Better Understanding Your Horse

By CJ Lledo

Ever wished someone would hand you the manual to your horse?
No, not the one that tells you how to look after it, although this one coves aspects of horse management as well, I’m talking about the one that explains to you just why your horse does the crazy unexpected things other peoples’ horses don’t seem to do...

Well if you have, then this is it!

Better Understanding Your Horse opens up the enigmatic world of horse personalities, how they govern horses’ responses to certain events and occurrences and how best to manage them.

This book not only decodes your horse’s unique personality, it will help you to understand your horse’s behavior, how to manage your horse, also how to achieve a more harmonious relationship with your horse, whether you’re handling, riding or training it.

Some of the things you will learn from this book:
•How to establish your horse’s personality, or that of horses in your care.
•How to determine which equestrian sports are suitable for your horse, its personality, conformation and capabilities.
•What horse personalities are prone to stable vices and their management.
•Your horse’s learning style.
•What boundaries you should apply to various horses.
•What types of personalities will take advantage of (or in some cases take over from) you.
•When is the best time and place to train your horse.
•How to distinguish a hot horse from a dangerous horse.
•When something is in line with your horse’s personality and when it is a sigh of trouble.

As owners, we can only strive to understand our horses better. By better understanding our horses, our riding, training and management of them becomes less stressful.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CJ Lledo
• Release date: Feb 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301438976

CJ Lledo

Having respectively worn the caps of groom, instructor, trainer, stud and stable manager: CJ started her career with horses at age nine, cleaning tack in lieu for pony rides. By age twelve, she worked as a part time groom for a riding school on weekends and holidays, and was fired from a dealing yard at age seventeen for advising clients not to buy a problem horse. She then worked herself into the position of assistant manager of a Quarter Horse stud by age nineteen: And at age twenty-four, was short-listed by some of the top studs: finally accepting the position of stud manager on the biggest Friesian horse stud in the southern hemisphere: where she managed just shy of two hundred Friesians. It was during this time that her ability to profile horses became paramount.With family life: the need to cut back on hours saw her focus more on instruction and training rather than management. Where she has since laid the foundation for numerous youngsters, both human and equine, to succeed in whatever facet of the sport they selected: and although not competitively minded, she has held numerous local, regional and national titles

Book preview

Better Understanding Your Horse

By C.J. Lledo

Copyright C.J. Lledo 2013

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Illustrations by C.J. Lledo

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

PART ONE

How We Choose Our Horses

Personality Traits: Where They Derive From

A Word of Caution

The Facial Profile

Muzzle Attributes

The Eyes

Length of the Head

The Nostrils

The Lips

The Eye Socket

The Ears

The Lower Jaw and Cheeks

PART TWO

Training Basics

The Five Most Important Factors to Consider Within Every Horse’s Training Program

Forget Everything You’ve Ever Been Told About Breeds

Arabian Decedents

Riding Horses

Working Horses

Hunters

Weed

The Warmblood

END NOTES

FOREWORD

It is said that the quickest way to rile a horse owner, is to tell them that their horse is just a horse. That is because as horse owners, we know that our horses are just as unique as we are: that they have personalities. We also understand that the training, handling and exposure our horses have received in their lives, has a significant impact on their behavior. For it is ultimately your horse’s personality eccentricities that govern how it approaches and reacts to stressful situations. Its history, training and exposure have conditioned it into behaving in certain ways: how to interact in others, or to show its displeasure.

Most times, these behavioral patterns are predictable. However, most, if not all, owners and riders at some stage encounter situations where they cannot understand why their horses would react or behave in a given manner: Why they do things differently to other horses, and why they react as fitfully or indolently while in training or under saddle.

This book was written for you, the owner: to enable you to better understand your horse. To answer those questions few are either willing or capable of giving genuine advice on. This book aims help you to understand how your horse’s personality and conformation limits its potential, and why you as owner may be experiencing complications with its management and or training.

However, as with most things in the equestrian industry, there are those who would consult a book like this in the hope of learning new tricks with which to manipulate horses and their owners. I can tell you now that there are no tricks to be learnt here. This book was written for owners and horse lovers who genuinely want to develop a better relationship with their horses: and for those who truly yearn to understand their horses.

