# The Calmest horse breeds?



## Supermane

LindseyHunterx24 said:


> Okay so I've heard many things about different breeds like paints are spooky(Get spooked easily) that Arabians are crazy. ponies are mean and thoroughbreds are never calm. So what is the calmest horse breed? Like I need a horse that will be calm but not lazy ya know? A good hunter horse breed


I've known many very quite TB, in fact, I own one. They do tend to be a sensitive breed though. I also know great, quiet ponies and, while suggest an arabian for show hunters, I've known plenty of quiet ones.

I think I would suggest a warmblood. I've known many that were very calm and quiet to ride, though like all breeds this is not true of all of them. For lower level hunters a QH or appendix will work just fine. And before I get yelled at for that comment, I'm saying generally a warmblood will do better than a QH/appendix in the hunter ring.


Any horse can be lazy a nice thing about warmbloods is that for many of them, even if they are lazy, their stride length makes up for it.


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## Goose

ok, just gotta say it, there is no way you can say all paints are spooky, I ride a paint that is awesome to ride anywhere and he almost never spooks, when he does, he does the plant all four feet and snort.... I have also owned some wonderful level headed and calm appalossas... point is you will find gems and duds in most any breed.... just my two cents.....


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## Puddintat

I was getting ready to say the same thing. My Dancer, a paint, is not a horse that I would consider real spooky. If he sees something that he doesn't like, the most he does is stop, turn around, and attempt to walk the other way.


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## WSArabians

Good quiet horses depend on good quiet trainers. 
I've got Arabians here that would put a 24 year old QH that's been used as a kids horse to shame. I've also seen some pretty orny ones that haven't had good training. 

You want a good horse, get one from someone with a reputation you can trust. 

One that note, although it depends on the individual horse, I have to give Morgan's a nod for being some the easiest horses to train and work with. Arabian's next.


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## Supermane

WSArabians said:


> Good quiet horses depend on good quiet trainers.
> I've got Arabians here that would put a 24 year old QH that's been used as a kids horse to shame. I've also seen some pretty orny ones that haven't had good training.
> 
> You want a good horse, get one from someone with a reputation you can trust.
> 
> One that note, although it depends on the individual horse, I have to give Morgan's a nod for being some the easiest horses to train and work with. Arabian's next.


I agree with the training part, but some horses naturally have more go to them. My trainer's 3 year old warmblood came after being undersaddle for a week and had gelded two weeks prior was one of the calmest horses I'm ever sat on.


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## Wallaby

The calmest horse I've ever ridden was a TWH-looking old gelding. You could probably have lit a firecracker under his butt and he'd woulda just looked at you.
Second to that, my Arab mare is the calmest horse I've ridden. Sure, she has her moments but "moments" to her are tucking her butt really fast. She's more of a looker than a spooker. She's really great. However, I think it has to do a lot with how calm I feel (and how much trust she has in me) when I'm riding her since over the summer when another girl (who's only been riding for maybe 6 months) tried to ride her on the trail and Lacey became a spooky mess.


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## Hoofprints in the Sand

I own a Paint and she's not spooky at all...very very calm sweet and laid back!  It's going to depend on the individual horse more than breed alone!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Hrsegirl

I have owned paints all my life and none of them were spooky. I think it does depend on the individual horse and the environment they were possibly raised in. If they were raised with other spooky horses, I think they are more likely to be spooky because the other horses were always on alert and therefore the other horse picked up on it. The place I bought my mare had other spooky horses so I'm pretty sure that is where she learned it. Because now that she is home with my gelding, she isn't as spooky as she was before. I think some of them pick up on other horses feelings/moods etc. The gelding I own now is a 13 yr old Paint and I think you could probably light a firecracker under his butt and he would stand there.


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## lilruffian

You get calm & nutty horses in every breed. The thing with TBs & Arabs is that they tend to have more energy & are more sensitive, which can make them difficult for some people to handle.
I cerrtainly would not say that spookyness is a Paint characteristic either.
Anywho... my personal fav is the Norwegian Fjord. i've never met a bad one & anyone i've spoken with that has one/breeds them or has trained one says they are incredibly laid back, but ( as i know personally lol) they can be alot of fun too because they have such a great personality.


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## Katesrider011

I do not think it is the breed that determines how calm a horse is.


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## Hoofprints in the Sand

lilruffian said:


> You get calm & nutty horses in every breed. The thing with TBs & Arabs is that they tend to have more energy & are more sensitive, which can make them difficult for some people to handle.
> I cerrtainly would not say that spookyness is a Paint characteristic either.
> Anywho... my personal fav is the Norwegian Fjord. i've never met a bad one & anyone i've spoken with that has one/breeds them or has trained one says they are incredibly laid back, but ( as i know personally lol) they can be alot of fun too because they have such a great personality.


