Yes, I know the Parelli Horsenalities; I just disagree with them. Not that the terms are used incorrectly- although I bet a psych major would pull hair, but just that they aren't accurate for everyday use, and I will explain: Everyone I see describe a horse with them takes the adjectives they'd used to describe their horse, finds they apply to several categories, then says their horse falls under categories X,Y, and Z, and ends up giving me a convoluted description of their horse's personality that is far more generic and prone to inaccuracy.
I did a quick "horsenality chart"
Now, how well does that describe him? According to the checkboxes, I'd say he's more right brained and interoverted, yet that quadrant was the fewest populated!
Dante is a well-mannered horse with a big heart who really wants to be successful. He has a lot of try, although he's also easily frustrated. Because someone in his past beat him, being frustrated can cause him to have a panicky, hissy fit, or just get a little nippy and shovey with his head. This is easily reversed by giving him a success to remotivate. He is a plucky fellow who can be a bit ho-hum, but easily cheered. When cheery, he is very affectionate. He'll follow you (not like a puppy, cuz puppies run off) like a lamb, rub you lightly like a cat, and hug you with his neck, enjoying smelling you and gazing sweetly.
2 comments:
The determination of your horse's horsenality is not supposed to be according to the checkmarks in the boxes, but the largest number of dots within a quadrant. Some horses are a bit all over the board, most change a bit as they are developed further. Hope that helps the use of the horsenality chart, I just feel like you're missing some of it's point. It's a great tool when used properly.
I don't mind the horsenality chart as it makes people think of how a bunch of different behaviors are tied to each other, and at least gets some people to think of their horse as possibly different from another horse and that they're not all robots programmed a certain way.
At my barn we have a lot of natural horsemanship people. And I'm fine with that. I just get frustrated at times when people either tell me my horse is X because they see him do Y for a moment, or they let their horse get away with a bunch of bad behaviors because it's a Z.
And then when their horse does something that's not characteristic for it's assignment they can't handle it.
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