YANG Hot
BLUE
RED
GREE
N
PURP
LE YIN Cold
YELL
OW
YANG Hot
BLUE
RED
GREE
N
PURP
LE YIN Cold
Expressive/Intimidating
YELL
OW
Sensitive/Reactive
The Blue horse is a horse that loves to express its nature mentally, physically and emotionally. They are extremely quick learners and need creative leadership as anything repetitive will drive them mad. They are very confident and love to show off, they love attention, people and playing. In the wrong hands their play can become dangerous and intimidating as they are very good at inventing games and taking over. They love to rule the roost and be the centre of attention, playing with everything and anything in their paddock.
The Red horse is a highly sensitive, instinctive, intuitive, emotional horse. They are very quick learners and extremely willing as they will do almost anything to avoid pressure. They need to move and love a job. They are born worry warts and can easily become fearful and panic, they tend to react first and think later, shying and spooking easily, leaving you fearful. They are the most likely to be herd bound and notice the smallest changes in their environment. They are honest and wear their hearts on their sleeve.
Key Personality Indicators: Desirable Traits: Forward, Thinking, Inquisitive, Like To Move, Clever, Playful, Quick Learner, Confident, Creative, Honest, Likes to Move, Sociable, Smart, Athletic, Mouthy Undesirable Traits: Challenging, Takes Over, Intimidating, Invents Games, Pushy, Dominant, Defiant, Bad Mannered, Excitable, Mischievous
Key Personality Indicators Desirable Traits: Energetic, Motivated, Eager, Forward, Likes to Move, Perceptive, Soft, Willing, Honest, Action Rich, Vocal, lateral thinkers, Expressive, Highly Intuitive. Undesirable Traits: Reactive, Bolts, Tantrums, Emotional, Panics, Crowds You, Shy/Spook, Accident Prone, Herd Bound, Distracted, Restless, Hyper Active, Lose the Plot, Dominate out of Fear.
Training Strategies: Variety is the key to training this horse, flat work in an arena will drive them mad and before long they will be inventing games and spooking. Try to be creative in how you train this horse, use applied dressage strategies rather than teaching the end goal. The Blue Horse needs to be entertained and detest a monotonous approach such as mindless circles and lunging. It’s essential that you do regular, creative ground work with this horse. They need exceptionally strong leadership, time and feel. Trying to keep this personality under control through dominance rather than leadership will shut the horse down making him insecure, dangerous and grumpy. They make excellent Dressage horses if you can capture their natural flamboyancy without shutting them down, they love games, hunting, cutting cows and activities that are energetic and interesting.
Training Strategies: The Red Horse needs to be kept busy and tuned in to the rider at all times. They like to move so you need to be able to go with the horse and not hold them back. Because they can be easily distracted giving them a job helps them and you stay focused. They are ultra sensitive so you only need to think what you want and they’ll respond. When the Red horse “Loses the plot” they will often need a pattern interrupt, so do something that takes their mind off their problem. They also need consistency as change really bothers them, so don’t keep changing the rules on them. Don’t try and work with this horse either if you’ve had a bad day, they’ll always catch you out. Forceful aids, punishment and bad timing will send this horse completely over the edge, so less is always more with the Red Horse.
Bombproof/Stubborn
Quiet/Explosive
The Purple horse is very independently minded and often known as the “bombproof” horse. They’re unflappable, reliable and a loyal friend. However, these horses can also be one of the most frustrating horses to own as they are not easily motivated, giving them the name of “royal pain in the butt”. They are often not worried about what the herd is doing and are happy doing their own thing, which normally involves eating or standing. To train a horse like this you need to offer many rewards and think laterally, as they can be very contrary.
The Yellow horse is one of the most challenging horses to own, train and read. They internalise their feelings and emotions until they all boil over and then everyone knows about it. They care a great deal about their relationship with you. Trust, comfort and safety are what motivate this horse. They are very sensitive but can also be bossy and aloof. If your timing is out then they can go from being super quiet to explosive in milliseconds, causing you to feel very insecure. Once you have the trust and a solid relationship with this horse they are truly amazing, very reliable, calm and super responsive.
Key Personality Indicators Desirable Traits: Reliable, Calm, Accommodating, Consistent, Tenacious, Congruent, Confident, Loyal, Bomb Proof, Unflappable, Non-reactive, Thinking, Strategic, Relaxed. Undesirable Traits: Defiant, Doesn’t Like To Move, Contrary, Buck/Rear, Sucks Back, Over Powers, Bores Quickly, Rebellious, Tunes Out, Calculating, Rigid, Lazy, Tough Minded.
Key Personality Indicators Desirable Traits: Agreeable, Soft, Easy, Sensitive, Disciplined, Submissive, Bonding, Quiet, Responsive, Reliable, Kind, Tries Hard, Solid, Gentle. Undesirable Traits: Insecure, Fearful, Unstable, Hard to Catch, Disconnected, Aloof, Evasive, Shutdown, Doesn’t like to Move, Reserved, Defensive, Explosive, Robotic, Solitary, Unreliable, Hide at the back of the Herd, Don’t catch me.
