On Tue, Mar 27, 2007 at 05:30:56PM -0700, Judy Ryder wrote: > Austria has big horses, so there's no need for men to > ride the ponies, if they don't want to.
umm. why wouldn't they want to? seems to me that your basic farmer would have an easier time supporting one equine useful for ploughing, carting, and riding, than one extra just for riding. arabs ride arabians, also traditionally small horses, although arabic people are not historically as large as either austrians or icelanders. > I think that Fjords and Haflingers both have more > weight-carrying ability than Icelandics because of > their bone, and the strength of their backs and > hindquarters. reference, or just guess? > Why we might hear that Icelandics can carry men, but > we don't necessarily hear it about Haflingers and > Fjords, is that men in those countries don't have to > ride them as they have other options in big horses > (i.e Lipizzans, Dole). And there's no push to sell > them in that way. hm. you'd think that would divide the market more, though i guess niche marketing is effective too. but regardless, the lippizan (i do not know anything about doles) was never common (the studfarm being a private possession of the habsburgs until less than a hundred years ago, and there being less than 3000 of them registered today); a far cry from the haflinger at every farmhouse. --vicka (daughter of an austrian)
