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paint question--kind of long

4K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  wild_spot 
#1 ·
I'm new here (intro in appropriate forum) and have a questions about paints, particularly bald faced, blue eyed paints. Forgive me if this gets a little long, I want to include as much detail as I can.

My daughter rides an 18 year old paint horse with a bald face and one blue eye. He's about 14.2 hh, and has the disposition of a labrador. He's extremely sweet, affectionate, and loves attention. Yesterday during her lesson the kids were trotting a barrel pattern (something they've done many times) and if they were able to trot the entire pattern, they could lope back after the 3rd barrel. My daughter and her lesson horse make an extraordinarly pair, and the horse really does well for her. She also wants to barrel race eventually so this is one of her favorite activities. I think her body language has a lot do with what happened next. After coming around the 3rd barrel, she gave him a cue and little nudge, and he took off--fast. Way beyond a lope. It took her a little while (half the distance of the arena) to bring herself to be able to do a one rein stop, but she managed, and stayed on, still smiling, but slightly humbled. The instructor allowed her to collect herself, then had her do the barrels at a walk this time, and she had to work to keep the horse at a walk. Then she had her lope around the arena again, to make sure she and the horse were still working together.

I trust this instructor a lot, and honestly, I wasn't scared watching, nor was my daughter scared while it happened. This is not the typical behavior for this horse, who is usually an avanced beginner level horse. He has been trained much higher than he's used for but usually does beginners because of his dispostion.

So I sent pictures out of her lesson yesterday because I take pictures most of the time, and she called all the relatives to tell them about her wild ride. She was in great spirits despite not having total control yesterday. I got an email back from a relative that used to have horses telling me that bald faced, blue eyed horses have wild streak, and I should ask for my daughter to ride another horse.

First of all, she'd be crushed--she adores this horse. Secondly, I raise labradors and this comment to me is a lot like the "Chocolate labs are hyper and out of control" comment I hear often. I just wanted some insight regarding that statement. Personally I don't think the horse is wild, I've seen him bring my daughter a long way in the last year. I honestly think that her "go attitude" and body language are responsible for his little run yesterday. She has been loping for about 2 months on him and has been really under control. Another factor that might play into this is that all 3 horses were a little giddy yesterday because they hadn't been in the outdoor arena in a while.

Sorry for the length, and if this is misplaced. I just wanted to get as many details out there so you understood the situation and could better answer the question.
 
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#2 ·
I have been around many bald face blue eyed paints each were as individual as any other horse some were so calm a freight train couldn't budge them others were high strung then others somewhere in the middle. The point I am getting at is color is no indicator of attitude, breeding is but not color. I would not have my daughter change horses if the instructor feels he is calm enough for beginners considering his advanced training I would stick with him.


BTW I've also owned both yellow and chocolate labs, the yellow was spastic the chocolate a couch potato.
 
#3 ·
Thanks. That's kind of what I was thinking. This horse is a total pocket pony, and if you rub him behind his eyes, under his ears, you can put him to sleep. I really think it was her "high" to be doing barrels at a faster pace that gave him the extra go.
 
#5 ·
Having the experience with similar comments in the dog world, I assumed as much. I just don't know enough about horses to not ask. As far as breeding goes, I just don't know. I learned that he was bred for western pleasure, so his conformation leans that direction, and he was raised a lot like a dog as foal, so he's very nosey and "in your bubble" as my daughter says. She's had to learn to correct him a lot for that, but now he doesn't push it there anymore. It amazes me how much control a 7 year old can have over an animal his size. He's a popular horse with the young girls because he's so affectionate, and he loves the grooming attention he gets from everyone who rides him. I'll post pictures eventually, but I can't access them from work so it'll have to wait until this evening.

I appreciate the comments. It confirms what I thought originally.
 
#6 ·
Each horse is as individual as a person. I have encountered many blue-eyed, bald-faced paints, and they've all been as different as can be.

Honestly, your question has been answered. She may have just knocked her foot into him a little hard, or he might have been nipped at by another horse in the pasture and was sore.

Or, he might have been zoned out - a lesson horse trotting the pattern? I'm sure he does it all day every day. She might have just startled him.

I'd say no need for worry. :]
 
#7 ·
saying that color affects horses is like saying color affects people.
Actually, little piece of trivia:

Bald faces are said to have the cancer gene as well as grey horses.

This dosen't mean they will get cancer but it does mean that they have a higher chance than let's say a sorrel.

