Left brain introvert right brain extrovert....what exactly IS IT?

Welsh_Girl said:
Thanks but I'm already on that page, maybe its the blonde in me but I don't see anywhere to do the quiz?.
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HEHE! it not really a quiz hon. Don't worry, I can be just as if not more ditsy than that! You just have to plot your horse on the chart and mark off which traits you think your horse has. Then you get to build up a picture. Let us know what iy shows up.:)

When you go directly to the link I posted, click on the blue underlined title bit that says parelli horsenality chart and that will take you to the actual in depth chart, in fact hold on Ill post the direct link,

http://files.parelli.com/HorsenalityChart.pdf

loads quicker, don't know why I did'nt think of it in the first place(told ya I was ditsy!) my daughter calls it being Dillitory (you would call someone a Dillitroid)LOL:D:D

A
 
Ok so:

I tick two boxes in Right Brain and two in Left Brain!!! She is tolerant of discomfort but can be emotional over some things like seperation, she is also spookey and curious....

In the colours she has 3 moderates in RB Extrovert and 3 moderates in LB Extrovert. The rest are in the mild.

She is also very clever and easily bored......but never completly uninterested.

She is very high energy, even when she is still she vibrates with potential.
 
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Hmmm ... ok, I am a complete skeptic, but I looked at the chart and ticked things mentally....

I have one of each.

Joseph - Left Brain Extrovert
Rosie - Right Brain Extrovert
Tiny - Right Brain Introvert
Summer - Left Brain Introvert.

They don't tick every box in their category, for instance, Joseph won't bite or strike, Summer will never buck, Tiny would never kick ... but they do tick all the other features of their own category, and pretty much none in any other quadrant. (IMHO)

But then, reading the overall tick-boxes for "extrovert" and "introvert" ... Tiny and Rosie are "extrovert" and Joseph and Summer are "introvert".

And to confuse matters more about joseph being Left Brain - Extrovert, we look at the characteristics of Left Brain - and they're heade by "dominant" !!!! Whereas joseph's whole character is super-submissive.

So, I'm not sure what, if anything it tells me ?
 
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cvb said:
Someone mentioned cosmo quizzes - but on a serious note there are a number of key profiling tools that are used in business for professional development.

I think the parelli R/L and E/I probably maps most closely to the Meyers-Briggs profiles

I seem to recall that Linda has done a fair amount of work relating to Neuro Linguistic Programming as well ?

Most of the profiles I have done have been self-assessed i.e. it is MY opinion of me, but often they can be extended to be 360 degrees i.e. people who work for me, with me, and who I work for. That is really interesting !

The difference with the Parelli profiling is that it is the rider's interpretation. So for example my mother would describe one of our ponies as lazy, argumentative, whereas I see the same behaviour as showing insecurity ? (Can't remember what that translates to on the template - but hopefully you see what I mean ?)

The self-profiling is useful for me to understand my preferences, and other people's, and how they affect behaviour, teams etc. But there is a LOT of research and stats behind them.

I am not sure the horseanalities have quite the same scientific backing to them ?
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I do personality profiling in business and also use this diagram as it compares with the four colours used by insights personality profiling on equestrian confidence workshops.. I point this out on equestrian confidence workshops because, in humans opposites can attract or clash. I was amazed when I saw this chart, because I can assign a type from the Horse personality traits very similiar to the human one. I reckon in all social animals you would probaby get the same thing occuring, as it allows them to co exist and be more effective at survival as a group. When you consider that four types of personlity types in humans has been around since at least hippocrates time, there might not be lots of scientific evidence, but it is remarakable the similiarities. I use it for learning styles, how your relationship with your instructor might affect your confidence to learn and also, how you react and how that might affect the horse... :cool:
 
ConfidenceCoach said:
I do personality profiling in business and also use this diagram as it compares with the four colours used by insights personality profiling on equestrian confidence workshops.. I point this out on equestrian confidence workshops because, in humans opposites can attract or clash. I was amazed when I saw this chart, because I can assign a type from the Horse personality traits very similiar to the human one. I reckon in all social animals you would probaby get the same thing occuring, as it allows them to co exist and be more effective at survival as a group. When you consider that four types of personlity types in humans has been around since at least hippocrates time, there might not be lots of scientific evidence, but it is remarakable the similiarities. I use it for learning styles, how your relationship with your instructor might affect your confidence to learn and also, how you react and how that might affect the horse... :cool:
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Thats very interesting.

In the case of humans though does the subject fill out the chart or the analyst?

Part of what has me sceptical of this application is that we are filling out the chart based on what we interpret, we are not horses therefore how accurate can we be?
 
Of course any form filled out by a human is going to be open to their personal interpretation but a few examples of how it can help...

