ridecamp@endurance.net: Temperament

Temperament

Truman Prevatt (truman.prevatt@netsrq.com)
Fri, 14 Mar 1997 10:02:53 -0400

My wife's Aaaaarab, Jordy, is very quiet and calm - or so it seems. Since
Misty is laid up in foal, my A-rab Dan was not quite ready and Kathy was
lame, I rode Jordy at the Concerned Horseman ride in Jan. He walked up to
the starting line like a true gentleman, and trotted off nice and easy.
About 1/4 mile out he blew a gasket and preceeded to do unrequested buck
transitions from trot to a gallop for about the next five miles. Now I
don't mind hot energetic argumentative horse (I rode the bitch from hell
for a couple thousand miles), it is this perfect calm gentlemen act that
preceedes it that gets me. If a horse is going to be hot let them show it
with pride. At least with the prancing, snorting, galloping sideways you
know where you stand - there are not surprises!

All kidding aside a lot has been said about temperamet of this breed or
that breed, and some small stones thrown. After I finished my first 100
(the Far Out Forest some years ago), I was sitting in the predawn hours
chatting with Ken Anderson, the ride manager, and the good doctor Dane, the
head vet. I had been up for who knows how long but after my first 100, I
was so pumped that sleep was not possible. I was talking about all the
antics of Misty, the sore arms from holding her in, the gleeful buck during
the first part of rides, the inability to stand quietly without offering
her opinion, etc. Son one who just walked up asked why I rode that horse
if she were so bad. My answer was "I don't know I guess I just like that
horse." To this day Ken reminds me of that comment when I start to grouss
about the antics of my obnoxious mare.

I think that is probably how most of us feel, we just like our horses,
warts and all.

Truman

Who says "You can say anything you want about my spouse or my daughter, but
one bad word about my horse and you just got yourself a fight."

Truman Prevatt
Sarasota, FL

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