Part 1 of 5: Your Child's "Personality Color" and Their Horse Journey

I over-analyze my parenting and second guess EVERY...SINGLE...THING...I...DO.  There I said it...

I'm going to be vulnerable here, but I promise it's not meant to be a sob story, it leads to something I know you'll love.

I grew up watching Little House on The Prairie, Full House, The Andy Griffith Show and Mr. Ed and would pretend I had a family like those wholesome characters on those shows. My reality was a horse-crazy (thank the Lord for that), addict Mom who had us hopping from one home to the next, turning from alcohol to pills and any numbing agent she could get her hands on. My Dad picked up the slack, but as a Vietnam Vet with PTSD trying to raise a girl...all while only knowing one (illegal) trade, well let's just say I grew up far from Mayberry.

I swore I would be a different kind of parent.  I was always expected to figure out what my parents needed me to be in whatever state they were in.  If they were angry, I had to be the peacekeeper and the mediator.  If they were incapable of parenting, I had to be the leader.  If they were happy, I had to ride that enthusiasm with them. So I decided early on, I would be the parent my kids need and not expect them to change themselves to be the type of kid that best suits my needs.

Enter our close family friend Laura, who taught me about Karen Stubbs and her interpretation of the 4 Colors of Personality.  Being a huge fan of the Enneagram, Strengths Finder and ANY personality profiler, I was instantly intrigued.  The concept is not Stubbs' alone, but evolved over time from Hippocrates in the Middle Ages all the way to Jung and Meyers-Briggs.

The difference between those tests and this identifier, is that it quickly helps you  be a student of your child, allowing you to parent them in a way that they can understand without changing them.  Karen Stubbs has a whole series on the colors and parenting so there is a lot of relevant information to apply once you know the "colors" of your family, which is why I find her exceptionally noteworthy.

So, do me huge favor and go take the quiz for yourself, then take the quiz for your kids.  It's only 18 questions and takes less than 5 minutes.  If your child has a stronger vocabulary they can also take it, I found it interesting that Abby took it and got the same results as when I took it for her.

Once you take the quiz, I will then have a series of posts about how the colors affect your child's relationship with their horse and how you can better facilitate their riding time based on what "color" they are.  Monday will start with the Red kids, Tuesday will cover Yellows, on Wednesday we'll discuss the Greens and Thursday we will end with Blues.

Just take 5 minutes! When done, comment on our post about what color you and your kids are! Ready...go!

Take the quiz here