Categorising your horse's personality

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MizElz

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Now, like most people on here, I dont go in for the whole Parelli thing. I've watched it on H&C and laughed most of the time - very occasionally, I have seen something that I've considered interesting, but in general I dont go in for the whole seven (or however many it is) games thing
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I think Parelli is just one big commercial enterprise - but then, what else can you expect of an American export
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What I do find interesting, however, is the idea that in order to train, handle and foster an effective relationship with your horse, you should be able to find out exactly what kind of personality he or she has first. My YO drew my attention to this test yesterday - I carried it out for Ellie whilst forcing myself to disassociate it from Parelli (hard, when the web address is in the corner
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) but what I did find out rather surprised me. Without 'testing' her, I would have predicted that she'd have had an introverted personality, yet on this test, she came out as a right brain extrovert. Has anyone else ever been open-minded enough to try this out for their own horses, or are we all too Parelli-phobic to even consider it? I expect I know the answer already, but I know that I found it very interesting
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Horsenality Chart
 
Ok I've done that for Ellie and she's a left brain introvert according to that. Although she doesn't buck or charge all the others are pretty accurate in varying degrees
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The little pic at the side of a horse blowing a razz can sum Ellie up to a T some days
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LB Extrovert without the bad bits.

I do think all this hatred towards Parelli is a little OTT. LOL. It is just a training method with a very good business brain behind it and it does actually work for some people.
 
Ooooh! I have had a thought.
Could the horse owners categorise themselves using this chart?
It is often said that our horses are a mirror of our own personalities.
I am going back to have a look at the chart again.
LOL
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I do think all this hatred towards Parelli is a little OTT. LOL. It is just a training method with a very good business brain behind it and it does actually work for some people.

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Well said!!!!
 
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Its sounds like nonsense to me. I think most horses wil be a mixture of all those things depending on the situation.

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I was just thinking that.

My horse is definately in the extrovert category with some RB and Some LB also he loves his food which is from the introvert side.
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I think it's quite ridiculous trying to put all horses into only four categories, surely they are individuals?
 
They ARE individuals, but I look at this in the same way as for humans. In schools, teachers are able to adjust their teaching styles according to the personalities of the children, and although I agree that many horses will have characteristics of all personality types, the same could be said for many humans. Ellie ticked some 'extreme' boxes in three of the four categories, but the RBE was most definitely the one where she appeared strongest in the Extreme/Moderate categories
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My TB mare is a right brain introvert, my kids section A is a left brain introvert/extrovert. And given their different approaches to things I have to admit it does make sense to some degree. RB lack confidence and LB are bolshy and so you treat them in a way that compliments their personality, which is inherently what you do anyway, I certainly don't treat my fat grey pony in the same way that I treat my TB ex-racer!

Best thing is you can apply it to people too and it also makes some sense from a management point of view.
 
I'm not really sure how fitting a horse into one of these categories can help though.

Surely we need to train them as individuals as well?
 
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I'm not really sure how fitting a horse into one of these categories can help though.

Surely we need to train them as individuals as well?

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Absolutely, but if you can recognise that your horse falls into one category or another, it can then make sense as to why they do certain things that they do, or perhaps why you have had certain problems with one horse, yet not with another. Of course, whether you wish to take it further and read/watch to see how it is advised that you treat a horse that is, for example, an RBE, is up to you!
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It's just a spin on all the myers-brigs stuff and other associated psycological tests that corporate companies force upon their employee's.
Normally you would have a serious of questions and then be place at a certain point within the circle - and that would be your default personality. That doesn't mean that with different envionmental factors this can be adapted/changed over time.

Having been through these a number of times they are scarily accurate.

However this is just a chart, I would imagine there are accompanying questions associated with it?

From a quick glance I reckon one of my horses would fall into mild LB introvert and one would be strong LB extrovert
 
Interesting.

How should I have handled my "mostly LBE" then? Mind you I'm guessing I'd have to pay to find out
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TBH I don't have any issues with him as they were sorted out many years ago with my "treat him as an individual" approach.
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I've got a very close bond with him and am very happy with him as he is
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I wonder how it would have gone if I just treated him as an "LBE" though?
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Interesting.