Also, because the majority of horse owners experiencing complications with their horses are inexpert equestriennes, with limited knowledge, I have written this book in layman’s terms. Therefore, you will not find any industry specific jargon littering its pages. However, keeping in mind the linguistic shifts within the English language, and the equestrian community at large; there may be instances where I could refer to items such as girths or halters: which are known to others as cinches or head collars. This is not done in an attempt to confuse you: they are merely the names I am familiar with.

It is my sincerest hope that you will find the answers you seek within these pages, and that by reading this book you will enjoy a deeper and fuller relationship with your horse.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book consists out of two main sections: the first will help you identify your horse’s individual personality traits, and is very specific. The second part looks at personality types, training and managing your horse, as well as the limitations imposed on it by its conformation.

To truly get the best out of this book you will need to complete both sections, for each horse you own. There are an infinite number combinations available, as no two horses are the same, and even though their types match, their individual characteristics will differ.

It is advisable, when working through the first section, to have a pen and paper at the ready.

PART ONE

How We Choose Our Horses

With time, one comes to develop an eye for a horse; and contrary to popular belief, we do not see what is best: we see what we like and what we know. This is because in our subconscious minds we identify certain aspects of a horse, a certain look or build that we know either works for us or does not: these are the features or settings we are familiar and comfortable with.

Yet, many people fail to understand the drawn so many have to a particular breed, or what is it about a particular horse that appeals to them. Quickly, how many horse owners, you know, have claimed that they knew the horse was the right one for them simply by looking at it? Quite a few, right?

Truth is, there is no magic or stratagem behind it. No illusive skill you may be lacking. Their decisions are based almost wholly on their experience/s with horses. They are simply assessing the horse before them against other horses they have had contact with before, or horses they own: even if they claim not to be.

It is a subconscious action, which is why many can claim simply by looking at a horse that it is headstrong, or hot: often to the dismay of others, who dream of having such insight. Truth is, you will, one day, based on your own experiences.

You want to know how it works? It’s easier than you might imagine.

Whenever you are around horses, you will look at them, interact with them, and on a subconscious level, your mind will register certain aspects of the horse’s face/head, body and behavior. The more time you spend with a particular horse the stronger these settings become (Think of it as the ability to distinguish which horse in a group of similarly colored horses is yours.). These settings are further strengthened when one’s interaction with that horse is perceived as pleasurable by the brain: until such a time as you can identify similar settings in other horses (That horse looks just like mine - it’s just a different color.). Therefore, should any experiences be negative, you mind would have subconsciously registered them and you will automatically step back from a horse with similar settings (I don’t like the look of that horse). This ability strengthens throughout the years, and is why stable managers can identify horses within their yards/boarding stables at a glance.

Therefore, there is no trickery involved, no hocus-pocus when it comes to selecting a horse. Your experience with horses will govern your decisions: which it is often why new or aspiring owners have such a tough time selecting a horse, and often rely on someone more experienced with horses to select a horse for them. The only complication arising from this is, that the person helping you is more likely to select a horse they like: which is not bad thing, if you happen to like their horses. This is why it is of utmost importance that you first learn to ride, before buying a horse.

Personality Traits: Where They Derive From

For centuries already, humans have selectively bred horses. Our dedication and persistence in producing a horse to our liking, is what eventually resulted in the breed types we have today. In the early days of breeding, the horses with the best stamina and build were bred: those who could survive the rigorous of work, and at times, war. Certain horses fell by the wayside, as their human counterparts learned what features on a horse were desirable, and could fulfill a need.

Many years down the line, and several million horses later, humans, or more aptly, horse breeders and breed registries, have set breed standards/criteria’s for each of the known horse breeds. These standards identify the requisite appearance, size and in some instances coloring of horses found within a particular breed category. Very often, along with these criteria’s, there are facial features that are highlighted.

These features are not a coincidence, as all of them have been purposely bred: like the dish face profile on the Welsh Pony and Arabian. Because humans, on a subconscious level, have been combining the features they have identified as more appealing in their horses

Therefore, your horse’s personality eccentricities are locked within the features found on its head, and this book serves as the key to unlocking them.

In a nutshell: The shape and size of your horse’s head are the most dominant contributing