I LOOOOOVE Fjords!!!


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## FeatheredFeet

I think you might find most Draft breeds, pretty laid back. This was the main reason my family decided upon Gypsies.

However, you can find calm horses in almost every breed, I'd imagine.

Lizzie


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## TheLastUnicorn

^ actually it's a "myth" that drafts are all calm. It totally depends on the breeding and bloodlines as well as how they are handled. We have a working bred Clydesdale and we have a "show" bred Clydesdale - BIG difference between the two personalities. The work bred horse is steady, and has a low energy to him - the kind of attitude you would value in a plow horse (not saying he's not a handsome horse though!) or pulling a log (which is what he does most of the time)... the show bred horse is flighty and easily "fired up" - they're bred this way so they will show off better. She is no less easy to handle, in reality, but she does APPEAR to be a lot more horse. 

I actually wouldn't recommend a draft horse to a beginner as many are fully aware of their strength and power, and when they just don't feel like doing something a beginner becomes quickly over-horsed and under-experienced. 

Just like it's a "myth" that Arabs and TB's are all high strung and "crazy". The Arab would not be one of the world's oldest breeds, nor prized so highly for their intelligence, stamina, versatility and speed if it came only with "crazy". What happens, very often, with these high energy breeds is that they don't get enough exercise. ANY horse if not given enough outlet for their energy will become "crazy", these "hot" breeds just tend to need more outlet than some less sensitive breeds (though it's not always true either - I know many QH's which are just as sensitive as most Arabs I know... and we have a TB boarded here who is calm and cool as a cucumber most of the time and almost appears to prefer NOT exercising). 

In reality, there is now way someone can say that any one breed is going to produce "only" calm, sensible horses.... just like no one breed produces only high strung horses. I also think a lot of it has way more to do with how the horse is kept and how it's worked, conditioned and trained. 

I would say breeds best known for a steady personality are those bred for versatility - and there are far too many of those to list. You'll want to narrow down your requirements beyond just "calm" to choose a breed that is best suited to you.

For example, what discipline do you want to do "most"... and take a look at horses which suit - paying more attention to what training they have and how well they're doing it now. (I'm assuming that because you are a new enough to horses to want a very calm horse that you won't be looking at green horses)


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## FeatheredFeet

> actually it's a "myth" that drafts are all calm.


I didn't see anyone saying that, and neither did I. However, due to the fact they are/were, often huge and had to be quiet enough to work in the country and cities pulling ploughs, drays, caravans and wagons, the breeders of old certainly didn't breed to carry on the lines of those who would easily become out of control. 

Could be though, in recent years as you say, breeders have not necessarily sought out the very calmest to breed, in the show horses desired. Still, Drafts as a whole I think, are pretty calm compared to many light horse breeds.

Lizzie


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## TheLastUnicorn

FeatheredFeet said:


> I didn't see anyone saying that, and neither did I. However, due to the fact they are/were, often huge and had to be quiet enough to work in the country and cities pulling ploughs, drays, caravans and wagons, the breeders of old certainly didn't breed to carry on the lines of those who would easily become out of control.
> 
> Could be though, in recent years as you say, breeders have not necessarily sought out the very calmest to breed, in the show horses desired. Still, Drafts as a whole I think, are pretty calm compared to many light horse breeds.
> 
> Lizzie


That's more what I was getting at... the "modern" draft horse no longer has it's main purpose as a "draught horse" so much as they are shown, either as halter horses or in hitches (at least in North America... not sure about the rest of the world). Now that we have machinery to do much of what was their job, they don't often get used for what they were originally bred to do. The drafts "of old" (as you say) weren't all that tall either - about 16.1 hh, still heavy horses, but lacking the massive heights we see as "common" today. 

While many can be placid, my warning still stands as a beginner horse. I've worked with most of the draft breeds now, and I will say that there were some breeds I found much easier to work with than others (on a whole) but they are all big, imposing horses if their will doesn't match your own. I know of several stories, and helped a few people out, where a beginner decided on a draft for it's supposed "placid" temperment, only to find that when these horses are met with a weak leader they take over - in a BIG way. For that reason, I think they are better suited to an intermediate handler at the least... or the rare beginner with no fear and someone close by to lend a hand when needed.


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## Clementine

I just got a Thoroughbred who has been the second calmest horse I've ever ridden. The first calmest was a Percheron/Paint gelding. I would really recommend that cross, or any Perch X really.


