Just for fun. I have two people (in real life - nobody on here) in mind, who are interested in riding. So, for a lark, if YOU were going to buy a specific breed of horse on their behalf, what would it be?
Person 1 - Female, 40. Plus sized. Rode casually, English, hunter (George Morris-style) as a teen, and then took a few casual lessons in her 30s. A competent advanced beginner with kind hands, but NOT a lot of bravery or confidence. Would enjoy w-t-c, pottering around, maybe a jump here and there but certainly nothing over, say, 2". Might walk bareback in a halter/hackamore to cool out, or just to wander. Wants to LOVE the horse - hand-feeding treats, lots of attention time even if they don't ride. No desire to show or even move up to a higher skillset (as in, has no desire to become an "advanced" rider).
Person 2 - Female 60. Slim and tall. Rode extensively and terrifyingly as a kid (9-17) because she didn't know any better (unsupervised bareback races over a neighboring steeplechase route, jumping poles balanced on Volkswagens, jumping wagons) on an OTTB that had been entirely brain-fried and went 0-100 at the drop of a hat. Hasn't ridden in 40 years, and now totally into easygoing, drama-free, down-to-earth, mellow. Wants a horse that can be left in the field for weeks, dusted off, and walked calmly around on a loose rein. But maybe, with a little more practice, getting a little fancy - very low level dressage, perhaps?
Obviously, this is an exercise in hypotheticals, because there are so many variables, and either person could be given the perfect horse and ruin it, etc etc. And either one would be perfectly well served by a random grade critter with good training - these two don't exactly have Grand Prix aspirations. But in principle, if you had to go buy a "typical" example of a breed for each person, what would it be?
CHG
