>>>> oh, for goodness' sake. i don't think the french-link snaffle i was told to use on stjarni was "restrictive tack". ... for the record, gudmar told me i *did* need an icelandic saddle - not for a gait, but so stjarni would have one wide enough for his enormous, potato-shaped back.
Vicka, I don't think you're following us here. This is not a thread about you and Stjarni. If you have good experiences, great, but this is an "in general" thread. I am not sure why you always insist on bringing Gudmar's name into the general topic threads. It's not always about you and Stjarni. Please don't take things personally that are NOT intended to be personal. If you REALLY like Gudmar, fine - but remember that your blind insistence that he can do no wrong (and that's how it has struck me over the past 8-10 months) is going to make some people even more determined to really SEE what he's doing, at shows, at evaluations, whatever. You're not doing him any favors by denying what is so obvious in the pictures. I would not have posted those pictures of Gudmar specifically had you not insisted that he commits the very ills we're talking about. The pictures speak for themselves. If you've seen another side of him - great. At his young age, I HOPE he's growing and learning and evolving. He's what - 27 this yes? (I seem to remember that he's the same age as my daughter.) He still has plenty of time to mature into a horseman, should he choose to do so - gosh I didn't even start riding seriously until I was 32. But it would always be a red flag to me if someone says one thing in private, but does another thing altogether when he's in other company... >>>> for which i think we owe centered riding more than anything. Do you mean "Centered Riding"? Your lack of caps is confusing to me, but I remember you said you went to a Centered Riding clinic recently. If so, that idea is nothing new to Centered Riding, nor do I think Sally Swift takes credit for it. (I love her books, but she didn't start that "seat" of riding.) If you mean "centered riding" - no caps - then yes, some of the principles of "centered riding" have been around for centuries, even going back to the ancient Greeks, if not prior. We've talked about that before on the list. Karen Thomas, NC
