Ride the Right Horse

I have been reading a book on equine personality. It's called Ride the Right Horse, (click on the title to read another blog entry I found on this subject) and I have found it infinitely entertaining and informative. The author then went on to compare the Myers Briggs Personality Inventory to the type of horse you should be riding. I know that I am an ENFJ...years ago I took the test and I was an ENFP, but I have consciously changed the P into a J (which is why I went from being a complete free spirit in my twenties to being a little overly rigid in my forties) As I read the closing chapters of the book last night, I got to thinking about how I choose my sport based on my personality.

I love NATRC rides. I love the sport, the people, etc, but as I've gotten older and done more riding, I have also grown to realize that I really don't like the booting rules. It's gotten bad enough that this year I will try AERC partly b/c of the boots, and partly b/c I realize that I'm just not a good joiner (that was going to be the name of my post: I am not a joiner!) I like to watch and observe (some of my closet introvert tendencies) and then do. I'm wondering how I will like it...mostly I'm switching sports this year b/c of distance issues. I'm trying to stay closer to home this year and save some gas money, pay off debts, not be away so much. When Deli foals in May, then we'll be a little more free, and once Liberty is ready to start, then we can resume our NATRC escapades. I feel like AERC might be a bit more forgiving of my new horse if it's unruly. Maggie wants to ride Joe who won't meet breathing criteria and I want to ride Freeley who is sometimes off on a circle, but never in a straight line...it's just a way for us to keep doing a competition. Plus, Maggie and I like the appeal of taking our own pace and seeing what happens. Of course, she has never ridden 25 miles and it's a long way. I may be picking Joe and her off the ground when it's all over...we'll just have to see. Our first try will be in February at the Freeze 'r' Burn. If that goes well, we'll do another in April...maybe by then Liberty will be ready to go.

For example: Maggie, Peter and Sara (Peter's sister) are playing a game and I'm in the room, watching, but I don't really want to play. Part of it is that I have a headache. And part of it is that I'm really enjoying my little spot of piece in the corner. I have felt so pressed and busy, I really like having time to just recreate in my own way.

Anyway, back to the book...The personalities are typed by Social, Aloof, Challenging and Fearful.

I have 4 horses and I have figured that they are all social on the scale somewhere. Deli is Social/Aloof (or aloof/social) but sometimes seems a bit fearful too...though from my experience with other Aloof horses they can spook randomly when they have been checked out and then brought back to life all of a sudden. Joe Bear is Social/Fearful (doesn't adapt to new situations well) Freeley and Liberty are both Social/Challenging. IN fact, I'd be willing to say that Liberty is a carbon copy of Freeley except that he's a little pushier and more friendly. Freeley might be an aloof mix instead b/c it's not like he cares for everyone universally...but since he's the leader of the herd, I assume that he's got some challenging in the mix. Both Freeley and Liberty are highly charismatic! Everyone flocks to those guys. Deli is sweet, but tends to hang out of the way, as does Liberty at times, though most of the time he's in the thick of things. IT's been a lot of fun looking at the personalities.

I'm getting another book called Horse Harmony, which deals with the personalities of horses based on the 5 element Chinese system of Wood, Fire, Metal, Water and Earth.

I was going to ride today but this headache is just really kicking my butt. Plus, it's cold, and I have company, so here I sit, just playing on my computer.

Off to visit my sims...for our anniversary Peter got me the last two "stuff" packs for Sims. He's also downloaded a bunch of new houses! I love new houses. Next Sim's needs to make a Horse stuff pack so we can ride our ponies!