On Sun, Jan 14, 2007 at 08:24:28AM -0500, Karen Thomas wrote: > >>>> i recall there being a lot of resistance here on this list to the idea > that i was going to be putting a lot of kids on my icey; that he would be a > bad choice for that b/c of his breed. > > NO! I don't remember ANYONE saying that, Vicka, and believe me, I was one > of many people grimacing when you started telling us what you were doing > with Stjarni. It was NOT about his breed.
check the archives. before he even arrived, in fact iirc possibly before i even bought him, several people wondered aloud about his suitability as a lesson horse, when they knew nothing about him but his iceyness. > It WAS because you bought a horse, took him to a totally new environment and > immediately put him to work as a lesson horse in a three-gaited riding > program, stressful at best, with what I believe you said was 15-20 students > taking regular lessons on him ...AND that you put him to work within a week > or so of his arrival. That was just unconscionable to me and you were > either very naive about the transition time due ANY horse, or downright > uncaring about the confusion you were inflicting on this particular horse. the funny thing is, stjarni did great with that. having been one of the least-ridden horses at gudmar's (i saw the calendar), he found his place in the herd within 24 hours of his arrival, and was lapping up the attention from the lesson students within the week. i realize he may be unusual in this way, but my trainer and i kept a very watchful eye on his moods and behavior from the beginning, and made a point of not pushing him into anything he wasn't apparently ready and happy to do. > It WAS because you were putting so many students on him when you didn't have > a clue how to handle his gaits himself. You didn't even get to know him and > his cues and idiosyncrasies and learn him before you put beginners on him. on a leadline and at a walk, yes. i didn't have my students try to get other gaits on him for the most part for about a month. but he's always been good with the verbal commands "walk on" and "whoa", and he loved being groomed and was the gentlest horse in the barn with the kids. (our beginners spend more time working on the ground than in the saddle.) meanwhile *i* worked on his gaits and cues and particularities (most of which i have to say were easy, easy, easy -- he is still the easiest horse to ride i've ever ridden) under the eye of my trainer. > It WAS because you sent pictures of a horse showing a preference for lateral > gaits to work as a lesson horse in a three-gaited program. Of all the > leans-towards-trot Icelandic horses, you bought a horse whose pictures show > a lot of lateralness and tried to use him to teach on - when you freely > admitted you couldn't discern his gaits yourself. It WAS because you were > doing this when he was your first gaited horse and you didn't have a clue > what to do with gaits, yet you were trying to TEACH a lot of students on > him. i didn't try to teach tolting, and after determining that his trot was tough to get, i didn't try to teach trotting on him either without a leader (he would trot pretty readily when led, with voice support). what i taught on stjarni was steering, walk and whoa, balance and independence, riding hills, trail riding, and (later, after he'd got a voice command for it) cantering. he was an absolutely wonderful horse for the job i gave him (i had other horses to use for teaching trotting, jumping, cornering, lateral work, and collection). we're taking the winter off from teaching to work on some stuff together, and i think we've made some pretty good progress. my tentative plan is to resume teaching with him in the spring, although i may not move him back to the lesson barn, which means i'll have different sorts of classes and need to be picky about my students since i won't have other horses to choose from. but i'm waiting to see where he and i are a few months from now before making those kinds of decisions. > It WAS because you said you bought him with a business plan to pay him off > by trading his board for letting him be used as a lesson horse, and by using > him as a lesson horse yourself. what's wrong with that? i like to teach. people also pay me for it. i was a riding instructor before i had stjarni, and i picked him partly b/c i thought he'd be a good lesson horse as well as a good mount for myself. i don't think that teaching with him is inherently immoral. nor have i failed to pay board for him during our not-teaching time, and if i don't end up teaching with him again, i still want him for my very own and will support him as he needs. > Don't drag the breed into this, Vicka. I know I was appalled at what YOU > were doing to the poor horse and I know others who didn't speak up were as > well. It had nothing to do with what Stjarni is as an individual horse, and > nothing to do with his breed.... y'all don't know stjarni as an individual horse. not a one of you has met him. but i did receive letters saying that icelandics were not suitable for beginner kids, being too strong and forward and demanding too much of their riders. while this may be true of some iceys, it's not true of stjarni, who is an incredibly amiable animal and one of the most trustworthy horses i've met. > You may be a linguist, but you sure seem not able to hear what people tell > you for some reason.... i hear you. i just think you're wrong. --vicka
