Thursday, December 21, 2006

What Type is Your Horse? A Symposium with Dr. Ina Gösmeier
By Lynndee Kemmet

Next time someone asks what type of horse you own, the question may refer to character not breed, especially if the questioner attended this year’s U.S. Dressage Federation National Convention and Symposium.

That’s because Dr. Ina Gösmeier, a leading expert in the use of acupuncture and herbal remedies for horses, teamed up with Ingrid Klimke, daughter of the late Reiner Klimke, for the symposium portion of the 2006 convention, held in Kansas City the first weekend of December. Gösmeier had little trouble holding the attention of hundreds of symposium attendees as she explained the five different personality types, each of which corresponds to one of the five types of elements commonly used in Oriental philosophy.

“Knowing the personality types helps you find the right partner,” she said.

The personality types are derived from a study of traditional Chinese medicine, which differentiates between the zang and fu organs. The types discussed by Gösmeier are connected to the zang organs – xin (heart), gan (liver), pi (spleen), fei (lung) and shen (kidney). While horses can be a mix of types, one type usually dominates. And Gösmeier said horses are what they are – you can’t change a horse’s type so knowing it and understanding it can be extremely useful for riders.

What fascinated those attended the USDF symposium was her explanation of how personality type impacts the approach that should be used to training and how these types are related to the approaches used in the healing of horses, whether that healing refers to physical or mental.

“For example, you should never let the shen get cold because it makes him prone to illness. The gan horse you educate, but don’t berate. The pi should be ridden in short intervals with lots of breaks. And with the pi you should work on conditioning because it tends to have weaker muscles,” Gösmeier said.

The first type discussed by Gösmeier was the gan, related to the element of wood. The gan horse is the herd leader. He’s a dominant personality who often dislikes his neighbors in the barn. He’s loaded with self-confidence and while that serves him well in the show ring, it doesn’t always serve the rider well. Gösmeier said the gan horse is quick to take advantage of rider errors.

“If you don’t give the right aid, you won’t get it,” she said.

Gösmeier also warned that gans are fighters and if you take them on, they’ll fight back. In training, it’s best to avoid battles.