Eunice Rush - Know You, Know Your Horse: An Intimate Look at Human and Horse Personalities: Identifying Types and Matchmaking to Ensure Long-Term Relationships

First published in 2012 by

Trafalgar Square Books

North Pomfret, Vermont 05053

Printed in China

Copyright 2012 Eunice Rush & Marry Morrow

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer quoting brief excerpts for a review in a magazine, newspaper, or website.

Disclaimer of Liability

The authors and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. While the book is as accurate as the authors can make it, there may be errors, omissions, and inaccuracies.

While the horse and human relationship theories, techniques, and methods described in this book are drawn from the experience and knowledge of the authors, this book is not all-inclusive on the subject matter and may not apply in all circumstances. This book is intended to be an educational guideline only. When in doubt, readers should consult a professional. The human personality components included in this book are taken from a variety of experts and research. Neither author has a psychology background.

Trafalgar Square Books encourages the use of approved safety helmets in all equestrian sports.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

TO COME

Book design by Lauryl Eddlemon

Cover design by RM Didier

Typefaces: Palatino, Myriad

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READING THIS BOOK COULD BE DANGEROUS UNLESS YOU ARE READY TO LOOK AT YOURSELF, YOUR HORSE, AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR HORSE IN A WHOLE NEW WAY.

As you prepare to navigate the pathway to personalities there are a few terms you need to understand.

LBI: Left Brain Introvert

LBE: Left Brain Extrovert

RBI: Right Brain Introvert

RBE: Right Brain Extrovert

LEFT-BRAINED: Thought-based, logical. Better in math and science.

RIGHT-BRAINED: Emotion-based, creative. Better in music and arts.

INTROVERTED: Draws energy from within. Prefers quiet activities and being alone or with small groups.

EXTROVERTED: Draws energy externally. Enjoys being in large crowds. Is outgoing.

ANALYST (LBI): Detailed, enjoys working alone.

POWERFUL (LBE): Goal focused, drives projects, and directs people.

MEDIATOR (LBI): Friendly, wants everyone to be happy.

ADVOCATE (RBE): Cheerleader type, outgoing, creative.

LEFT-BRAINED: Clever, playful, and willful. Good at new tasks. Likes a variety of jobs.

RIGHT-BRAINED: Alert, reactive and obedient. Prefers routine or familiar tasks.

INTROVERTED: Prefers to go slower, can do quick bursts of speed. Likes to be in the middle of a small group.

EXTROVERTED: Has more energy, endurance. Prefers long rides and moving his feet.

THINKER (LBI): Confident and wants to stand still.

WORKER (LBE): Confident and wants to move.

ACTOR (RBI): Fear-based and needs to stand still.

TALKER (RBE): Fear-based and needs to move.

Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane? Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting? He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

Job 39:19-25

I, Eunice, first met my co-author Marry as an attending student in one of her Frank Bell clinics. We seemed to just hit if off and soon became friends. One day while chatting about life in general we arrived at that age-related question, So what did you do before you retired?

As it turned out I had spent a lot of time coaching salespeople on how to read and align to clients. Marry had spent years reading the different horse personalities and aligning her personality and training methods accordingly. I started explaining to Marry how a humans personality is made up of distinctive and varying characteristics (traits) and that these are what make everybody act the way they do. So, when given the right approach and ability to read other people, you can align yourself with them and consequently, become more successful in personal relationships with family and friends; in business, sell your ideas and concepts as well as build effective teams; and use your knowledge to help in many other areas of life.

Marry then began to explain her theory about horses and how they also have distinctive personality traits; when you can recognize and read them you will be more successful in selecting and training your horse. So now we knew two things for sure:

• All people have a distinct core personality that embodies different behavioral characteristics and traits. Each person tends to respond better when interacting with some people rather than others.
• All horses also have a distinct core personality made up of several traits. Therefore, each horse also responds better when interacting with some people rather than others.

Thats when the light bulb came on for me. I wonder if there is any correlation to interactions between humans and the horses they love? I did a quick analysis on Marry and we discussed her favorite horse of all time. We then did the same for me. Amazingly, the concept appeared true: riders and horses seemed happier with a partner who shared the same personality traits.

Of course we couldnt write a book based on an analysis of only two, so we started thinking about polling all our friends: I analyzed the person and Marry analyzed their favorite horse. Things just kept falling into place.

Next we came up some questionnaires that would help us analyze a bigger and unfamiliar group of people more quickly. The findings from the results were right on track with our theory. It appeared there really is a direct link between horse and rider because in most cases personality types were an exact match.

Unfortunately, we also discovered that many people found that favorite horse through much trial and error.

Finally, we went to various breeders and interviewed them (see successful in placing horses seemed to have one thing in common: they were able to match a horse to a rider (and vice versa). When we asked how they did this we always got the same response: I dont know how I know but I just know which horse is going to work for the customer. Interestingly, after they spent a day with us, our theory began to click for them too, and they began to understand how these matchups occurred: they had been subconsciously reading the people and matching their personalities to the correct horses.

Based on our findings, we believe horse and rider will be happier and more successful when both are in the correct relationship. We hope to enable you to understand the makeup of a human and of a horse and how the two fit together. Our goal through this knowledge, is to assist when you are:

• Looking to buy a great equine partner and need to know his traits in order to match your personalities or know if he is suitable for the riding discipline you want to pursue.