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.
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.