A variant of Metal?

[rvergouwen]

Hello! I'm moving this from a post in a different topic to try and dissern Personality Type fits my horse. The problem I may be having is analyzing his personality now, when he's 15, versus when he was a young guy and still "fresh" without all the wear & tear of a life of a competition barrel horse!

Chance's type - I'm confused!!
I purchased both 5 Type & 6 Temperament books, and I think I'm even more uncertain which type Chance is!!
In the 5 types (book), he was strong Metal, however there were some discrepancies, such as HOOVES - his are thinner walled (and flat), and have had trouble (which may have lead to lameness) with keeping them upright - he's prone to underslung heels/long toes. Of course some of that was not corrected properly early on due to improper farrier care.

HERD BEHAVIOR - he is certainly the alpha here & now, takes care of the younger horses (they like him), and is pretty strict on how he runs things (Yang Ming?). He gets stiff when uptight or "on the fight". Contrary to the Tia Yin, he's not heavy set or slow - he's more lanky, but THICK (16HH and 1250# when fit) and he is athletic. He's bred both cowy & racy. His sire was a successful working cow horse, and when bred to race-bred mares (Special Effort/Chickle Book), has produced some very famous (Canadian) offspring running barrels (Deb Renger's "Reiner" & "Chick" that won Calgary's $50,000 several times, are very closely related to my horses - from same breeder). He does not seem to be a poor keeper as Yang Ming suggests, but he is prone to poor/dry hair coat (dry) and hooves. He LOVES beet pulp & grain. I've shied away from alfalfa due to allergic response, for many years. I've not known (or been aware) of him having ulcers and not diarrhea. He does have arthritic changes and I've had both upper suspensory and hock soreness issues - I think the latter first, and then suspensory as compensatory injury. (I wonder, in hindsight, if this was caused by improper hoof management not correcting the underslung heels.) There are some arthritic changes in his hock xrays, but the greatest condition finally found by xray, was a bone spur, which may have been from a hock injury (wire cut/wound) many years ago. (He was injected ONCE when I was caught at a weak moment by a convincing vet, when he was maybe 8YO - it did not help anything.) He does not have an overly long back in my opinion. The hock & suspensory problems have meant he's prone to a sore lower back & SI. We've treated the spur with ESWT, however he seems to have residual problem somewhere as he's reading (energy) for a Chinese Formula for bone spurs, arthritis, calcifications, etc.

After writing all the above I think(?) he fits best to be "mostly" a Metal (he sounds similar to "Chris" in your book) and he is tough, aloof, retains his training well and has lung issues!, I've owned him a long time and we have a good relationship, but he's not overly affectionate! or possibly a Yang Ming due to the good babysitter, quick to discipline demanding respect from young horses. He is not the prettiest (I think he's very handsome ) but I would just say a plain head - he's not ugly. He's pretty darn fast and very strong. As a young horse he did buck me off on occasion

Overall I'm not sure if he was prone to his problems by type or if I just didn't take good enough care of his nutrition & maintenance (Feet) while he was competing and hauling hard.

Thank you in advance for helping on this. I could post a photo if it might help.
Rhonda

[mward]

Rhonda,
I would love to see a photo of Chance. From what you have told me I believe Yang Ming is the best fit. My Yang Ming has feet just like you describe. His coat can also get very dry if he does not get some fat in his diet. Yang Ming horse temperaments don't do well on much alfalfa but if they don't have access to grass they can get a flake or so a day. My Yang Ming has done very well with the Other Products chia seeds. I give him more than the other horses, 1/4 cup a day.

It seems to take the Yang Ming horses more time to recover from injuries and illness and this may be because they continue to work when they are sick or stressed. Like the Metal horse they have a high pain tolerance and this allows problems to become more advanced before they are detected. Madalyn

[rvergouwen]

Thank you so much for your assistance analyzing Chance.
I found a profile pic of him when he was 6. He filled out more after this, reaching mature height/weight at 7.

Chance as 6YO

chance2-2000.jpg (117.84 KiB) Viewed 144 times

I look forward to finding a Chai seed supplier!
Respectfully,
Rhonda

[mward]

Rhonda,
From the picture I still think Yang Ming for Chance. Let us know if you find a good chia source in Canada. Madalyn

[rvergouwen]

Thanks Madalyn - so far, no luck on Chai in Canada.
Do you find that this typing of horses often follows genetically in bloodlines? I am wondering if my full sib to Chance is indeed the same type. He acts alot like Chance, and looks alot like Chance. I know of a couple other full sibs and they, too are very similar.

[mward]

Rhonda,
Sorry I missed your question the first time I read your message. I do see lines of horses that tend to be a certain type but you can't count on it when you breed horses. This is one reason I am excited about the Five Element typing system. We are currently training a pilot group who will be able to type young stock and channel them into appropriate careers. So even if a certain breeding program normally turns out horses perfect for a certain job those who are not typical can be redirected to other jobs so money is not wasted on their training and they are not labeled as failures simply because they don't fit a certain mold.
I am also excited about our new http://www.horseharmony.com/swap/ page where mismatched horses can be sold or traded into more appropriate homes. Madalyn

[rvergouwen]

Thank you Madalyn -- The swap sounds like a great idea!
Next will be typing myself (first attempt said Fire - eeks) and finding out which horses I match with best. Right now riding 5 x 3 year olds and there are certainly ones I like better than others. Not fair to judge them when some of it may well be personality clashes!

I really enjoy your horse typing books!

I have also learned to spell CHIA (I think I've had too many chai lattes).
Thanks again,
Rhonda