Do you want a little bit of crazy all of the time, or the occasional superabundance?
Lesson this week. Still watching Louisville videos on demand. I am fascinated by the ribbon ceremonies. Granted I’ve always been a sucker for a victory gallop/pass. I am also intrigued by the behavior of the horses.
In 1989, I had the opportunity to watch Big Ben win the World Cup for the second time. During the extensive ribbon presentation, the huge chestnut stood as still as a statue, soaking up the adulation.
The Saddlebreds I’ve been watching? Not so much. If you are winning at Louisville, this is not your first rodeo. Yet the horses hop and fuss. They stand still long enough for a photo. Then off they trot for the victory pass. Neither riders nor handlers appear perturbed at the attitude on display. I get that the horses are excited. OTOH, standing is not impossible for the majority of horses. (I’ve met a few who just. will. not. stand. Salinero took Olympic gold while finessing the final halt, “It just didn’t happen.” HorseTalkNZ. But I digress.) This sort of behavior is related to the precision I talked about last week [Riding Loose]. These horses don’t stand because no one finds it important to insist.
Saddlebreds go on the boil quickly but are capable of remaining at that level. They don’t – as a rule – continue to amplify to the point where the lid blows off the kettle. Thoroughbreds are lazier most of the time, but only need a microsecond to go from zero to insanity. I offer as exhibit A & B my two horses [Square One, Universe]. While Rodney & Milton may be special, they aren’t that special. Thoroughbreds, as a breed, are capable of Technicolor come-aparts. Therefore, I make the mistake of interpreting Saddlebred enthusiasm as a sign of the apocalypse. In a Thoroughbred, it would be.
My $0.02.
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Today is Ash Wednesday. Remember that you are stardust, and to stardust you shall return.
Virtual Brush Box 
And then you have Arabs. *Sigh* ‘Nuff said? 🙂
My last horse was an Arab. You talk to them just right, and they will be your companion for life. They just like to have their own person.
Haven’t deal much with Arabs. Always thought they would be fun, if they only jumped. Yes, the irony is not lost on me. Perhaps if I had washed up on the shores of an Arabian barn I would be making Arab/TB comparisons.
Arabians jump just fine. At least mine did. it wasn’t his favorite thing, though, like my welsh pony/tb cross who loved to jump.. Don’t judge arabians by the overtall, over-hyper show types, but by the old-fashioned, right-sized endurance champions. Or back-yard companions. No arabian should be 16 hands tal!
Sounds like the bench/field division that affects other disciplines, e.g. show hunter vs foxhunter, and other species, e.g. show Basset vs working Basset.