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any match can work. As Linda notes, there are some helping our horses. However, it may seem irritating

matches that naturally require less adaptation on the if coming from our co-worker, life partner, children,
human’s part and that help partnerships get of to a and other people close to us. Horses are great

good start. We’re lucky when this happens. The goal teachers because in their special way, they make us

of Humanality and Horsenality is to help us when we open, eager learners in ways people don’t.
Q:
didn’t have the luck to pick the “perfect” horse match

– that describes most of us.
A horse can demonstrate diferent Hors-
Q:
enality traits based on changes in envi-
As a follow-up to the irst question, do
ronment, pressure, etc. Do those same

you think that humans can learn a lot
things afect Humanality as well? What other addi-

from horses of difering Horsenalities? tional variables can dictate the Humanality traits a
For example, what could a Right-Brain Extrovert person shows?

horse teach a Left-Brain Introvert human?

PATRICK HANDLEY: Yes, deinitely! Even
LINDA PARELLI: Absolutely! But, you’ve got though a horse has a core or ‘dominant’ Horsenal-

to be up for the challenge. A lot of Parelli students ity, it can demonstrate diferent Horsenality traits

found PNH because they were so frustrated with in various environments. Remember Pat’s reminder
their horses and, more often than not, the horse was that horse behavior is inluences by innate charac-

their exact opposite personality. So they HAD to teristics, learned behavior, environment, and spirit

learn how to adjust their behavior and approach in levels. These same four factors apply to human
order to be accepted by the horse.
behavior. Humanality helps identify innate personal-

A Right-Brain Extrovert horse would teach a Left- ity tendencies. However, humans also learn addition-

Brain Introvert human about understanding fear. al behaviors from our parents, teachers, family, etc.
Left-brained people are generally conident and don’t What we learn may enhance or inhibit some of our

understand how others can be so fearful. I think it innate tendencies. Then we are continually impacted

really helps them to see the other point of view and by the environment we are in, just as horses are, and
empathize rather than judging them for it.
we may shift to speciic behaviors in response to the

environment.

PATRICK HANDLEY: Each Horsenality has This environment includes the setting we ind our-
something to teach us about ourselves. Wouldn’t it selves in, the people around us, the pressures of any

be great to have four horses, each with a diferent “should and should not,” etc. It’s easy to identify how

Horsenality? Plus, horses are great teachers because environments may impact you if you consider how
they are completely honest and relect back to us your behavior changes in an extreme environment

how our behavior impacts them. The Horsenality & such as driving in rush hour traic (or, rather, sitting

Humanality reports provide all the potential matches still) at a temperature of 100 degrees on a Friday
between the four primary Horsenalities, the eight afternoon when traic has ground to a halt. Your

cusps and the four axis scores, and guidelines for behavior may deinitely shift! And inally, spirit level

how we can lex our style to be a better partner with helps explain how extreme your behavior may be
any of these Horsenalties.
demonstrated. Pat Parelli’s model works just as well

Also, it’s interesting how much more open humans for explaining and understanding human behavior

are to learning from their horses than we are learning as it does horse behavior. We don’t try to put either
from each other. Perhaps it’s because we realize the horses or humans in a box and say they are a certain

horse is never really criticizing us nor going to give up Horsenality or Humanality type. We get people
on us. Horses just show up and present themselves started by understanding the innate tendencies and

as they are, and then respond without judgment to then start exploring how and when these get inlu-

us. I think this allows humans to more easily learn enced by learned behavior, environment, and spirit.
from each of the diferent Horsenalities. Sometimes Horsenality and Humanality ofer a shared language

what we learn really challenges us to expand who we for study and exploration of behavior, not a labeling

are and adopt new behaviors, but that’s okay when
or limiting of people and horses. ST

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