Training Strategies: The Purple Horse requires a very clever, patient owner. This horse is naturally oppositional, and will nearly always be inclined to do the opposite of what you ask. You will need to be equipped, with exceptional lateral thinking skills and not be someone who gets hot under the collar quickly or you’ll go mad. They didn’t get the name “Purple Pain” for nothing. Because these horses love standing around and eating and doing nothing you can use this to your advantage, using food and lots of stops as a way of getting the horse to work with you works like a treat!!! The Purple Horse is not that sensitive and not that motivated so kicking and whipping and applying more force will just cause them to tune out and ignore you completely, you can never get the trust or respect of this horse with that style of training. Once you have your Purple Horse understanding their job they are exceptionally reliable, unflappable mounts and make great beginner horses and ponies.
Training Strategies: The Yellow Horse can be difficult to read as they don’t externalize their emotions. They need someone who is ultra patient, puts the relationship first and understands that this horse needs time to make decisions and should not be forced into things. Ask and wait. The Yellow Horse is very sensitive and cares a great deal about how much you care. They are driven by comfort and security and need to trust their riders and handlers. To train these horses you reward them with comfort. Eg. Get the change and let them stand around, they need time to process and reflect on information. They can become very evasive, aloof and bossy with the underlying manipulation of an explosion if you push too hard. So take your time, be patient, but be firm and have a strong image of the outcome you want to achieve. Once they trust you this horse will do anything for you.
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Bombproof/Stubborn
Quiet/Explosive
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Suppresses Energy YIN Cold
PURPLE
Rate how well your horse does the following Catching/Haltering Leading Bridling Saddling Girthing Grooming Clipping Worming Needles Rugging Trimming/Shoes Float Loading Tying Up Water Crossing Bridge Crossing Traffic Strange Animals Strange Objects Plastic Bags Jumping/Trot Polls Jig Jogs Head Tossing Snatches Reins Head Shy Anticipates Dominating Stays in Gait Holt/Stopping Back-up Transitions Leg Yielding
& Pers
RED
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BLUE
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Hot Expresses Energy EVER GREEN TENDENCIES
It’s important to determine the difference between personality and depth of training so an ever green horse is properly understood. See our chart below to rate your horse.
g in ek d Se line ip ble sc Di Hum sive is g bm Su ondin t B Quie ve onsi Resp ient Obed t/Kind Swee rd Tries Ha Solid Gentle
Not Moving & Thinking
Untrained Behaviours
Expresses Fee ling s Vo ca l Hy YANG
Tr ait s
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Ever Green TENDENCIES
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Not Moving & Not Thinking
RARELY
Sensitive/Reactive
xious Unsoc i a s An b l e S stles olit Re ary e U ctiv nr r A pe
The Green and Ever Green Horse are horses that may appear to be red as they are anxious and flighty or Purple, nonresponsive. They may definitely have the character traits of a particular personality but it is important to be able to decipher the difference between character traits and an untrained horse.We don’t analyze the Green horse in the same way we would their personality. Instead we look at how well they are able to do things we ask of them.
SOMETIMES
B eh avio urs &
Expressive Moving Forward ng Thinki ive isit Inqu er Clev l er fu Play Learn ick s Qu u tic rio Cu ma aris Ch roic ent He nfid Co
Moving & Not Thinking
Red Hot Desir able
ALL THE TIME
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Moving & Thinking
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Expressive/Intimidating
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True Blue
Yellow Belly
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Yields to Pressure
Horse and Owner Personality Decoder© Expressive - Action Orientated
Blue Owner
Red Owner Reactive/Energetic
W H AT
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& systems * Blues are-Extroverted
ES WITHOUT T HORS HIN ND KIN OU G, AR
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Con gruen t Dedic ated
Tough Minded
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Sensing
Easy Going
Introspective - Thought Orientated
Yellow Owner
SE LF
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Skilful
Can do
ic
Optimist
Caring Anxious Gets Frustrated Sensitive Worry Wart Catastro Soft & Kin d ph ize s Hyper Relation Se ship Fir Low nsitive st Ene Lac Reluc rgy ks C Patient tan on t Sa Defe fidenc e fe Calm Com In ty D nsive pas te sio rn rive nate Fe alize n Alt ar ern fu s a te l La Na te tur ral al Th ink In er ve nt iv Fe e eli ng
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Quiet
Spiritual
Reflective
Philosophical
Purple Owner
Now Want it ts Win at all cos Hot Headed
Reflective/Worry Wart
Steadfast/Stubborn Level of horsemanship skills
Distr
Feeling
YELLOW
tter
Goal Se
ES WITHOUT T HORS H INK ING ,D OI NG
PURPLE
Easily
Struggle
RED
GREEN and EVER GREEN
Suppresses Energy YIN Cold
n itio e gn co ors Re H nce ra es es Lik lam erseve ible B ks P s n on Lac resp flectio Ir s Re ngry k c a L Gets A ve ti Sensi Hyper acted on their sleeve * Yellows are introv erted in
Stubborn Controlling Thorough Aloof s ghteou ng ivi Self Ri ding Str an d te Dem plica sitive Uncom n se In le ictab hy l Pred Pus ful e t ona isten Forc ontati Pers le nfr d Co exib l olle d tr n a re Co pe Infl bitu y m e p a nT H um Eve us Gr ulo tic Me red pa s u Pre cio na Te ise ec Pr
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BLUE
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Intuitive
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be
Reds are e xtrove rted
AN D
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AC TI NG
pers ona lity, pre fer
Congruent Loyal Stubborn
NE DO
Assess your skill level and ability handling horses and riding. How would you rate your skills?
