If you are planning to purchase a trail horse one of the most important things to look for is a horse with a suitable temperament. It is important to realize horses have natural differences in temperament just like people. Some are outgoing and confident; some are nervous and unsure; some love to go new places while others would give anything to never leave home. Although training and exposure can influence these natural traits nothing ever changes a fearful horse into a brave horse.
Temperament is largely genetic and has been linked to the dam/sire’s temperament. For trail riding a horse should have a confident, trusting temperament. It is impossible to have a relaxing fun ride on a horse that has a heart attack ever time a bird fly’s by regardless of how well trained they are.
The point is every time your horse reacts to fear even if it is just tensing or freezing your heart will be at least part way to your throat. This is particularly true for people who have had bad experiences while riding or those experienced enough with horses to know what fear reactions can lead to. Riding with fear is just not as much fun as it should be.
So if you are buying a trail horse, you have a free drop to get a horse you can really have fun on; so don’t compromise on temperament. It is easy to talk yourself into thinking you can make up for it with training or exposure just because you like your horse.
So how can you assess the temperament of a horse you just met? Temperamental traits of a horse are not easy to assess when you meet a horse for the first time in their stall or paddock. The best time to assess the temperament of a horse is when they are introduced to something new of or when they are brought into new surroundings. This is where you can see if they react with curiosity, indifference, fear or flight and if they look to you for reassurance. All of these reactions can provide valuable insight to the temperament of the horse.
All horses will react with fear under certain circumstances but a valuable test is how long it take for the horse transition from fearful behavior of a object or place to curious behavior. If the horse makes the transition from fear to curiosity quite quickly then training them not to be fearful will likely be quite easy. If the horse make this transition very slowly or never show signs of wanting to investigate their fear it is going to be very difficult to train this horse not to fear.
A book titled “Is Your Horse A Rock Star” understanding your horse’s personality by Dessa Hockley is an excellent source of information. In her book the author has developed a questioner that profiles horses into temperament groups. She then discusses the training methods and disciplines that will work best for the horse based on their personally and temperament. You can also visit Dessa online http://www.horsepersonality.com/ and take the horse personality quiz. The version in her book provides more insight but the online version will get you started.
When buying a horses you will need help from the current owner/trainer to answer the questions for the personally quiz. When you go to look at the horse ask the person showing the horse to help you; it just may provide some valuable insight and help you find the horse that is right for you.