Hi Dee >But, Judy's question got me thinking; I have a theory on the 'why' of >this. When a horse is under 14 hands, people think 'Pony' and then >'Kids'. The same way when they hear 'That movie is PG' they think 'so >it must be for kids'.
Glad you came out of lurkdom. That is what we have said to people for years when asked aren't they really ponies, our answer is "yes they are technically ponies but since people, especially in North America, generally relate ponies as only ridden by children they are called horses". And of course some people have only had bad experiences with ponies - thinking they are nasty and stubborn. The other thing is that although height wise Icelandics are mostly under 14.2 hands they generally feel much larger than that under saddle. I have had people say if felt like the Icelandic grew a foot from the time they mounted until they got off and are often surprised at how close the ground is when they dismounted. It is too bad in a way that we don't use the term cob so often in NA because I would say that many of them feel more cob-like in the body and in the size of their head. It is interesting because all through my life I have always called my horses (of other breeds and technically horses)- "ponies" and Polo ponies are called ponies even though they are not always and Connamera Ponies are not always but some people get upset if Icelandics are called ponies and other people get upset if they are called horses - what does it really matter : )) Robyn Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com
