The crazy, spooky Arabian. The dumb Warmblood who won’t stay sound. The runaway Thoroughbred with four bad feet. The stubborn pony.
I admit that, for some breeds, there is a grain of truth to these stereotypes, but that’s not because “they” are, by nature, “all like that.” No, it’s because we humans have meddled with natural selection for hundreds of years, trying to make horses taller, faster, or more fashionable. We’ve bred horses who are good at chasing cows, or good at jumping over tall fences. We’ve bred horses who can pull heavy carts, and horses who can cover long distances. As long as we also breed horses for long-term soundness, an agreeable disposition, and a functional way of moving, this is not a problem. But often, we neglect these goals and focus on creating a certain look instead, sacrificing function for fashion. We’ve bred Arabians with heads so refined that they suffer from respiratory conditions and sinus problems. We’ve made Quarter Horses’ feet so small they don’t support their massive, muscular bodies. We’ve bred horses with spectacular but unsustainable movement, and horses whose primary asset is a long, wavy mane or an unusual color. We have generated entire bloodlines with genetic defects that make horses unsound, or unsafe to ride. We’ve compromised longevity. It would be easy to blame irresponsible horse breeders who run the equine equivalent of puppy mills for this state of affairs, but it’s more complicated than that: prospective buyers want horses who will excel in their chosen sport, trainers want to train winning horses, and judges can only reward what they see. The entire horse industry is implicated in this sad situation.
But even if a horse is sound, and not crazy, or stubborn, or you-name-it by nature, it’s easy to make them that way - regardless of which breed they are. Keeping horses in box stalls 23 hours a day is still common practice in some equestrian subcultures, though daily turnout with other horses is the surest way to keep behavioral issues to a minimum. Training tools and shortcuts that don’t respect a horse’s physical and mental development are still considered the gold standard in many barns. So, ask yourself: is this horse spooky and tense because he is an Arabian, or could it be that he needs more play time and exercise? Is this horse prancy and jiggy because he is a Thoroughbred, or could it be that he never learned to relax with a rider on his back? Could his back be sore, because of saddle fit issues or for other reasons? Is this horse going around in a hollow frame, with his nose up in the air, because he is a Quarter Horse who just does not have any talent for dressage, or could it be because he’s been ridden in a tie-down when he was younger? Does this horse feel lazy and lumbering because he is a typical Warmblood, or is it because he has been ridden with nagging, relentless leg-aids all his life? Is this pony stubborn because he is a pony, or is it because he has been ridden by inexperienced kids and never learned what a rider’s aids really mean?
Like any prejudice, horse breed prejudice tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you treat the Arabian like he is crazy and untrustworthy, he will learn to act accordingly. If you pick a fight with your pony, you teach him to get better at arguing with you - which humans tend to interpret as stubborn. Would you use the same kind of dismissive, generalizing language about groups of people? I hope not. Let’s stop using it about groups of horses, too. It does not help anyone, least of all the horses.
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