POINT OF VIEW L
istening to conversations describing which charac- teristics owners or would-be owners choose to de- scribe their horses can be very enlightening. Which dimension they use to relate to them can provide some great insights.
Considering these dimensions can be helpful when we
set out to buy a horse. Will our choice of words define him/ her as: our friend for life, a bay horse or a pinto; a ‘cheapie’ or a $100,000 horse; a great moving horse or a flat-footer, an Arabian-Saddlebred cross by The Great One or a Pfalz- Rhinelander by Duckelsteinbarrenberger the Third; an en- durance prospect or a future Olympian; the white flying stallion/big ‘Alpha’ mare of your dreams; or the one so ugly that only his/her mother (you) can love. Or perhaps he is so afflict- ed by his circumstances that only you can save him and restore him to good health. Finally, is this the one horse whose gener- ous soul will help yours in creating that lit- tle bit of artistry we all deserve in our lives? The dimension(s) we refer to our horse in will create the limits of our relationship. So, let’s review how this ‘dimensional evalua- tion’ works.
The Graphic Dimension We look up an ad on the internet and we can see the prospect’s colors, read the height indicated and guess the proportions of the body. However, buying a horse based on those physical characteristics would be like getting a wife (or husband) from a picture and assume that s/he can cook, be a great parent, etc. I once bought a pinto stallion for a client over the phone based on a picture he saw in a magazine. The horse was of a breed I am not very familiar with. My cli- ent thought this young stallion looked good enough and did not warrant a plane trip for us to go check him out in person. (For this buyer, a well-marked champion show horse was enough.) The horse was bought and delivered and was everything I expected, except for the two qualities no photo can indicate: he was very much wanting in both soundness and good disposition. Out of the 80 stallions I bought for this gentleman over the years (of many different breeds), this one was the least sound of all. He also nearly killed me with a double bar- rel kick to the chest when I was long-lining him. The
By JP Giacomini Six Dimensions of the Human-Horse Relationship
lesson this horse taught me was to never assume any- thing about a horse from just his looks or the medals won!
“A horse’s price means nothing because his value to the owner is relative to the
owner’s appreciation of the horse.”
The Money Dimension We often hear people discussing horses by the price they command, sometimes as if they were simply an appli- ance. However, prices are no sure sign of horse quality. Price also depends very much on who the buyer is, mean- ing a good rider can buy a talented horse cheap because nobody else has the ‘key’ to the horse’s problem. Vice ver- sa, a horse that can tolerate a really incompetent rider or, better yet, win while packing him/her, is worth a fortune to that person! A trainer I know told me the following
story: his customer/student was a doctor determined to become a successful ama- teur-owner jumping competitor, in spite of his late start in the sport and a very busy schedule that limited regular train- ing. The combination of those handicaps made it quite difficult to find the man a horse. Eventually, the trainer discovered a handsome packer who was tolerant of the
man’s uncontrollable hands and quietly jumped courses without losing his form or his steady rhythm. The man agreed to pay $100,000 for the horse and went home happy. After a few successful shows, he asked his trainer/ horse dealer how much could he get for his 100K horse on the open market. The trainer answered: “About 10K, because he is not that fancy as far as open competition goes.” The client answered that, to him, the horse was worth a million anyway and would never be sold because this was the first horse he ever rode who didn’t scare him silly in the show ring. A horse’s price means nothing because his value to the owner is relative to the owner’s appreciation of the horse.
The Plastique Dimension Movement is the next level of reference for riders who know a little bit more. Everybody tries to find or breed, the perfect straight knee Quarter Horse; high-kneed Hackney; springy, suspended dressage horse; or floating hunter. One time, in my twenties, I decided to look for a really great moving dressage prospect. Some astute bro- ker told me she knew of an exceptional one. Off we went to see this marvel. This big guy could float across the
Warmbloods Today 75
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