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## Gidget

my paint doesn't spook that much


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## RansomTB

So I thought that I would let you in on my story, I have a 3YO TB that I bought as a yearling. He had limited riding at 2, and would trail ride all day. He then sat all last winter, due to all the SNOW here in MD, (for those of you who didnt watch the news, we had more snow here last winter then in the last 50 years, I think that it was over 65 inches total, and thee major snow storms that had over 15 inches each. We had snow on the ground until April) 

We took him trail riding in May, and he got me off, Im not talking just a buck, im talking arched back bunny hopping buck, think bronco. I had to walk him the 3+ miles back to the barn, while my friends rode thier horses. I happened to be one of the luckiest people alive. We were out in the shenandoah mountains, and a trainer was working at the stable that we were staying at. I asked him, as we knew the owners of the place, if he would just WTC my boy to see if he could get whatever it was out of him. After being thrown I didnt want to get back on. 

Shane, the trainer, turned out to be a godsend, He kept Ransom there for a month and worked with him. I got him home and it was like a different horse. He came home in july, and yes he was still green but he didnt buck and was safe. When he used to buck it was with every bone in his body. He even got Shane off once, which is a hard thing to do. 

Now that he has been home, Ransom is a delight, he is respectful and extremely level headed. He rarely spooks, and I mean in the 4 months that I have had him home, he has spooked once, which is pretty good for a 3yo. 

I would reccommend a TB to anyone as long as they are trained correctly. Dont rule them out, I am his proud mama, and he is just the best!


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## Snookeys

Calmest horse I've ever owned was an off-track thoroughbred. He is very lazy. Craziest horse I ever owned was a Saddlebred/QH cross. If I am looking at a horse in terms of calmness I don't really consider the breed that much. It just depends on the horse. Determining behavior based on the breed is impossible... it isn't black and white. There are stereotypes within a breed and they exist for a reason though. Thoroughbreds are considered hyper because they are bred to run. Drafts are considered calm because they were bred for farm work. But not all TBs or drafts fit that bill.


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## Regan7312

I dont think you can pinpoint a certain breed as being spooky or calm. 

I ride a paint sometimes in my lesson who has to be the most calm horse, and I also ride an Arabian in my lesson who is the same. But then we have an Arabian that belongs to someone else who is quite spunky/spooky sometimes. Same with TBs and ponies...you cannot look for a horse biased about how they may act. 

We have a crazy pony at my barn and a super calm children's pony and 2 percheron/trakkaner brothers that are as calm as ever. So like I said, it depends on the horse not the breed, in my opinion.


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## Thyme

Paints are awesome I rode my paint on trails before he was trained.
Oldenbergs are nice horses they always seem to know exactly what is going on.


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## ponyboy

Calmest was a Welsh pony, craziest was a Connemara, spookiest was a TB, laziest was a QH, bravest was another Welsh, and most annoying was an Appy.


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## TheRoughrider21

Calmest horse I ever rode was probably either a QH or a Paint. But in my opinion, with calmness comes some laziness, just a personal opinion though. My QH was the calmest thing ever but I barrel raced with her when she was 17. Most drafts are calm but I don't think they'd do well in the hunter/jumper circuit. Calmest horse I ever rode, hands down, was a Paint horse in for training. He had a knack for injuries though...cutting the flap above his eye almost all the way off, cutting his back leg open and then raising it so high in the cross tie he fell over...he pretty much had to be calm. But to get him to move...it took more work form you than it did him.


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## Tabbi Kat

My BLM mustang is the calmest horse I have ever owned! She will push through anything without hesitation and nothing really seems to bother her. She can be around dirt bikes, guns, our pack of wolves and pretty much anything. I haven't found anything to spook her yet. She has more fight than flight... So I think if something were to spook her she would meet it head on.


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## kamibear11

Appi's are a very calm horse!!


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## dee

What a person needs to do is decide what they want to accomplish with the horse. Do they want a hunter/jumper? Eventer? Dressage? Roper? Cutter? Ranch? Barrel racing? Trail horse?

Then, taking your level of experience into consideration (and be realistic, please, for your sake and the horse's sake - speaking from experience, here!) start looking for the horse that meets your needs. Unless you want to show, breed is only important as far as what breed is suitable for what you want to accomplish. Nine times out of ten, a good crossbreed will be a good place to start.

Talk to your friends, their friends. Go to shows/events/playdays/rodeos - whatever is pretty specific to what you want to do. I promise you - there will be someone there who will be able to help you find the horse you are looking for. You may have to try more than one horse before you find your perfect match. I went through three before I found my perfect horse. 

Do not expect certain temperments from certain breeds. Each horse is different. Daughter has paint stallion that is as calm and sweet as they come. She also has a Paso Fino mare that is so nervous and spooky she's unrideable. My current horse, Dancer, hasn't got a nervous bone in her body. We haven't ridden her much, but she does well when we do ride her. Dancer is a grade of unknown breed. She's not a quarter horse, but she might be a Spanish Mustang. Her five month old filly, Rain, is calmer than a lot of fully mature horses I know. I think she'll make a great riding horse - maybe even for kids. But we'll have to wait and see.

Just take your time - don't grab the first horse you see. If possible, try before you buy.


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