This is not made up. There have been many tests. All come up positive. Our bald-faced grey horse had cancer. Died.

Sorry, not trying to scare OP. :D
 
#11 ·
I appreciate the answers. You have confirmed what I thought, but I just didn't have the backround to know for sure. I really do trust this instructor to make the best match of horse to kid, so I'm not going to ask to change. I think that would be just silly.
Here is a picture of them the first time they loped together.


And the smile on my daughter's face as they came around by me:
 
#16 ·
I honestly don't think there's a problem with riding a bald faced, blue eyed horse. There are superstitions about sorrels being hyper, etc, etc, etc, when in reality, a horse's color or markings does not determine its temperament or ability. However, some horse people do believe that black feet tend to be harder than light feet, or more brittle than light feet. If this was true, you would expect to see a noticeable difference in health and lameness of different colored horses. The same goes for bald-faced, blue eyed paints. I wouldn't worry. Also, trust your trainer. If she says your daughter should try another horse, try another horse. If not, don't. Has the paint worked well in the past? Ever acted up before? There could very well have been a horsefly that bit him that caused him to react by bolting. As you probably know, the instinct for a horse is 'flight, not fight.' The rider could have been tense or ahead of the horse's movement and the horse picked up on it, or, as you mentioned, he might just have been raring to go at being in the outdoor arena....you never know. I wouldn't worry about it;)
 
#17 ·
I honestly don't think there's a problem with riding a bald faced, blue eyed horse. There are superstitions about sorrels being hyper, etc, etc, etc, when in reality, a horse's color or markings does not determine its temperament or ability. However, some horse people do believe that black feet tend to be harder than light feet, or more brittle than light feet. If this was true, you would expect to see a noticeable difference in health and lameness of different colored horses. The same goes for bald-faced, blue eyed paints. I wouldn't worry. Also, trust your trainer. If she says your daughter should try another horse, try another horse. If not, don't. Has the paint worked well in the past? Ever acted up before? There could very well have been a horsefly that bit him that caused him to react by bolting. As you probably know, the instinct for a horse is 'flight, not fight.' The rider could have been tense or ahead of the horse's movement and the horse picked up on it, or, as you mentioned, he might just have been raring to go at being in the outdoor arena....you never know. I wouldn't worry about it;)
This horse had been a perfect match for my daughter. I don't doubt the trainer matching them, I just wanted to know (which has been answered many times, exactly as I had expected) if there was any truth to the wild bald faced horses statement. He's a really sweet horse, and I think my daughter would be heartbroken to not ride him again.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Just a quick comment on the "cancer gene" post--

There CAN be animals (including peole) who inherit a gene or genes making them more susceptible to cancer (which is abnormal uncontrollable growth of cells). However in most cases, it is not that not that bald faced/blue eyed horses, or greys, have a "cancer gene".

With the bald faced/blue eyed horses, it is like in fair skinned people--- fairer skin is more vulnerable to sun damage because there is less melanin (pigment) protecting the skin cells. Thus, the environmental damage can cause cells to be altered, and respond by growing in a cancerous way. Bald faced horses have pink skin on their faces rather than pigmented skin, thus they are more vulnerable to cancerous growth caused by sun damage.

With grey horses, it is NOT lack of melanin-- as grey horses (assuming they do not also have pink skinned areas caused by other genes/patterns) have normal dark pigmented skin under their white coats. Ther problem is somewhat the opposite. The gene which causes greying shuts off the melanin from entering the hair shafts, so as a 'grey' horse ages its dark hairs are gradually replaced by white hair. The melanin continues to be produced however. The tumors that some grey horses get appear to be little pockets of collected compressed melanin. This type of 'cancer' is uslally benign and usually not life threataning-- although if tumors occur inside the body and constrict organs and/or compromise body functions, it can be fatal.
 
#21 · (Edited)
It's like saying all blonds are dumb. Brains are NOT grouped with color when it comes to genes.

Since I breed Labs, I hear the chocolate's are dumb, blacks are hyper and yellows are laid back comments all the time. Just as I said previously, the brain gene is not connected to the color genes.
 
#22 ·
Sounds like he just got excited, probably knew it was close to the end of the lesson. She could have startled him a little, too, who knows! Horses can have a little spark of energy now and then, it made your daughter a better rider to have that experience. I know whenever my horses that I was riding at that age did something a little funky, I learned something. :)

He is ADORABLE, too! Hope they have a lot of fun together down the road!
 
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