How owners’ personality traits affect how they train horses – and their choice of bridle

Reflecting on our own personality traits and tendencies could be a “valuable step toward more conscious, horse-centred decision-making”, a study suggests.

Research published in Taylor & Francis looked into the way owners’ attachment style and personality traits relate to their training choices and relationship with their horses, including frequency of riding, groundwork training and spending “quality time” with them, as well as their choices of equine headgear.

The study considered owners’ attachment style, how they relate to others emotionally, to their horses. People with high avoidant attachment tend to distance themselves emotionally and rely less on others; those with high anxious attachment tend to seek closeness and fear rejection.

“We were interested in whether these psychological tendencies, well studied in human relationships, would manifest in how people interact with their horses – and indeed they do,” said lead author Océane Liehrmann, of the University of Turku, Finland.

The study found that higher avoidant attachment was associated with less frequent interaction with horses, whether riding, groundwork or quality time. Higher anxious attachment was linked to more frequent quality time. Owners with traits such as conscientiousness and extraversion were likely to ride more, and being more open was associated with more frequent groundwork.

“The results showed a clear pattern: owners who spent more time with their horses, whether riding, training or simply being with them, tended to be more emotionally connected to their horses,” a spokesperson for the Turku university said. “In contrast, owners who kept more emotional distance to their horse also tended to interact with them less frequently, spending less time riding and engaging in hands-on activities.”

Bits or bitless – or no bridle?

The study found links with other personality traits; owners who rode more frequently tended to be slightly more organised, outgoing and emotionally stable. Those who practised groundwork more often tended to score higher in openness to new experiences, which “may reflect a greater curiosity and willingness to explore non-traditional, horse-centred training methods”.

Owners who used bitless bridles, or both bits and bitless, tended to score slightly lower in emotional distancing than those who just rode in bits, and those open to using both also tended to score higher in openness to new experiences.

“I think that was an interesting point,” Dr Liehrmann told H&H. “I integrated that because I know bitless or not is a very big thing in the equestrian world. People think they’re opposites, and it causes a lot of debate. So it was interesting to see if that had a link with human psychology and who tends to make which choices.

“But the biggest difference wasn’t people riding only bitless or with a bit, but people who do both are more open, suggesting a greater willingness to explore different approaches to riding.”

Dr Liehrmann said riders could consider how their personality traits might affect their perspective on their horses and that it could benefit equine welfare. An owner who realises they are more anxious, for example, may consider how this affects their interpretation of a horse’s behaviour.

“I think this is a really good step into really having a relationship with a horse,” she said. “It’s a horse and how they react to us, but then it comes a lot from us as well. I think we’ve been ignoring that part in the horse industry.”

Quality time

And the quality time aspect is key; Dr Liehrmann said interacting with horses only for training and riding gives one perspective; spending time with them with no pressure, in the field or just “hanging out”, gives another entirely.

“I think this is something that can shift if we work on it; maybe in future we could build tools to help people understand the way they’re attached to their horse and their personality profiles, and how it affects the relationship,” she said.

“Then if they think they need to fix something in their relationship with their horse, they can also work on themselves rather than just on the horse’s behaviour. People always dream of having an amazing relationship with their horses but that takes work, like any relationship.”

Horsemanship expert Lyla Cansfield, who had the final say on whether combinations were allowed to compete at the first British Bridleless Competition in May, told H&H she is seeing more openness in considering a different way of doing things than in the past.

“What’s really interesting about this study is that those using both bit and bitless headgear scored approximately 4% higher in openness,” she said. “In some of the discussions since the competition there have obviously been sceptics as well enthusiasts and what I find fascinating is for some there is the idea that it has to be an either/or thing; the assumption that just because you ride bitless and/or bridleless means that you disagree with having a bit.”

Ms Cansfield added that she has seen riders start going bridleless from a variety of routes.

“All these riders were open to the possibility, open to trying something different no matter what their background,” she said.

“Maybe the real lesson isn't about bits or bridles at all. It's about whether we're willing to stay curious, to accept that no single method holds all the answers and to choose what genuinely suits the horse and rider in front of us. If we can hold on to that openness, welfare stays exactly where it should be, at the centre of everything we do.”

● What do you think about these findings? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine