Your Perfect Horse

I saw this particular blog hop from the900facebookpony who got it from hellomylivia. I found it to be a pretty interesting topic, as I noticed from both of them that their own horses had a pretty significant number of the qualities from their "perfect horse". As I thought about it, I realized that a lot of my "perfect horse" qualities mirror Charmer's too. It's kind of a chicken or the egg thing. Not sure if I wanted these particular qualities in the first place, and that is why Charmer has stuck around this long, or if Charmer made me really love and value his particular qualities.

1. Color and Size

Right off the bat though, I can tell you one thing that I would hands down have in my dream horse. Chrome. Doesn't have to be anything massive, but like a sock, or a snip or blaze or something!

Fake chrome

I pretend he has chrome by putting white boots on him but it is not quite the same. Now I have accepted Charmer's lack of white, and actually find it pretty cute - plus I never have to whiten a sock or anything when it comes time for a show. Also it has given me a vast range of options for tack. When your horse is a plain jane, blank slate, you can deck him out in pretty much any and all colors and it looks great. Too much color can be overwhelming on a horse that is already pretty flashy.

You just can't wear bright turquoise on every horse

Nonetheless, I would definitely at least get like a blaze on my dream horse. And then I want something at least 16hh. I feel more comfortable on something at least in the 16hh range, and my max is probably 17hh. Charmer is just the right size for me. He is a nice 16.1-16.2, with a good thickness. And then I would love for my perfect horse to be an easier keeper (coughcoughdefinitelynotCharmercoughcough). It would definitely be a little lot easier on my bank account.

2. Scope

Then of course I want scope, but honestly I don't want something absurdly scopey. Like I don't need something that jumps-5-feet-over-the-crossrail scopey. I want something that long term has an acceptable amount of scope for at least prelim, maybe intermediate. As it stands right now, I can't think of going bigger than that. Maybe one day I will, but for my current level, my dream horse has an acceptable amount of scope, but it doesn't need to be a horse or anything. Like can cruise comfortably around 4' and do singles of up to maybe 4'6" or so. But I don't need anything that can course at 1.50. Those jumps are definitely out of my league.

Definitely acceptable scope

Charmer may not be absurdly scopey, but he cruises around my 2'9" rounds with plenty of room to spare, and has free jumped up to 4'3" with room to spare, so I definitely think he will check my boxes scope wise, and he doesn't really ever feel the need to excessively overjump anything. If his knees were snappier, he would hardly have to put in any effort at all.

3. Cuddly (and Goofy)

Personality wise, I really love a horse that is just oozing personality from their pores. Goofy, cuddly and sweet. 

No shortage of cuddles from this goofy kid

Charmer definitely checks the box on this one. I've had horses and dealt with horses that, while they enjoy their job, would generally prefer if you would leave them alone otherwise. If they are good enough at their job, I could get past it, but a horse that loves to be loved, and groomed and just generally hang out together is so fun! Plus it helps when they are a little bit of a ham. You can have a bad ride or a bad day, but a goofy horse never fails to make you laugh.

He's a good sport about being cuddled 24/7

4. Photogenic

This one sounds a little dumb, but photogenic. I love looking at pictures of my horse, I print them out, and frame them, and I want to get some canvases made, and I love to share pictures of my horse with others. My horse is about 95% of my life, and I enjoy sharing pictures of my best boy with the world. And it helps when the pictures actually come out cute!

Photogenic is his middle name

Charmer is a total poser. I swear to people that he preforms better if he hears a camera shutter. He knows when a camera is around he loves to look good. I always get comments on how photogenic he is! (now if only I could be a little more photogenic......)

5. Movement

And then of course, movement. I want to sit on a horse and at least feel like it has pretty decent movement, and can put its head down and work for a dressage test pretty easily.

Lil' stretchy trot

Charmer is clearly not the best mover in the world, but he has acceptable enough movement to get us some nice dressage scores, and the horse definitely knows how to put his head down when he works which I love.

And also their movement has to be responsive. I hate horses that take approximately 7.4 years to react to your aids. This especially applies to forward. Oh my goodness, I cannot stand a horse that you have to pony club kick every time you want it to canter! I don't want anything that runs away with you constantly either, but something that springs up when you ask for a little more. There is nothing better than that feeling on cross country where you have a gallop stretch and ask for your horse to open up a little bit and they respond with "don't have to ask me twice!". 

Definitely don't have to ask him twice

Charmer ticks this box without even a second thought. The horse won on the racetrack for a reason, he likes to go fast. He is learning that other speeds can be fun too, but fast is his favorite place to be!

6. Work Ethic

Last but not definitely not least is work ethic. I love a horse that shows up every single day and wants to work. They may not know exactly what you are asking, or they might do it wrong, or they might be naughty sometimes, but a horse that shows up to work is so much fun. 

Loving his job

I want a horse that always shows up to work, whether my version of "work" is jumping around a BN cross country course, or if it is hacking around bareback. Charmer is one who is always game for any of it, and is always happy to come greet me at the gate saying "so what are we doing today??"

Splashing through water is a fun job too

All in all, I look at this list and I see a horse that ticks every box except for the chrome. And you know what? Chrome is a lot less important to me than anything else on that list. Plus I think that my horse is pretty freaking cute, even without a lick of white on him. And he is pretty fun to dress up, which makes up for the lack of chrome in my book.