I suggested to the horse owner that you could tell a lot about a horse’s character and his common sense by watching what they do in a new situation. As a professionally trained horseman, I already knew what this horse was going to do. I knew he was going to do it before he even came out of the trailer, based on his behavior when he arrived.

After less than two minutes in the field, her horse felt the need to test the fence. He flunked the test because the hot wire bit him in the nose. What happened next is what I mean about buying a horse for his character above almost anything else. This particular horse galloped around the field for the next five minutes screaming at the top of his lungs with his nose in the air. The fence bit him and he was going to tell the world about it. I suggested to the owner that she note what he was doing and how he was doing it. He was galloping at full speed over rough ground that he had never seen before with his nose in the air. I warned her that this particular animal didn’t have enough sense to look out for his own safety and she would be wise to recognize that if he didn’t have enough sense to look out for himself, he surely wasn’t going to worry about her safety. Was this an Arabian “thing”? NO, it was a character “thing,” and this horse lacked both character and common sense.

Endurance riding is one area of riding where you either choose a horse with good character and common sense, or you spend a lot of time in an emergency room. The owner of the horse told me that he was “just sensitive.” If I had a nickel for every time a horse owner told me their maniac horse was “just sensitive”, I would be a rich woman!

Because I have always tried to respect a man’s right to be dumb, I made the suggestion to find a more suitable mount but wished her all the luck in the world if she chose to keep him. As a trainer I know that the difference between green broke and well seasoned is 400 hours of time, effort and work on your part. To start out that timeline with a horse that lacks character is the equivalent of choosing to walk down the aisle with a man that you know is a moron. If you choose to devote 400 hours into a horse with no character, you will end up with a “well trained” horse with no character and the first time he is pressed into a corner, what will come out of that corner is his true character every time.