A Tale of Two Quarter Horses

I'm often amused at how different two horses of the same breed can be.  For an example we have Beauty, a blue roan cutting bred quarter horse, and her owner's other horse Sloan, a grey quarter horse mare.  They have very similar temperaments in that they both are uncomplicated and like to work.  They have similar conformations with the balanced stocky quarter horse build.  They even move similarly because of how they are built.  However their chosen jobs are very different!

Beauty can be a little bit of a speed demon if you ask her for some gas, and her favorite activity is jumping.  She enjoys thinking through the gymnastic exercises, and will always give you instant extra effort with just a small amount of leg.  She will trail ride and go western if you ask her for it because she's a good sport, but her heart isn't really in that sort of work.

On the other hand we have Sloan.  She is more of a minimalist.  She likes to conserve energy, she prefers to move in an efficient manner, and likes to jog.  She will ride english for me because she's a good sport and is willing to do whatever is asked of her, but I can often feel her rolling her eyes at me when I to get too "dressag-y" for her taste.  She wants to work on a loose rein, with her head level at her withers, and would be quite happy with group trailrides as her main occupation.

I have a few fun photos that sum up the contrast between these light and dark mares.  Both of them going over the same jump, illustrating their preferred styles.

They are both very fun mares to have around and are wonderful representatives of their breed, showing off the versatility of the quarter horse.  It is an important part of horse training to me that I find the job that each horse enjoys, and then train them for that discipline.  Not every quarter horse wants to ride western, and not every thoroughbred wants to ride english.  Horse training is always interesting because I have to determine what each horse is telling me about their preferences, and then help them to be good at their chosen jobs.