>>>> basically i'm wondering if icelandics have always been bred "for gait", or what the historical bases for selective breeding were,
You're assuming that there was breeding for certain traits in bygone years. According to some romantic spin we hear, in the past centuries (decades?) horses were turned out to fend for themselves over the winter. Winters were very harsh and long, so don't you think the horses took care of a lot of the breeding themselves? As for breeding "for" gait, if you'll do some reading, you'll discover that gaited horses were the norm in Europe until something like the 1600's or 1700's. Then, trotting horses became the fashion and possibly the lowly "amblers" were shipped off to the new world of North America. (BTW, in the southern part of the USA, gaited horses have always been prevalent and were never lost as they were lost in Europe.) So, maybe it's not that Icelandic's were ever bred "for" gait. Maybe it's more a matter that they weren't normally bred "for" trot, and that for much of their 1000 years, they merely survived the harsh climate, and only predator they had in Iceland: humans. And maybe the breeding took care of itself, without so much human interference. At least, that's what I tend to believe, but it's really hard to know what to believe in a country known for its story telling and sagas. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
