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[RC] Chalk and Cheese (was: Boldness in horses) - heidi larson

I agree with Kat here as my horse Ash was born and raised
to the age of 5 on 100+ acres with little human
interaction.  Definite herd situation, he's nervous as you
can get.  BUT, in looking at his mom, she's exactly the
same way!!  Other horses in this herd will walk up to you,
over you and could care less if you take off your jacket,
swing a lead rope, etc., but my guy to this day (at age 11)
will spook at normal everyday items that he should be used
to by now.  (For example, taking off his sheet that he's
worn and had removed every day for the past 3 months, if it
hits the floor near his shoulder he goes low - I call it
the "spider-move" and looks like he's going to have a
heart-attack.)  My husband says he has short term memory
loss! He's very sweet, tries really hard, but totally must
get his confidence from his rider or he may fall apart.  A
rider in Calif. just purchased his 1/2brother, (same dam)
I'd love to watch his endurance progress just to compare!!!
If anyone can look him up, his name is Paasha & he and
Kalasha are in the www.allbreedpedigree.com site.

heidi and the mighty Ash 




--- k s swigart <katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I have two horses (half brothers, same sire) who were
born about 1 month
apart, and they were different from each other with
respect to
"boldness" "self-cofidence" or whatever you want to call
it, from the
day they were born (and subsequently raised in a herd
situation on 100+
acres).

The first hid behind his mother when anything even
remotely scary
approached, while the other walked across a tarp on the
ground away from
his mother in a gale force windstorm when he was three
days old.  When
the first was one month old and the second was one day
old, the second
had already had more interaction with humans (because he
walked up to
them instead of running away from them).

Despite the fact that to look at them they were peas in a
pod (few
people today can tell them apart, in baby pictures, I am
one of the few
that can), disposition-wise they were and are as
different as chalk and
cheese (despite the fact that the coward is still a
stallion, so
presumably has testosterone to give him courage, and the
bold one was
gelded at the age of two).  Well, not entirely different,
they do both
share some of their sire's disposition traits, but even
so, their
inherant dispositions is something they were born with.

Additionally, I don't believe the living out in a herd
situation on
large space with other horses is what teaches horses to
trust people.
It is interaction with people that does this.

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)




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Replies
[RC] Chalk and Cheese (was: Boldness in horses), k s swigart