Photo courtesy of Andrea Sartorati

Recently, I came across a fun little book called “Is Your Horse a Rock Star? Understanding Your Horse’s Personality.” I’ve always loved taking personality tests and of course I’ve been known to anthropomorphize on occasion.  So I was intrigued and excited to hear about this book, written by Dessa Hockley.  Dessa owns and operates Liberty Stables in Alberta and has been involved with horses for much of her life.  She has used this experience to develop classifications for horse personality types, and offers suggestions for training and building relationships with each type.  The premise is similar to the Myers-Briggs personality test used often in psychology.  There are four categories:  Dominant/Submissive, Energetic/Lazy, Curious/Afraid, Friendly/Aloof.  There are a number of questions for you to answer about your horse, such as “Is your horse interested in investigating new objects?”  Your answers are compiled to provide a personality type, based on the dominant combinations of the aforementioned traits.  There are sixteen cleverly titled variations of traits, like the Rock Star, the Boss, or the Prize Fighter.  The book provides a synopsis of each of the types and follows up with general training tips and a section on Do’s and Don’ts for each type. 

In addition to the book, Dessa also has a website with information on her stable and workshops that she offers.  There is also a chapter excerpt and links to reviews and news articles. One of the most fun things on her site is the horse personality quiz!  You can actually take the test online, but you need to get the book to see the complete description and get the training tips.  I took the test for Tiny, and she was defined as the Reluctant Rock Star – Dominant, Lazy, Curious, and Friendly.  Just as I’d guessed before taking the test!  Just for fun, I also took the test for one of my old show horses that I’d had some serious personality conflicts with (Zippo Par Three).  Predictably, he was the Macho Man – Dominant, Energetic, Curious, and Aloof.  I can’t wait to get the book so I can read the full descriptions and learn some tips on dealing with different horse personalities.

This looks like a great book and a fun topic to explore.  It is well written by a horsewoman with a great deal of experience and the illustrations are fantastic!  I highly recommend this book for any horse lover that would like to learn more about their horse’s personality.

I’ve been barrel racing off and on for about 17 years, but I still look for new tips and techniques any time I can get them.  I’ve really only ridden 2 gamers, so I don’t consider myself too experienced.  I picked up this book, Charmayne James on Barrel Racing (Western Horseman Books), a few years back because I was looking for some tips on at home conditioning of my barrel horse.  The book is a solid overview of what it takes to be a successful barrel racer, and includes chapters on choosing the right horse for the job, conditioning, nutrition, gaining show experience, mental and physical preparation for the rider, and troubleshooting, among other things.  There are lots of great photos of Charmayne and her dream team of horses, and the book is full of diagrams and illustrations. 

Overall, this book was a good purchase as a reference book to keep on hand.  To be honest, it didn’t really provide me with anything NEW.  If you are a beginner to the sport of barrel racing, or someone looking for a refresher in the basics, I would highly recommend this book.  It has a great deal to offer if you are training a horse to run barrels, like lots of little exercises to gain control over his body.  It even has a troubleshooting section with case studies examining common problems.  However, if you’re looking for more detail, such as a conditioning program or advanced exercises, you might want to keep looking.  One thing I found irksome about the book is that Charmayne’s conditioning program suggests that a rider “plan to spend an hour and a half with your horse each day, at a minimum”  five to six days per week to achieve fitness.  I’m sorry, but that is certainly not realistic for me, or for most non-professionals.  I don’t think that my horse needs 90 minutes of conditioning per day to run a 15 second pattern.  I think that excellent conditioning can be achieved with a carefully designed fitness program that will fit in better for the average rider that works and has a family.  I’ll definitely keep this book on my bookshelf, but I’m going to keep searching for a reference that is a little more advanced and has a more practical conditioning program.