Horses and people: personality types and ways of interacting. Part 1. Horses

Horses and people: personality types and ways of interaction. Part 1. Horses

For many years I have been interested in questions about horse personality types, their characters and temperament. I believe that every equestrian is interested in them in one way or another. We constantly describe our horse’s personality without even realizing it, saying “My horse doesn’t get along well with other horses”, “My horse is afraid of everything new”, “My horse doesn’t pay attention to me”, etc. Our comments and observations are key in defining and understanding the behavior of any horse. Generalization of observations can lead us to a more effective way of interacting with a horse, taking into account his temperament.

In this and my next articles, I would like to share with readers knowledge that could help them better understand horses, themselves and other equestrians. I will talk about the personality types of horses and people who communicate with horses, how to better and easier cooperate with each other.

Understanding your horse’s personality, combined with knowledge of your own temperament and skill level, will help you optimize your training program and improve communication with your horse.

Four main personality types

I am convinced that assessing the temperament of a horse that you already own or plan to acquire is no less important than assessing its origin, conformation and gaits. Knowledge about the horse’s personality type can help you understand the motives of his behavior, perceptions of comfortable / uncomfortable, which later will allow you to adjust the training system. Of course, the study of the personality of the horse is carried out “in addition to”, and not “in place of” other aspects that are important in the education of horses. It is just “another” tool that can lead us to better understand and interact with horses.

In my opinion, there are four main distinct personality types. I have defined them as “social”, “shy”, “aloof” and “difficult”.

social horse quite interactive and interested in the outside world.

Social horses can be called “official delegates” from the equine world. Even as foals, horses of this type usually like to be caressed and stroked. Throughout their lives, they enjoy playing with other horses. It can be said that social horses do not mind (and even rejoice) when you invade their personal space. With the same pleasure they will invade yours.

Social horses can be inattentive when young because they are too interested in the world around them. In general, social horses (especially the more passive ones) can be a great option to own and train. Horses of this type are usually more tolerant of mistreatment than other types.

shy horses much more cautious than their social counterparts, especially when young.

They often need more personal space and may panic when they are restricted. Horses of this type usually do not have a easy time in unexpected/new situations or places, often have stronger, faster or more reflexive responses to stimuli or controls and can be described as excessively hot. These are “flight” horses, not “fight” horses. Usually their self-confidence depends on the confidence of the person or other horse that is next to them. Trained shy horses usually put in a lot of effort at work and are often very focused and focused.

alienated horse can’t be called interactive. She seems to be in her own little world and often seems independent of people and horses. She may show a delayed or unexpressed response to stimuli or controls. Such a horse is usually more tolerant than happy when his personal space is invaded.

During training, the alienated horse must learn to interact with the person and focus on the training. Horses of this type often deliberately ignore all forms of stimuli. Owners of alienated horses often notice a rather wistful or distant look in their gaze. An aloof horse tolerates mistreatment better than a shy or difficult horse.

У difficult horse self-respect is pronounced, and she (especially when she is young or not jaded) can appear proud or arrogant.

Such a horse usually guards its personal space and territory and often shows resistance to controls and stimuli of any form. Often self-confident, the difficult horse is prone to contradiction and may “test” timid or inexperienced riders, and therefore needs constant reminder of his social place in the “horse/man” herd. A horse of a complex type is usually at the top of the hierarchical pyramid of the herd and can quickly begin to “forget” if given such a chance. A horse of a complex type is often strong, brave and has a certain charisma.

Some horses show noticeable traits that are common to two different personality types. There may be many options. Remember that regardless of the horse’s temperament, you are always dealing with his behavior in the end. If the horse has its head in the clouds, you will need to get its attention; if it resists, establish its leadership; if she is worried and distrustful, reassure her. The main thing is to pay attention to your horse and what he wants to show us.

Passive-aggressive factor within each personality type

In addition to knowing the individual type of horse, it is important to understand the passive-aggressive variations of each type. While humans are commonly referred to as either introverts or extroverts, the closest similar description for horses is passive or aggressive. You can evaluate each horse’s “personality” on a peculiar scale. I think of it as a scale from 1 to 10, where a very passive horse is a 1 and a very aggressive horse is a 10. Most horses fall somewhere between those numbers.

The behavior of horses is in the range from 5 to 7. For the social – energetic, interested; for the fearful – sudden reactions, on guard; alienated – inattention, a horse in his own world, for a complex one – the boss, likes to argue.

To make this concept more clear, I will give a few examples.

A passively shy horse is security sensitive, but its reactions are not as impulsive as those of an aggressively shy horse that is afraid of any shadow.

A passively difficult horse may plug his ears and resent the message. But its behavior will be different from that of an aggressively difficult horse that visibly resists and threatens.

A passively aloof horse may be a bit slow or dull in responding to messages, while an aggressively aloof horse will be quite open about ignoring you and getting distracted by everything.

