How did you choose a discipline for your horse?

Many people seem to buy a horse so they can pursue a chosen discipline.  They buy a dressage horse or a Western pleasure horse.  Ideally, the horse is physically suited to the discipline of their choice.  That is all very well and good, but what about the horse’s mental capability for a discipline?

When I first bought a horse, I wasn’t sure which discipline I wanted to pursue.  To be honest, I liked them all!  I envisioned myself doing hunter/jumper or enjoying the methodology of dressage.  Yet many of the Western events also appealed to me.  How to choose?  Finally, I decided to buy a horse that was physically versatile so I wouldn’t have to make up my mind right away.

None of the many books and articles I read about choosing a horse mentioned whether I should consider the mental capabilities of a horse.  So many breeds were touted as being suitable for virtually any discipline, from Saddlebreds to Quarter Horses to Icelandic Horses.  It was implied that proper training is the key to using any horse for anything you wish, so long as the horse could physically manage the work.  With the right trainer, your horse could do anything!

     Some horses with energetic personalities will excel at endurance and long distance riding.

Why do we assume that horses are similar enough in personality that they will put up with disciplines that require slow, methodical work while at the same time being suitable for fast-paced, intense problem solving?  How is the same horse capable both of patient, repetitive drilling that requires strict obedience, and also completely bold, independent thinking and decision making?

It is my opinion that people are less willing to put up with major differences between individual horses than they are willing to put up with major differences between dog breeds.  Dog trainers are not going to expect to train Border Collies, Irish Setters and Bloodhounds in the same manner as Bulldogs and Pekingese.  Yet horses are often expected to conform to the discipline of our choosing, and we deem them as unstable or failures if they do not excel.

Why not choose a discipline for your horse that is suitable for who he is rather than for what you wish he was?

Cassie, a Connemara/Standardbred cross did not inherit the usual level-headed sensibility of either breed.  An extreme athlete, she requires a patient, bold rider.