ACTHA Monthly September 2015 | Page 38

Picking Your Perfect Partner: Tips for Choosing Your Next Horse

ACTHA Monthly | September 2015 | 38

By Pat Parelli

Whether you’re looking for your first horse or simply your next horse, the process almost always begins with a dream, along with an endless series of questions:

What am I looking for? Which breed? Which color? Which size? Which temperament? What are my goals? Do I want a horse who’s never been ridden, or a horse who’s far more experienced than me?

Over the past three and a half decades, I’ve seen

Photo by Coco

many people who have been unfortunately mismatched with very nice horses. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with the horse or the human; it was simply a case of mismatching. The purpose of this article is helping you avoid such a situation.

That’s why it’s always important for us to remember that we have a choice when we’re picking out a horse; we aren’t just picking out a pretty animal. We’re picking our next partner. Some people seem to have the Midas Touch, consistently choosing perfect partners for themselves. Others… well,