Rosie is very dominant and very food orientated. Because of this I thought the worst thing that I could do would be to offer food treats - i always felt she would be a natural mugger. Having done her chart she came up as predominately left brain introvert and one of the things suggested about them is they may be motivated by food as they tend to be 'whats in it for me?' I began to introduce treats, carefully managed, whilst playing and the effect was quite dramatic - she went from doing things reluctantly, literally dragging her feet etc to being much more enthusiatic, offering stuff and occasionally showing definate signs of 'wanting to play' (she would kick a barrel round and then stare intently at me!).

When she does get scared ie right brain she goes RBE - very in your face and wanting to run - before I would try and keep everything calm and quiet - it didnt work! I now match her energy and get her to move her feet (in a controlled manner) until she calms herself. This is on the ground - I couldnt comment on the technique whilst riding.

It also helped me to see that sometimes Rosie isnt necessarily chilled and going to sleep - it may be that I have pushed too hard and she is switching off from me. As a novice horse owner isnt always easy to appreciate the difference - I had no idea that horses did that!

I would agree in an ideal world, you would have someone to hand to teach you this stuff - Ive explained before - thats not my situation. Some of you may consider this all 'common sense' 'old hat' 'been round for ever' etc etc - so what? - it wasnt previously accessible information to me.

As i have said before horsenalties is a tool to get you to think about your horse, their behaviour and how changing your approach may help.

You may or may not like the idea, but if one person reading this uses the chart and gains a little insight into their horse, then that has to be a good thing. To OP I hope this makes a bit more sense now :)

As a general rule LBE are motivated by play, LBI by 'whats in it for me' RBE by safety and LBI by slow and steady - these arent the proper words just what i can remember off the top of my head and I cant be bothered to find the paperwork!!!! If anyone is genuinely interested in the actual terms used, I could always look them up or am sure someone else will remember them better!

Of course no horse fits neatly into one box (some are equal in all 4!) and they change from day to day (minute to minute????) Its just intended as a tool to get you to think about it - I cant understand why people are getting so up in arms about it!!!!!!!

If anyone is really interested there are one day Parelli (horseless) workshops at Stoneleigh, one of which is on horsenalties - before people start harping on about how expensive Parelli is, I paid £20 for a full day, all drinks and a fab lunch included - excellent value by anyones standards. Im sure the info is on the website :D
 
Welsh_Girl said:
Thats very interesting.

In the case of humans though does the subject fill out the chart or the analyst?

Part of what has me sceptical of this application is that we are filling out the chart based on what we interpret, we are not horses therefore how accurate can we be?
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normally they are self assessed, and everyone's personality will be a unique blend which is also affected by the environment they are in and role they are using. But for a general idea, I can pretty much guess in a workshop the general personality trait of each person and one or two questions usually confirms this. It is general but it gives you a reasonble starting point. Although for introverted detail people...it may not be accurate enough ;):D
 
Personally I don't like pseudo-scientific psychobabble which I think can complicate rather than clarify. HOWEVER some things 'work' - as in they are experienced by people as helpful and problems are resolved using them- even when the underlying theoretical stance is bobbins.

My take on Horsenality is that is trains people to observe their horses closely, to consider the horse's behaviour, reactions etc etc. Which I think is probably where the value of it lies. The other value lies in the clear description of the various horse instincts and the differing ways in which they manifest, which may not be obvious to everyone. Mark Rashid talks about horses 'self preservation' instinct which in some horses manifests as running away a lot and others in conserving as much energy as possible throughout the day (ie barely moving without great persuasion!) in case they might need to run away later. Very different horsenalities!

It may seem obvious that all horses are different and react in different ways, but nh goes beyond just recognising this as true. Rather nh seeks to use the horse's own perception of things as the lens though which ALL aspects of horsemanship are viewed. So understanding what makes your own horse tick is an essential part of the puzzle - as is understanding herd behaviour/horse psychology/behavioural proinciples etc etc.

You certainly don't need PPs charts to get this understanding, but if it helps, then that's great. :)
 
When it comes to personality profiling, I think there's always a risk of "subjective validation" creeping in to the picture. By that I mean the natural tendency of people to assume something is true when it has personal significance to them.

Some of you will have heard of the experiment where a psychologist gives his students a personality test comprising a series of questions designed to distinguish between introvert/extrovert, confident/insecure, impulsive/cautious etc.

(There's an online version of the test here: http://forer.netopti.net/)

At the end, each student was given an individualized analysis of their personality based on their test responses and asked to say how well this described his/her personality. The test was judged to be "very accurate" by most of the participants. In fact, everyone was given the same analysis regardless of how they answered the questions! (This is called the Forer effect after the psychologist who devised the experiment.)