Passively social horses are “peacefully” interested in their surroundings, but aggressively social horses are usually noisy and cheerful, very annoying, interested in everything in the world – every bush attracts their attention.

Combining what has been said

Here is an example of how all this information can be used. When a horse is brought to me for training, I spend some time with it to assess its personality type and look for training problems. Often I put a horse in a barrel and observe its behavior in the wild. If a horse immediately comes up to me and shows interest, looking for interaction, then I conclude that his type is social. If he is lethargic and anxious, or starts to thrash about frantically, I assume that he is running into a shy horse. If she’s goaty, pushing back, or showing other signs of threatening behavior, we can tentatively conclude that she’s complex. If the horse does not show much interest in any interactions or in the environment, it can be said that he is aloof.

Then I apply a little pressure. You can send the horse out a bit and see how it reacts, make a sudden or threatening move to see what happens. As a result, most often within 5-10 minutes I get an idea of ​​who I’m dealing with and where this horse “is” on the passive/aggressive (P/A) scale.

The horse is then assessed under saddle (if it is broken) to determine if there are any learning problems, but thanks to the initial assessment, I already know which type I will be working with.

When I can say with confidence what type of temperament a horse has, I instruct those who will work with the horse in the future on how best to behave with it.

Social horses are usually easy to handle. The main thing is to try not to spoil them.

Shy horses need patience, consistency, slowness and routine. It is desirable that the people working with them change as little as possible.

With an alienated horse, you need to communicate as much as possible. She needs extra attention until you see that the horse is more often “with you” than in his world.

With a difficult horse, you need to observe goodwill, while not showing weakness. These horses are usually assigned to one person who is not easily frightened and who will pay attention to any minor infractions that indicate that the horse is about to “go beyond the limits of propriety”.

Our goal is to interact with each horse according to their personality type. We must teach her to relax, obey and cooperate everywhere – in the stable, lunging, while loading into a horse carrier, playing at a tournament, etc.

Determine the type of horse

By reading the beginning of this article, you may have already begun to recognize your horse’s type. But in order to objectively evaluate it, you will need to carefully observe its behavior, and then correctly classify the information collected.

Sit close to the stall so that the horse does not see you. Start judging the horse in the stable and then watch it in the paddock. See how she behaves with other horses. Ask someone the horse doesn’t know to pick it up and run it, clean it – see how it reacts. Then take the horse to an unfamiliar environment and pay attention to its behavior.

You are looking for an interaction that is unique to each of the four personality types. So, for example, a well-trained, moderately difficult horse can be very obedient and respond quickly to your commands when you work with him at the point of sale. However, when that same horse enters a new environment and starts pushing boundaries (because difficult horses tend to do this), he may develop several different behaviors if you don’t handle him properly. A horse that you initially described as “very obedient” may begin to test your leadership.

By observing, study behavior without trying to justify it. Imagine the following situation. The horse you are about to buy has been led out into the corridor of the stable. The groom who brought her out constantly reassures her, as she looks very nervous. At this point, the term “moderately shy” should already be flashing in your head. You ask how long this horse lived in the stable, and they answer you – three months. This horse should have settled in by now, unless, of course, it was mistreated. However, you should still characterize her as shy and give her a 6-7 on the passive/aggressive scale until you get more information.

When someone noisily enters the stable, the horse becomes frightened and stares at the new person (still signs of a shy horse behavior). Konovod informs you that “Sparky” loves to look at something new. But “look” implies that the horse is interested, and in this case, his behavior is more like anxiety or fear. Keep watching the horse.

You ask if she walks in the field or in the levade. The groom says “Yes” and informs you that this horse is very attached to his friend, named “Raindrop”, and always goes out with him. You are asking to be released alone. Released in the levada, “Sparky” desperately runs along the fence, calling for her friend. She doesn’t calm down. This horse is shy, and his F/A score potentially rises to 8. At this point, you must decide if you are professional, patient, and motivated enough to successfully work with such a horse. Remember that you haven’t even seen this horse under the hood yet. She can have great gaits, and she can be well ridden, but if she behaves like that at home, then imagine what will happen if you move her to your place, go with her to a seminar or to a tournament? If you don’t have the skills to help calm this horse down, think twice before getting one…

So, now that you can determine what type of personality your horse has, you can better understand how to work with him. But what if your horse is showing signs of two types? The best way to describe mixed types is to give examples. Below I will talk about some horses with a mixed personality type and how their personality types were reflected in training.

Mixed personality types

Many horses seem to combine Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They can behave in a certain way at home, in a work environment, and completely change in tournaments, during stressful situations, or with a simple change in familiar circumstances.

Thus, an alienated horse may work slowly and respond slowly to your aids. If you raise the bar by increasing the intensity of your messages, she will finally shake herself up and respond. However, if this horse is aloof, shy, it may seem uncaring in its normal environment, but if something extraordinary happens, it will start to panic, try to run away from under you. Her indifference will change to nervousness depending on the situation or circumstances. At the same time, the aloof-social horse may begin to interact with you better and show interest if you strengthen the messages. An aloof complex horse may try to withdraw into himself, but when you finally get through to him, he will begin to argue and try to test your leadership for strength.

