Form follows function: What are your goals?
One of the questions we ask on our adoption application is regarding your goals for the horse you’re adopting. During our interview process, we ask questions to further clarify this point.
Why is this so important?
Simply, we want to help ensure that the horse you adopt can do what it is you’d like to do. If you’re wanting to show hunters, we’re probably not going to recommend the Paso-cross as the best fit. If you want an easy keeper companion, we’re not going to adopt you the hard keeper Saddlebred who does not get along with other horses.
We’ve seen several social media posts this week of similar context: Why are genes and bloodlines important in competitive barrel racing? Why do people in search of certain types of horses say ‘no gaited horses’? How do I get my quarter horse mix to gait on trails?
Form follows function.
You can accentuate and elevate what’s there, but you can’t put in characteristics that are inherently not part of that particular horse’s make-up. Breed, genetics, temperament, fitness level and conformation all play a role in realistic expectations of whether or not a horse will be able to do the desired job.
If you want a competitive barrel horse, chances are, you’re not going to go buy a Tennessee Walker, Spotted Saddle Horse, or Belgian. Sure, any horse can learn the pattern. I had a little gaited horse that would lay down 19s and 20s with a kid jockey all day long. (That’s not fast, y’all). He’d win top 5’s at the local saddle club, and he was safe safe. But, we weren’t entering 3D races to try to win money and we weren’t trying to make the NFR. He wasn’t built or bred to go fast like a stock horse or thoroughbred. He was a smooth gaited trail machine and would turn around and win the country pleasure class and those were the places where he excelled – because that’s what he was designed to do.
Generally, if you’re just learning to ride, instructors are going to want a horse that trots for their lesson program. Learning footfalls and how to ride the trot are valuable skills that translate across so many breeds and disciplines that it’s not something you want to learn on the fly, 10 years after your first ride.
On the other hand, if you want to trail ride and you don’t like to post the trot or you’re dealing with old back injuries, you’re going to probably want that smooth gait that a Tennessee Walker, Foxtrotter, or Paso provides. While you can slow a quarter horse’s trot down and teach a horse to collect and properly use his body and be smoother than where he naturally started – you can’t put in the genes that enable them to do a smooth 4-beat gait of those breeds that have it.
Most breeds have a versatility or sport horse division where the hunters, speed horses, driving horses, and working cow horses can showcase their skill sets – but they compete against each other within the breed. (Have you ever watched draft horse barrel racing? Worth a YouTube search.) Again, any horse regardless of breed “can” be taught to do almost anything your heart desires, and there are some crosses and breeds that can compete as ‘outliers’ in a discipline often reserved for specific types. The bottom line is how competitive you want to be, at what level, and whether or not the horse’s conformation and temperament will agree with – and hold up to - the given discipline you’ve chosen.
From the perspective of a rescue organization - we want you to be happy with the horse you’re adopting. We want a lifetime of blue ribbons and joy, if that’s your ultimate goal. We don’t want to put human or horse into a situation where we’re setting either one up for disappointment (or in the horse’s case, unsoundness or a bad fit). Your answer to the question helps us ensure we’re doing the best for you as the adopter, and for the horse - which is our ultimate goal.
