Training Tip: People for Horses

Some people and horse personalities just don’t mesh. There are probably people in your workplace that you just don’t get along with. There’s no specific reason why; your personalities just don’t click.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve met some horses that I didn’t like. Their personalities just rubbed me the wrong way. Could I train them? Yes, but I had to make myself like them. If you have to make yourself like a particular horse, it probably isn’t going to work out very well. Remember, horsemanship should be fun. You should look forward to going out to the barn to work with your horse and he should look forward to seeing you. If you don’t enjoy the time spent with your horse, chances are you won’t be as motivated to progress your horsemanship.

If you’re an A-type personality – you’re a real go-getter – you probably don’t want a hot-blooded horse. Your aggressiveness and the horse’s sensitivity and reactive nature would be a bad combination. It would be like a crack head riding a crack head.

If you’re a really passive, laid-back type of person – nothing really bothers you – you probably don’t want a cold-blooded horse. The two of you will be sleeping so much you’ll never get out of the barn.

Usually, passive, laid-back people get along great with hot-blooded horses because they balance each other out. If you’re a real go-getter you’ll probably get along a lot better with a cold-blooded horse because you’ll balance out his tendency to be lazy. Now I’m not saying that go-getters and hot-blooded horses and laid-back people and cold-blooded horses don’t always mix, I’m just giving you general guidelines I’ve found to be true throughout my career as a clinician.