Today let’s take a look at the Wood horse personality type. The element Wood in Traditional Chinese Medicine relates to, among other things, the liver and gallbladder, the eyes, connective tissue and, emotionally … anger (uh oh). I guess in the name of learning all about horses, figuring out their anger component is as important as anything else.
Interesting implications there for a horse, huh?
Valentine (Val for short) is a 7-year-old Mustang mare owned by, yep you guessed it, my friend Stephanie. Val was Stephanie’s second Mustang and was adopted as a baby. She is, as this blog’s title implies, a unique color, which one doesn’t really see in domesticated horses and which isn’t so common in the wild either. She’s what’s called a “grulla,” a gorgeous pewter-like color that sometimes gleams grey, sometimes bronze’ish, and she has a dark dorsal stripe running down her back. She is also very large for a Mustang, and quite talented (when she wants to be), so attracts a lot of attention and admiration at the jumping shows she competes in. And she usually wins. That is if she doesn’t decide to dump Stephanie first.
But back to the attributes of the Wood horse. Here are a few of Dr. Madalyn Ward’s comments about same in her book, Horse Harmony–Understanding Horse Types and Temperaments:
Personality: “The Ultimate Competitor”
Motto: “I WILL Win!”
… tremendous presence … naturally bold and often has a strong, muscular conformation …
You can feel the power of a Wood horse when you ride him. He loves to be physically active and challenged … On the ground [his] competitive nature will cause him to push you just to see if he can get away with a particular behavior, and if you do not handle this right away he might literally walk right over you. The same is true under saddle, as he is constantly testing the limits, and he will begin to pay attention only when you step up and set boundaries. With a Wood horse a boundary is a dynamic phenomenon that is open to discussion, but once you set it firmly it will only take a quick reminder to convince him that you mean now, tomorrow, and always.
These horses are tremendously athletic and have a mind of their own. They are not particularly eager to please or responsive to affection, so gaining their respect is key. They get bored easily so need to be worked consistently, and they are often very alpha in the herd — and not always a kind alpha.
Valentine demonstrated all of these traits early on when as a yearling she kicked Stephanie in the stomach at feeding time. After chasing her around the paddock and throwing feed buckets at her for a while, and then taking two or three days to recover, Stephanie asked me to talk to Val to make sure she understood there were lines never to be crossed, ever again.
Val listened, rather indifferently, showing me clearly how wild-at-heart she still was, and how alpha, but she “got” it and more or less agreed. And she has never laid hoof or tooth on Stephanie again. Because of her talent and size and yes, her independent nature, she is well suited to be one of Stephanie’s favorites, Stephanie being rather a maverick type herself. But they still go round and round not infrequently, and Stephanie really has to lay down the law and beef up her aids when she rides in order to remind Val of her job and who’s boss.
Even then, as happened not long ago, for some off-the-wall reason known only to Val, she will head out into the show ring and dump Stephanie before the first jump, thereby disqualifying them of course. Go figure!
Most of the time Valentine flies, and Stephanie sails, and they win, and it is all worthwhile!
The moral of this blog?
Don’t get a Wood horse, especially a Mustang Wood horse, unless you are up to an ongoing, supreme challenge, and unless you know ALL about horses!
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