SE LF
D AN
l
YS WA AL
G IN AV EH B
VE U’ YO
Green and Ever Green
G IN CT -A
ica
siv Ch e aris ma Kno tic Pe wle r dge Posi Cr fect able it io tive Ima ical nist g Influ Tak e Con enti es O scio al u v Inti Help mid er s ful ati Ped anti ng Organi Dom c sed inan Over Be t Sets Hig h Goals arin Show Off g Friendly Self Absorbed Outgoing What’s in it for me
Diligent
Reflective Inventive Anxious
pr es
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Energetic Intuitive Reactive
An a
Ex
HI GH ER
ks in Th en er Driv ut Ov fort ks O e m a ssiv Co Fre ggre ed /A ss sive cu ve Pas Unfo tecti d r Pro Ove istracte D er Dream Day sive Obses e Impulsiv Cautious Emotional
Yields to Pressure
Bossy Driven Ego Centric d Self-Motivate Likes to Win titive Energetic Compe ergy En ted High Driven Dedica lts d set Resu it all ng Min Winni r now ial K c Thinke ition erfi cture ies Sup Recogn ority Big Pi ualit ip Q uth g eed A N ersh l eds gin Lead enta Ne llen nt tal a a n d erim Ch oler me Exp ente t res In dge ll P Ju We nt r de ve nfi ie Co ch hA y t rit en Cla ist rs Pe
Catching/Haltering Leading Bridling Saddling Girthing Grooming Clipping Worming Needles Rugging Trimming/Shoes Float Loading Tying Up Water Crossing Bridge Crossing Traffic Strange Animals Strange Objects Plastic Bags Jumping/Trot Polls Jig Jogs Head Tossing Snatches Reins Head Shy Anticipates Dominating Stays in Gait Holt/Stopping Back-up Transitions Leg Yielding
S ES EN AR W Hig
Green horses are young uneducated horses that have yet to experience the world of humans and riding and are generally willing participants. Sometimes the new things are scary so we need to be consistent when building their confidence.
Fair
Some horses could be 15 or 20 years old and still have Green tendencies. We call them “Ever Greens”. Unfortunately, these horses have never been given the opportunity to really learn our language as it has not been consistent, so they are confused and often very frustrated. It would be like going to high school and having each teacher educate you in a different language in each subject before you’ve actually learnt the language. We expect a lot from our equine friends!
Good
Once you know where your gaps are and the personality of your horse you can then start using the appropriate training strategies to start developing your horse’s education and confidence.
Poor
To assess the “Greeness” of your horse we ask how well do they do the following:Catching/Haltering, Leading, Saddling, Bridling, Grooming, Girthing, Clipping, Worming, Needles, Rugging, Trimming/Shoes, Tying Up, Float Loading, Water Crossing, Bridge Crossing, Traffic, Strange Animals, Strange Objects, Plastic Bags, Jumping, Trot Polls, Jig Jogs, Head Tossing, Snatches Reins, Head Shy, Herd Bound, Anticipates, Dominating, Stays in Gait, Holt/Stopping, Back-up, Transitions, Leg Yielding, Yields to Pressure.
Rate how well your horse does the following
Expressive Confident Bossy
Reactive Energetic Hot Seat High Stamina Impatie nt Dram atizes Creative Pani Athlet Irrati cs ic onal Fea Emotio Achie r nal ver C of F Gets Ru uts C ailure Job s o D h one rn Ac es Cou cid Th ers ra in e Dete geous Un In nt Pr gs rmin pr sec one ep ur ed Int ar e uit ed Pu ive she sS Co elf n fid Qu M o en tiv ick t at Le ed Re ar sp ne on r siv e
Charismatic/Egocentric
TASK
Catching Haltering Leading Saddling Bridling Worming Injections Rugging Round Pen Principles Ground work Float Loading Picking up feet Mounting Feeding Hoof Care Walk Sitting Trot Rising Trot Diagonals Ride without stirrups Ride on Loose Rein Bare Back Riding Ride in Halter Canter Canter leads Riding Out/Trails Back-up/Halt Leg Yielding
Side Pass Scary Objects Jumping Equine Psychology
You can download the horse and owner personality decoder FREE at: www.horsepersonality.com.au
H E Holistic Equitation
Written by: Jo McInnes Illustrations: Kailie Nott