I want to talk about an eight-year-old Swedish warmblood mare who was in my work. She was fearful-social, 4 on the F/A scale. Because of the “social” component, it was easier for the mare to start working than for other shy horses. We took our time and showed patience, starting training in a barrel, and the mare became easier and easier to calm down. She was interested in and somewhat dependent on her relationship with my student Sue and my daughter Cassie, who spent a lot of time with her from the start.

When it came time to take the mare to the tournament to experience the atmosphere of the battlefield with her, I took Cassie with us because she is balanced in the saddle and never let the horse’s fears become her own. She calmed the mare in a new place, and she soon realized that her “friend” was with her and could support her. Cassie was careful not to show emotion, even when the mare jumped to the side and was frightened of the horsemen. She just calmed down and calmed the horse until it completely relaxed. In the end, as a couple, they started successfully throughout the season, and the mare became more and more confident.

The situation was different with another of my students, Endel, and his nine-year-old Dutch warm-blooded gelding Picasso, fearfully complex, 4 points on the P/A scale. Picasso was also frightened in the new environment, but often, instead of calming down, he suddenly switched defensive maneuvers to offensive ones.

Endel had to pay close attention to the behavior of the horse and act accordingly to the type of personality that was manifesting at a particular moment. If Picasso was frightened, then Endel softened the reins and tried to perform a soft shoulder forward to distract the horse from anxiety. Sometimes this worked, but if Picasso began to resist the controls by flattening his ears, goat or jumping, Endel also needed to change his tactics. He needed to get the horse to respond, even with a sharp half-halt or whip. Once Endel was reinforcing the response, I asked him to passively ride a few paces to calm the horse. This strategy has worked, however, many riders in such situations do not give messages at the right time or become afraid themselves. That is why Picasso was not suitable for an amateur without a certain level of confidence and riding skills. Now they are working together with Endel to reach the top level.

A non-standard example of a personality type was the Dutch stallion Liberty, a social horse without any discernible behavioral signs of any other type. He started his second Grand Prix season. Normally stallions are higher on the F/A scale than geldings due to hormone levels, but even as a stallion, Liberty only reached level two.

In the beginning, my husband Kim, a very methodical coach, gave the Liberty enough time to settle in and learn all the “lessons” that took him to the Grand Prix level. Liberty was always calm, confident enough and was always “with the rider” during training. He was interested in those around him, was rarely absent-minded, was very forgiving and patient, and loved attention. In the summer, Cassie swam with him in the pond, and my second daughter, Jessie, could lie down next to him while he napped. His only mistake was that he wanted to be lazy. But he couldn’t afford it. Liberty and I traveled around the country with performances – neither the audience, nor the spotlights, nor the loud applause bothered him.

We have found that a horse’s personality is determined even before weaning. If we can properly care for and interact with a horse from birth, then this will positively influence how he perceives the training program. A “spoiled” horse has a better chance of “correcting” if the person who works with it not only has good riding skills and is a competent trainer, but also understands its temperament.

How to praise horses with different temperament types?

Rewards are important in any training program. Some use treats, some use verbal praise, some remove negative stimuli as soon as the horse responds correctly. Any reward is good as long as the horse understands what it was for (the horse behaved appropriately and was rewarded).

It may seem strange, but how best to praise a particular horse is directly related to his personality type. So, a shy horse can be happy when he is stroked and told how good he is. And it will be a burden for the alienated horse (her reward is the removal of requirements, she wants to be alone with her thoughts). For aloof horses, any interaction is work in itself. Social horses love a pat and a chance to look around. Difficult horses love to “argue,” but since we don’t need to, getting and rewarding the right answer requires you to be careful. As a reward, give the difficult horse a hard scratch or a loud pat on the neck. In some cases, it will be good to let her stop and look around, look at those who are working around.

I have a Friesian stallion – “social”, 8 points on the F / A scale. When we have a break in work, I let him walk on a free rein and call to other horses, tell them how good he is. I let him interact with the horses until I take the reins back into my own hands. When it’s time to work, he has to focus on me again. All of our horses must eventually behave according to certain standards of behavior, and understanding their temperament can lead to a more successful partnership with them.

There is much to talk about horse personality types and how best to use this information, but I hope you have read enough to try and incorporate “understanding personality type” into your training program.

Next, we’ll talk about rider personality types and how getting to know them can improve relationships with people and horses. We will discuss how to find the right horse for your type, as well as the right trainer for you.

As you observe your horse’s behavior, determine his personality type and consider how this new understanding may affect your future training.

Read more.

Yvonne Barto. Transfer Valeria Smirnova based on site materials https://dressagetoday.com.