Introverts vs. Extroverts

Horsemanship Edition

Does your horse have more woah than go?

& why does it matter 🤔

📍Introverts tend to have less fire in their feet.

📍Extroverts tend to partake in movement.

more freely & with less encouragement.

What influences a horse’s character?

1. Innate Characteristics

2. Environmental Factors

3. Spirit Level

All horses benefit from time to process what they just learned.

This ‘Wait Time’ often looks like asking a horse to stop & relax or dropping to a lower gait.

How long you wait is often dependent on your horse’s introverted or extroverted nature & also how advanced they are in their training.

A more introverted horse may stand for several minutes processing, whereas a more extroverted horse may want to move on after 10 seconds.

It’s important here to let the horse move on, you don’t want to make them feel wrong for wanting to move. You can go back & repeat what you were doing or move onto something new. Then ask them to stop again. Even the most extroverted horse cottons on to stopping being a good thing after a while.

Once I can get a horse stopped for 3 seconds they can move on after that. The reason being for the 3 seconds stop is that if they don’t know a stop is available this can lead to confusion & a lack of clarity.

A lack of clarity always leads to poor feeling all around.

What the Research Says

When a horse is processing the research advises that we don’t interfere with them as this actually interrupts the laying down of learning. No touching or distracting them.

This is also an opportunity for you to replay & process the success you just had with your horse.

Breathing

On the break you can focus on your breathing.

Breathe in as deeply as is comfortable & exhale as deeply as is comfortable. Don’t force your breath, just take what is available. Forcing your breath has the propensity to fire the stress response.

Processing & down regulating can look like eyes half closed, vibration in the muzzle, low head carriage, little muscle shudders in the horses head & next area.

Processing usually has some element of movement in the horse eg. gentle tail movement, slow blinking, vibrations etc.

Whereas a shut down horse can feel far away & lacks any physical movement or signs of sensation in the body.

Strategies for Introverts

🌟 If your horse is a more nervous type of introvert repetition of phases, task, patterns etc can really build trust & relaxation.

🌟If your horse is a more confident type of introvert giving them somewhere to go can really help eg. Trail rides, straight lines with a few treats at the end on a barrel. This gives them motivation to go & also to see your ideas as interesting.

Strategies for Extroverts

🌟If your horse is a more nervous type of extrovert giving them a focus can really help, sticking with a pattern until they recognise it & find comfort in it. Also remember these type of horses can run for a long time, so patterns with turns & that causes the body to bend can improve their ability to focus & find relaxation, eg. Figure of 8, sideways along a fence.

🌟If your horse is a more confident type of extrovert providing them with plenty variety works well, when they get something right move on, they dislike drilling.

Tasks like sideways, back up, transitions all help to keep this type of horse engaged & not thinking about making their own mischief.

Do you recognise any of your horse’s characteristics above? Let me know if you think they are more introverted or extroverted?  What might help to get the best out of them?