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Re: [RC] How do I find a good horse personality/breed fit - Rae CallawayKind of reminds me of a horse I sold a while back. He was a 14.3h gelding that was a bit short coupled and as I'm long bodied, every sudden movement of his made me feel like I was catapulting over his neck. He was a total sweetheart and quite the character. A lady came out to see him and try him out and she commented that one of the things she was specifically looking for was a horse she could connect to or that had the ability to make a connection with a person. She didn't see that in this gelding and mentioned that she could see the connection I had with my mare, Scarlet, but nothing with this gelding. Well, I loved that gelding, but she was right, we didn't have that same connection. Mostly, I felt, was because I didn't ride him much - always let other
people ride him (especially my nephew). I did feel that he was a horse that could connect if he had a person of his own. She bought him and took him across the country. It was 2 years later that I happened to be in that area and went to visit. Ha. The gelding had grown to just over 15h and the lady, who specifically wanted the shorter horse, said if she hadn't have totally fallen in love with him, she would have been upset about the growing! They definitely had a connection and I could tell that the gelding was happy with his new person and home.
Rae
Tall C Arabians - Central
(home of the sloooooow growing Arabs. Don't count on full height until they turn 7 - trust me!)
----- Original Message ---- From: Janice Taylor <janusstudio@xxxxxxxxx> To: Adamsch <adamsch@xxxxxxxxxx> Cc: ridecamp posts <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, October 9, 2008 8:25:45 AM Subject: Re: [RC] How do I find a good horse personality/breed fit Hi Faith,
I think we just 'click' with certain horses more than others. Just like we do with other people.
I've had Arabs all my adult life (near to 40 years)...whoa, where did the time go... But, I bought a Paint horse for my old age riding endeavors, (ha, ha) some ten years ago. My relationship with this horse was very trying indeed... it was like getting a different species rather than a different breed. We eventually worked out a compromise, which I had to regularly re-establish with more firmness than I ever had to do with my Arabs. When I asked him to do something he didn't want to do, he would say "Make me!"
I also had a Quarter horse/Arab cross that was a great personallity, but a real stinker. Then finally back to the purebred Arabs. The Arabs are so much more sensitive to work with, and way more fun to play with. With them you merely have to think what you want and they say "OK, I'll try!"
A funny: When I first started to ride Noways, a purebred arab that I ride now. We were going over some techi stuff and he then wanted to rush over it to catch up to his buddy, not listening to me, and being a bit silly. So I smacked him on the neck with the flat of my hand, which is what I had to do to the Q/Arab cross to get his attention... Poor Noways nearly jumped off the trail when I connected with him.... I had to appoligize for the next several miles...and remember to use a gentler approach to reprimend his mistakes.
I'm not saying you can't get that kind of relationship with other breeds, but for me it has always been the Arabs that want to crawl into your tent...
Janice
On 10/8/08, Adamsch <adamsch@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
My "Anglo" (breeding unclear but I was told he was Arab/thoroughbred when I bought him 12 years ago as my first horse) is getting older and I need to be thinking about retiring. We just discovered LD's this year and he loves it but we have had some issues and I am not wanting to "blow out his legs". -- www.janusstudio.com
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