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[RC] horse personalities - Charlesey CharltonIn response to the horse personality posts, I decided to tell everyone about my first horse and how her personality changed me. My first horse was given to me when I was 10 years old. She was an 18 year old Tenn. Walking mare (18 seems to be a reasonable age for a child's horse)...I was raised on a working cattle/tobacco farm in E. TN, needless to say there was NO lessons or helmets! My parents handed me the horse and said - "You wanted one, there you go, have fun, and if you don't care for her and ride her, then we will sell her." That's all it took! I was determined to ride her. To catch this mare I would spend 2-3 hours chasing her in a 30 acre pasture, then once I caught her and saddled her up she would then run off with me at top speed! She was so dominate! But after being ran off with a thousand times and and bullied more times than I can count I learned as a child to preserver and 10 years later when we had to put the old girl down....I cried for her and mourned the loss of a great companion and yes, friend. That mare was mean and stubborn but she was my greatest comfort and gave me plenty of life lessons in "taking the bull by the horns" so to speak....I still tear up if I think too much about her (I'm 30 now)... Countless horses later, my first will always be the one who in my mind taught me the most. And though if I ever have children I don't think I would buy a horse like that for them, I am grateful for my parents for buying the mare, her strong personality taught me how to be the strong willed and determined individual I am today... Charlesey Charlton Sun Set View Farm Registered Gelbvieh Cattle http://sunsetviewfarm.blogspot.com/ From: Michelle Aquilino <michelle.antoinette@xxxxxxxxx> To: ridecamp <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 10:52:50 AM Subject: [RC] re: horse personalities I don't think I read the original post for this, but one of the responses sparked something in me. Upon reading (what I think is) the original post, I found the originator: "We want to be paired with a horse whose natural behavior patterns allow us to stay within our own natural comfort zones as much as possible".
I would comment on this, in that depends on how much you want to learn and grow from your horse. When I was looking for my first horse, I knew nothing else other than "I want a horse I feel safe riding out on the trail alone with". If I had delved further into my own personality and what horse personality would best mesh with my own, I would have NEVER gotten the horse I ended up with, lol. We've had our ups and downs, but we're bonded now, she (mostly) understands me, I (mostly, ha ha) understand her, I love her to pieces, and I can't imagine myself with any other.
There is a difference between being pushed out of your "natural comfort zone" (ie with me - needing to learn to be more dominant, the alpha mare, which I am not "naturally") and being pushed out of the "safety comfort zone" (ie with me - needing a solid horse, with whom I can feel safe out on the trail alone).
Finding Love, your (horse) "soul mate", is not formulaic, just as it isn't in the people world. There is no one answer. I just know that (knowing me and my "natural" personality) I would have never predicted myself to be where I am now with the horse I ended up with.
On the other side of this thread, I do believe that it's very important to understand your horse's personality, in an effort to better understand the best ways to teach him or her. But in my experience, their personality is better understood through time and experience than necessarily in a book. Just like with people, I wouldn't expect to go through one experience with them, and be able to draw a diagram of where their personality lies, and thus instantly know how to deal with them in every circumstance.
But eh, that's me and my horse and my experiences with her =)
-- "Don't breed or buy while shelter animals die"
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