How should I have handled my "mostly LBE" then? Mind you I'm guessing I'd have to pay to find out
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TBH I don't have any issues with him as they were sorted out many years ago with my "treat him as an individual" approach.
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I've got a very close bond with him and am very happy with him as he is
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I wonder how it would have gone if I just treated him as an "LBE" though?
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Well, this is what Parelli says:
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Characteristics of a "Left Brained" (LB) Extrovert include being mischievous, energetic, willful, disobedient, domineering, and may have a tendency to be mouthy, nip and bite. LB Extroverts are easy to train unless you are boring and repetitive in which case they act up and become unruly.

LB horses are not afraid of people, they are self confident, brave, are relatively insensitive, playful, mouthy, exuberant and dominant. At minimum, these horses can be pushy and disobedient, and at worst they are aggressive. Keep in mind, these horses can be dangerous when they don't like or trust people.

LB horses need you to become a lot more interesting. They need things to do. They are usually quite playful and are easily bored by riders who are fixated on perfecting a maneuver, and that's what makes them act up. Because they are so confident they are fast learners.

Extroverted horses tend to be energetic, excitable and quick and need quick action from their riders and handlers. They need their frantic patterns to be effectively interrupted and their energy to be constructively directed. This makes them calmer and focuses their attention.


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Characteristics of a "Left Brained" (LB) Extrovert include being mischievous, energetic, willful, disobedient, domineering, and may have a tendency to be mouthy, nip and bite. LB Extroverts are easy to train unless you are boring and repetitive in which case they act up and become unruly.

LB horses are not afraid of people, they are self confident, brave, are relatively insensitive, playful, mouthy, exuberant and dominant. At minimum, these horses can be pushy and disobedient, and at worst they are aggressive. Keep in mind, these horses can be dangerous when they don't like or trust people.

LB horses need you to become a lot more interesting. They need things to do. They are usually quite playful and are easily bored by riders who are fixated on perfecting a maneuver, and that's what makes them act up. Because they are so confident they are fast learners.

Extroverted horses tend to be energetic, excitable and quick and need quick action from their riders and handlers. They need their frantic patterns to be effectively interrupted and their energy to be constructively directed. This makes them calmer and focuses their attention.


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So basically I mustn't be boring or repetitive, but must be interesting and be quick in my actions in my riding and handling.

I think they are fair general comments about the way he needs to be handled but maybe wouldn't be much help if I really was looking for some help with a horse like that.

As he is also sensitive and not what I would call "relatively insensitive" this gives you no warning about what problems this could cause. If he was treated as relatively insensitive you might find out about that "dangerous" bit
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I still think it's risky to generalise!
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Mines definitely in the extrovert side but has characteristics from both the left and right hand sides, which makes her 'unconcerned and self confident' and 'fearful and defensive' at the same time. I think by lumping horses into general categories you risk making assumptions about their personality (like the poster above who was told her horse was insensitive) which is probably more harmful than if you treated the horse 'wrong' for its personality type. So b0ll0cks IMO!!
 
Lots of methods have bits about personality types, Michael Pearce and Richard Maxwell both have bits in their books with the different types that they work with and what works best with each one, although they stress that all horses are individuals etc etc. Don't think there's any harm in it really, it's like anything else it comes down to how you use it.

Mine's definately LB, exactly in the middle of introvert / extrovert though, about half each of the questions from both.
 
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Mostly LB introvert.

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Mine too, from the chart, but then when I read Parelli's description, it was completely not a description of my horse at all
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Way to cover all bases!!!! Still, the marketing dream is going exceedingly well!!
 
The category that your horse fits into will change depending on the situation, eg in the arena vs. out at a show.

The idea is that your strategies need to match your horse at that moment, very much treating the horse as an individual. What will help to give your Right Brain horse confidence will only encourage your Left Brain horse to take the mickey and vice versa.

It is something that many horse people do already, without really thinking about it. However, the chart can be quite useful for people who are not experienced at reading a horse's body language and reacting appropriately.

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Its a bit of fun that you can throw away after you've filled it in.
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