In my day job I spend time helping people discover more about themselves. Who they are, how they tick, how they are motivated and how they approach life.
I have access to many tools, inventories, questionnaires to help with this process of discovery.
Yet, with most people we reach a point of information overload; noticeable by the "so what, now what" syndrome. These questions when posed at the right time are a positive sign that we're getting somewhere.
Inevitably, what happens to most of us is that after a period of naval gazing, introspection, soliciting feedback and gaining insight we are left confused. "How do I put all this data together"?
The experience can be the same when we 'assess' our horses. With an increase in the popularity of taking human, corporate and psychological principles such as 'personality type' and transferring them onto our horses, is it any wonder that it's long term effectiveness gets called into question? If it is hard for us to assimilate about ourselves, can it really have value when applied to our horses?
Does it really help me communicate, connect with and show compassion to a horse if I know he/she is an Introvert or extrovert? I believe that if we look at such labels in isolation, they remain just labels and have a limited shelf life. However, if (as with our human personality factors) we consider them as simply wardrobe accessories, with each factor existing in its own right to be used as and when needed, for different occasions, then we don't fall foul to the tendency of 'summing up' personality - human or horse. It is in the 'summing up' that we loose all the detail and intrigue. Sometimes the sum of the whole isn't greater than the individual parts, let's learn to notice and respect each and every individual part.
If we want to learn the various 'horse-anality' models available to u, a quick pause to assess our intention might be enlightening. The love, respect and 'followership' we desire from our horses rarely (in my view) comes when we pass man made exams to prove our knowledge of the latest technique.
Next time we find ourself 'labelling' our horse as this type or another, let's remember to add on 'today' at the end of the sentence. Be fair to our horses. He / she can wear any manner of accessory dependent on mood, weather, environment, stimulus, stress, human interaction etc. Most humans hate being labelled, boxed and categorised finding it disrespectful and never the full story. Why on earth should our horses respond any differently?
Besides which doesn't the beauty of being with animals rest in the simplicity and transparency they offer us both in how they chose to interact with each other and in their acceptance of us and our ways? Why would we disrespect that by fixing human labels onto a non human species who in all honesty probably knows much more about who they are, than we do, without any need to complete psycho-metrics or fall into a convenient 4 box model?
I have access to many tools, inventories, questionnaires to help with this process of discovery.
Yet, with most people we reach a point of information overload; noticeable by the "so what, now what" syndrome. These questions when posed at the right time are a positive sign that we're getting somewhere.
Inevitably, what happens to most of us is that after a period of naval gazing, introspection, soliciting feedback and gaining insight we are left confused. "How do I put all this data together"?
The experience can be the same when we 'assess' our horses. With an increase in the popularity of taking human, corporate and psychological principles such as 'personality type' and transferring them onto our horses, is it any wonder that it's long term effectiveness gets called into question? If it is hard for us to assimilate about ourselves, can it really have value when applied to our horses?
Does it really help me communicate, connect with and show compassion to a horse if I know he/she is an Introvert or extrovert? I believe that if we look at such labels in isolation, they remain just labels and have a limited shelf life. However, if (as with our human personality factors) we consider them as simply wardrobe accessories, with each factor existing in its own right to be used as and when needed, for different occasions, then we don't fall foul to the tendency of 'summing up' personality - human or horse. It is in the 'summing up' that we loose all the detail and intrigue. Sometimes the sum of the whole isn't greater than the individual parts, let's learn to notice and respect each and every individual part.
If we want to learn the various 'horse-anality' models available to u, a quick pause to assess our intention might be enlightening. The love, respect and 'followership' we desire from our horses rarely (in my view) comes when we pass man made exams to prove our knowledge of the latest technique.
Next time we find ourself 'labelling' our horse as this type or another, let's remember to add on 'today' at the end of the sentence. Be fair to our horses. He / she can wear any manner of accessory dependent on mood, weather, environment, stimulus, stress, human interaction etc. Most humans hate being labelled, boxed and categorised finding it disrespectful and never the full story. Why on earth should our horses respond any differently?
Besides which doesn't the beauty of being with animals rest in the simplicity and transparency they offer us both in how they chose to interact with each other and in their acceptance of us and our ways? Why would we disrespect that by fixing human labels onto a non human species who in all honesty probably knows much more about who they are, than we do, without any need to complete psycho-metrics or fall into a convenient 4 box model?
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