Dealing with a new horse can be quite a challenge. From past experience, I know that new horses are complicated and you should not expect anything from them including proper ground manners such as not biting, kicking, etc. Whether you are in first contact with a horse on the ground or in the riding ring, there are distinct physical characteristics that may help determine his personality before you handle him in any way. "This ability to determine character is useful when determining how to train a horse. Is he basically a slow or fast learner? If he is slow, lessons may have to be repeated often and made very clear. If he is a fast learner he will be easily bored by repitition that is generally said to be necessary to train a horse. A smart horse who is bored often looks for ways to amuse himself--not always to the advantage of the trainer" (Tellington-Jones 15-16).

According to the Tellington-Jones method of training, the best way to predict a horse's personality is to study the physical characteristics of the horse's head (15-20). All information on horse personality is taken from The Tellington-Hones Equine Awareness Method. The steps of evaluating physical characteristics of a horses head are listed below. In addition, there are pictures which I scanned from this book along with the descriptions given so that you can see how physical characteristics can determine a horse's personality. These pictures are located at the bottom of this page.

First of all, inspect the ears of the horse. How large or small are they? What is their shape? If your horse has ears that are set close together on his head or ears that are shorter than other horses in his breed, he is likely hard to handle and "unreliable"(16). If the horse is "lop-eared" he is most likely dependable.

Next look at the horses eyes. Are they close together or far apart? How alert are they? Do the whites of the eyes show expressing fear? In general, a horse with large round eyes is a friendly horse whereas a horse with small eyes is a horse that is tempermental (15). The eyes are the most expressive part of the horse's body. I've worked with many horses, and you can tell their personality from the emotions they express. If the eyes are wide open and alert, the horse is smart and quick thinking. If they are half closed and not so alert, the horse is probably bored with life and has had their spirit beaten out of them. The distance across the horse's forehead between his eyes can tell you whether the horse is a fast or slow learner. If the distance is small, the horse is not very smart, and would make a good school horse (16). However, "A wide flat forehead indicates a horse that learns quickly" (16).

Take a close look at the mouth and the nostrils and how delicate they are. Are they loose, tight or shapely? With nostrils, the bigger they are and if they are really "movable" indicates the level of intelligence of the horse (17). The larger they are indicates that the horse is really smart. "The length of the mouth is also an indicator of character--the medium length being desireable, the short mouth usually belonging to an inflexible and stubborn horse, and the long mouth indicating a very sensitive horse (17).

The last step of examining the horse's head is to take a step back and examine the profile of the horse head. How is the head shaped? Is it long, short, chiseled, etc? Generally horses with strait faces are "uncomplicated" whereas a horse with a "dished" face is timid and more complex (17).