As A Pet

ALEX: We were looking at some horses here that are very happy with people around them, with dogs around them. They all have their own personality.

I think there’s a misjudgment by people that don’t have horses who say they don’t have any personality. They do, and the most gratifying thing about being around a horse is spending years with them — not just days — but years, because you grow attached to them and they grow attached to you.

And as you go through these different things in the barn, or your different competitions — you travel all around the southeast roping — you’ve got three or four horses that you’ve become accustomed to, and they to you, I imagine.

STEVE: Yes. A good personality reflects the relationship you have with your horse. What I do is I find the horse that I like, I train them the way I want them to be trained and I use them for heading or heeling, this sort of thing. I’ve got one I use for that, and I’ve got one I use for the heeling.

And as they develop and get older, their personalities change. They learn more. You have more interaction with them, and you find a lot more enjoyment from the company you have with them. So they reflect your personality, you reflect their personality and it’s a good team partnership.

ALEX: I think the other part of it is figuring out those nuances while training a horse. Part of the job is to figure out what is agreeable to them, what works for them and what works for you, so it’s a bond of horse and rider, which is extremely important.