| I have been pretty lucky in my selection of | | | | in a very long time (it costs only $125 to adopt a |
| horses... until now. Starting out, I had trainers who | | | | mustang). Wow, Walker was genetically and |
| helped me pick the best horses for my | | | | conformationally built to spin, stop, and lope circles. |
| temperament. My temperament can be summed | | | | He was the perfect reining horse. |
| up in a single phrase: "I want to win!" | | | | The only problem was that Walker was not the |
| Luckily, my trainer helped me pick out a good | | | | perfect reining horse for me. He and I do not |
| match for my first real long-term equine partner: | | | | have matching personality types. I have to admit |
| Marcus. Marcus didn't necessarily want to win, but | | | | that Walker was an impulse buy and that I never |
| he did want to please. In wanting to please me, | | | | stopped to consider his horse personality type |
| we won a lot. Marcus had an Earth horse | | | | before I bought him. It turns out that Walker is a |
| personality, so he was always willing to please as | | | | Shao Yin (Fire/Water) horse personality, which |
| long as I brought treats, plenty of treats. Earth | | | | means that he is eager to please but also among |
| type horses work for food. | | | | the most fragile of all the personality types. |
| Next, I had a couple of geldings I did fine with, | | | | When Walker gets a small cut on his leg, his entire |
| and then I moved into the big adventure of | | | | leg swells up like a balloon. When one of my |
| training mustangs. When you go to pick out a | | | | mustang mares gets a cut, they don't even |
| mustang to adopt, unless you are planning to | | | | notice it. When Walker gets a stone bruise, he |
| adopt one that has already been halter-broke or | | | | limps like he needs hit foot amputated. When the |
| started under saddle, you basically get to choose | | | | mustangs get a stone bruise, they lope a little |
| your horse from a distance. | | | | slower on trail but otherwise don't care. When |
| | | | Walker gets his feelings hurt, he doesn't react |
| Mustangs: A Whole New World | | | | outwardly, but immediately develops some kind of |
| I get all of my mustangs from the Canon City | | | | earth-shattering ailment. When the mustangs get |
| facility in Colorado, where BLM and the inmates at | | | | upset, they have great fun refusing to be caught. |
| the prison facility work together to house, | | | | Are you starting to see the difference here? |
| maintain, and train a bunch of mustangs (soon to | | | | There is, of course, nothing wrong with Walker. |
| number around 3,000). When I want to adopt a | | | | He is a dream horse for most people. He will try |
| mustang, I drive 6 hours to facility on a scheduled | | | | his heart out for me and I love him dearly for his |
| adoption day, join a group of adopters, and | | | | kindness, gentleness, and sweetness. I'm just not |
| wander through this giant facility. | | | | used to dealing with horse personality types that |
| Most of the mustangs are fairly wild, so mostly | | | | are "hothouse flowers." Had I known Walker was |
| you stand outside a pen that holds between 30 | | | | a Shao Yin before I bought him, I would have |
| and 500 mustangs, and you try to "pick" one that | | | | never bought him because I know that I am not |
| you think you would like. I've been lucky. My first | | | | the nurturing type. I'm a no-holds-barred tough |
| mustang mare was Bella (you can read about her | | | | zen cowgirl who needs a horse just as tough. |
| here), a gentle mare with an Earth horse | | | | The Moral of This Story |
| personality. Again, as long as food was present, | | | | So, while Walker and I are learning to get along |
| everything was fine. | | | | together, I thank him for teaching me a valuable |
| My next mustang mare, Valentine, had a Wood | | | | lesson: |
| horse personality. Her motto, "I will win!" matches | | | | Always test the personality of the horse you are |
| mine pretty well. As long as we both want to win | | | | about to buy before you buy him. |
| at the same event, we are unbeatable. On the | | | | The test, which is the equivalent of eHarmony for |
| events where we don't agree, forget it. You can't | | | | horses, is free online at Horse Harmony Test. You |
| "make" Valentine do anything she doesn't want to | | | | can read short summaries about the different |
| do. But generally, I "ride the horse in the direction | | | | horse personality types on the Horse Harmony |
| she's going," and we get along fine. | | | | website. Better yet, get the full scoop by reading |
| After that came three more mustangs, all with | | | | the Horse Harmony book. |
| suitable horse personalities. All of them had strong | | | | Figure out what type best suits your personality, |
| personalities and could withstand some fairly tough | | | | the discipline in which you ride, and the |
| training in multiple events. We do everything from | | | | management style you have. Pick the right type |
| team penning and sorting, to hunter/jumper and | | | | and you'll have a match made in heaven. Pick a |
| barrel racing. Fun stuff. | | | | type that's a little bit of a mismatch, and you |
| Along Came Walker | | | | may be looking for a different horse within a |
| Then I got interested in the sport of reining, and I | | | | short period of time. So take the test (you can |
| was told in no uncertain terms that my mustangs | | | | test yourself as well as any potential horse) and |
| had neither the conformation nor genetic | | | | learn something about you, your existing horse, or |
| background to be reining horses. So I bought | | | | a future horse. It is fun, it is free, and it is a |
| Walker, my first "expensive" luxury-model horse | | | | learning experience! |