Speaking of gaits, cues and softness - is there such a thing as a nice, slow, collected canter with Icelandics?
Do you mean with the horses, or acknowledged with the breed officials? :-) Based on what I see in my herd, I think there are Icelandics who do just about any gait not all do all gaits of course, but you can find potential for about any gait somewhere in the breed. Falki, for instance, does a really nice, easy hunter type canter for instance not rushed, not strung-out, and not a gallop and in a pure three-beat a canter that would fit right in during a hunter show. I have a feeling that we could easily get it somewhat collected-in-the-dressage-sense if we chose to pursue it probably not upper-level-dressage-collected, but relatively collected. Is that what you mean? If you mean a soft, easy, trail-riding canter as opposed to the gallop we see in shows, I think a good many Icelandics can do that. Traustis canter has a lot of lift in front, but is sooo easy to ride. It looks showy, but its just what he offers. I could ride it all day. Sina has the most comfy canter Ive ever ridden. I think there are some great canters in this breed those are just three I happened to think about. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
