is left brained. The better you do everything on the ground the better you will do things when you ride. I hope to not spend more than 1/3 of the time on this portion of the class. We hope that at least 2/3 of the class will be spent riding. The goal of this class is to help the riders achieve a more balanced seat with improved focus, feel and timing so that the horse is able to move with more freedom, balance and efficient gaits. We will also focus on directing the horse’s individual body parts, feeling the footfalls, transitions, and patterns. Through the study of body position we hope to improve posture and carriage of both the horse and rider. You will also learn what to do with your head, hands, legs, feet, and seat to communicate with subtly to your horse.
#5 ADVANCING RIDING SKILLS & REFINEMENT OF GROUNDWORK Class #3 and #4 are a pre-requisite. Class #1 and #2 are highly recommended.	You must be able to ride your horse confidently at a walk, trot and canter on the rail with few corrections on a loose rein and without resistance. You must be able to stop your horse lightly and quickly with one rein. You must be able to back your horse with no more than 4 oz of pressure at least 10 steps. You must be able to demonstrate a direct & indirect rein. We will be riding with sticks and also with a snaffle bit when the students and horses appear ready. While riding we will work on front end control, hindquarter control, side-pass, half-pass, two tracking, circling, stopping, backing, leads, flexion, bending, speeds within gaits, straightness, impulsion, and possibly collection. During the groundwork portion we will get more particular without getting critical about body position, distance, foot placement, phases, slack in rope, lightness, energy, and life. We will begin to expect more with less in preparation for liberty.
#6 BAREBACK RIDING & LIBERTY ON THE GROUND Class #2, #3 and #4 and #5 are prerequisites. Class #1 is highly recommended.	This class is designed for the most serious student who is dedicated to learning and doing the homework. It takes persistence, consistency, and perspiration to get to this level. However, it is available to anyone who is willing to take the time it takes. A halter, Cherokee bridle, sticks, or a combination will be used while bareback riding. Instruction on exercises to improve bareback riding will be given with plenty of time to practice. All of the maneuvers from classes #3, #4, and #5 will be applied. Liberty on the ground will be done in a small corral or round pen. It will begin with a demonstration by the instructor. Each student will be allowed to play at liberty with their horse both independently and with supervision and guidance as needed. This is more of a coaching session, because by the time you get to this level you shouldn’t need instruction as much as simply an observing eye to catch small things or to encourage you to further excellence. If you need a lot of instruction then quite possibly you are not ready for liberty. This is the ultimate truth test of your savvy and relationship.
#7 PROGRESS DAY You need to have taken at least one of the above classes with a horse in order to participate. You must have some specific goals to accomplish during the class.	This class is designed to focus on individual goals, problems or ruts that the students may be experiencing. Each person may be working on a different task according to individual need with guidance and coaching. Students will be asked to either share their goal or rut, or demonstrate their problem at the beginning of the class. The instructors and students will brainstorm together suggestions for improvement. The students will then be given time to test out the suggestions independently and with guidance and coaching. Then we will come back to discuss what happened during the practice times. Again we will brain storm more ideas. We will end by another demonstration by each student showing the progress that they have made.
#8 KIDS DAY All students must be under the age of 12. All kids 12 and over are welcome to participate in any of the other classes offered. We find that they do just fine, and often times better than the adults. They seem to be more natural.	A parent must remain at the facility during the entire class. The horse must be safe for the child to ride at a walk, trot, and canter. This class is very similar to the Combination Groundwork and Riding Class #3 except that there is less philosophical background and more games for kid competition. This class may also provide more breaks for shorter attention spans. We will also allow some free time to just ride, play, and experiment with their horses instead of all instruction so I don’t totally loose them.
#9 OVERCOMING FEARS No pre-required class	This class is geared for those who have certain fear issues that they would like to address. At least ½ of this class will be done in the classroom with lecture, question/answers, discussion, sharing, and problem solving. The other half of the class will be divided between groundwork and riding, depending on the needs of the class. A lesson horse will be utilized to fill in the gaps where people are lacking confidence; especially where riding balance is concerned. This class is also offered as a classroom session with no horses, taking a couple of hours. Basic safety skills for control are covered. You will learn what to do when things go wrong. Techniques will be employed to help you change emotions and relax, as well as how to judge the difference between dangerous behaviors or situations and perceived dangers. We will strive to help you regain your confidence in the horse experience one step at a time.
#10 YOUNG HORSE HANDLING CLASS And 30 Day Development After the class you can leave your horse with us to further his development or take him home if you would like to continue the work.	These session are long days because we will be dividing the class up so we don't over work the young horses by making them learn for long periods. Instead we will take turns and give the horses frequent short learning periods. Sessions will be from: 9:00-10:00 Introductions/classroom learning 10:00-12:00 First session 12:00-1:00 Lunch Break 1:00-3:00 Second Session 3:00-5:00 Third Session 5:00-6:00 Supper Break 6:00-8:00 Fourth Session 8:00-9:00 Reflections/Question Answers/ Evaluations We will focus on reading the horse, helping the young horse gain confidence in the environment, the handler and in himself, trust and respect on the ground, sensitizing and desensitizing exercises, cues we will use when riding, flexion, saddling, and possibly mounting bareback if the horse and rider are ready.
#11 LEARNING TOURNAMENT To participate you must have taken one or more of these classes (#2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #8) These are not the same as our study group play days which are more informal and FREE.	Anyone who wants to challenge what they have learned in a friendly competitive environment where they can learn, practice, and improve at the same time should take this class. This type of class may motivate and give us incentive to do our homework and keep progressing toward our goals. Plus we will learn from each other. Each person will go one at a time through a predetermined obstacle course, then we will discuss strategies and ways that we could use to improve lightness, accuracy, and speed while performing the task. We will then have a practice time to try to improve those things, followed by friendly competition if the time allows seeing how much we have progressed.
#12 TRAIL RIDE PREPARATION CLINIC	Bring your horse to expose him to all kinds of scary objects. Teach him how to manuever through, over, and under obstacles of all kinds with confidence. Learn the importance of and how to do the one rein emergency stop and how to teach your horse to spook in spot with the controlled catastrophy exercises. Learn how to be a sensitive and confident leader so your horse is more willing. Discover ways to keep your horse’s attention, help him be calm and brave, teach him new things, and become a part of you with effective communication which leads to even better performance.

****Any pre-requisites can be dismissed or waved through a live evaluation and assessment of the person’s skills and the horse’s responses.

The class pre-requisites are for student safety and continuity of the class.

****Classes can be modified to fit the needs of students accordingly.