Now, the PP Horsenality test is not the same as this - rather than coming up with a unique diagnosis, it produces a number of possibilities and combinations (especially if horses can be considered to be in different categories depending on situation). Nor am I implying any intention to trick the users of the test in the way that Forer did. However, I feel there may be an element of definitive labelling giving people a sense of their interpretation being validated and given a significance beyond just a collection of traits.

Personally I would rather not put labels on horses (unless they are the sort that peel off easily and don't leave a sticky residue) and, if I have to get analytic at all, think in terms of variations along trait lines. Every horse I have known has behaved like a horse - and there is a reassuring simplicity in that. Every horse I have known has also been a unique individual, different from any other horse. Too much analysis is stifling, I find, and most of the time I prefer simply to follow my instincts.

But that's just me; if other people find Parelli Horsenality helps them then who am I to neigh-say!
 
At the end, each student was given an individualized analysis of their personality based on their test responses and asked to say how well this described his/her personality. The test was judged to be "very accurate" by most of the participants. In fact, everyone was given the same analysis regardless of how they answered the questions! (This is called the Forer effect after the psychologist who devised the experiment.)
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We do this with our first years :)

Two things spring to mind for me when looking at the "horsenality" thing. First, personality (which looks exclusively at humans), is considered to be stable across the lifespan - in other words, if I met you when you were 12, and then not again till you were 35, your personality is the thing that makes you uniquely you, from my point of view :) So the "horsenality" actually sounds like a classification of how your horse is behaving, and how you can work to change that, rather than a description of a horse equivalent of personality :)

Second, there has actually been quite a lot of academic research on the equivalent of personality in animals - you won't find it by searching for "horse personality", because it has always been referred to as temperament :)

Humans are considered to have 5 "independent" aspects of personality - so you can vary on one without it affecting any of the others. They are Open to Experience vs Conventional Interests, Outgoing (extravert) vs prefer peace and quiet (introvert), Agreeable (gets on well with others) vs Reserved (more suspicious of others), Emotionally reactive (called Neurotic) vs Calm and stable, and Conscientious (preferring plans and goals) vs spontaneous and unplanned.

Three of these 5 are considered to be shared by many animals, including horses - they're the Extravert/Introvert one, The Neurotic/Stable one and the Agreeable one. So you should be able to rate your horse's personality -rather than just their current behaviour - on these three. My horse, for example, on a 1 to 5, would score as very highly extravert, very highly agreeable, but on the high side for Neurotic :) His favourite mare would score low on Extravert (i.e. introvert), but high on Agreeable, and similar to mine on Neuroticism :) The lead mare in the field is introverted, but highly agreeable and low on Neuroticism.

So there we go, a system for rating horse's temperament, based on research (the key author is called Gosling ;)) and which is informative about how horses differ from each other. And you don't have to pay anybody to find out about it ;)
 
My problem with all this can be summed up with one anecdote. When I worked at the RS we had a 30+yr old mare who had been there since the Ark. Never known to kick. A client said to me 'am I OK to tack up this horse?'. I said 'yep fine, she's no problem'. As soon as they opened the stable door, two hind feet flew thought the air and nearly gave the poor bloke a hoof sandwich. Horses are neither know nor care which pigeonhole we've plonked them in, they are unpredictable and reserve the right to surprise us.
 
Iron Maiden said:
Horses are neither know nor care which pigeonhole we've plonked them in, they are unpredictable and reserve the right to surprise us.
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Which is why the (only?) value of this stuff is that it may encourage OBSERVATION of your horse. And the risk is that it does precisly the opposite and becomes another barrier to seeing what it really going on with the horse at any given moment - because you think you already know how the horse 'is'.
 
Wally said:
This is tragic that there are folk out there calling themselves instructors and they havn't the imagination, ability to see that all horses are different and cannot be treated the same way.

In my view it is impossible to train all horses the same.
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But I do think this is something to do with the way we 'view' horses these days.

In the good old days, people learnt in and around horses, but over the years the subject has become more academic, less practical and the 'old fashioned' horsemen and women are less and less common. I currently reside on a yard where the owner has come up through the BHS ranks and is too set in her ways. A horse fits into a box and it must do exactly what she says it will.... end result lots of disgruntled horses. I'd give anything to see her embrace different ways of looking at and dealing with horses and I think she'd learn a thing or two from some of the NH folks because they'd give her the structure she craves but still teach her some of the common sense. My previous yard - also co-incidentally another BHS instructor run yard - was superb. They viewed each horse differently, attended to its individual needs without letting them run riot... end result was lots of good quality middle of the road competition horses who had healthy and successful lives.

It's not about the qualification or the 'style' you choose to adopt, it's what you do with the knowledge that counts and whether or not you are prepared to continue to learn. It's the difference between someone who paints purely by numbers and someone who can paint a landscape in oils on a blank piece of paper and the education system (either formally or informally) is not going to change that, it's up to the individual and - also - their natural talent.
 
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