>>And that is exactly why I bought babies! Then I know
>>they have been handled correctly, and if I make a
>>mistake, it is on me.
>
> That's a good idea, but having seen how much people can mess up babies
> even before they are weaned ("Oh it's just soooooo cuuuuute when he
> nibbles/kicks/rears up and puts his feet on my shoulders" - yuck) it's
> not infallible.
>>>>I just wanted to put another perspective out there, it seems like
some people think that either horses are to be kept at a distance
from us, in order to keep them from doing anything dangerous, or if
we let them close, they will inevitably be out of control, no
boundaries, dangerous for sure.<<<<
I think we have to think about how the whole situation came down to "don't
handle Icelandic foals".
The foals *can* be very friendly. We have a lot of people in Icelandic
Horses who are not horsemen, and a lot of people who are new to horses / new
horse owners.
There's not a lot of horsemanship knowledge on the part of the owners, so
handling foals was probably done incorrectly, leaving what they thought was
the only option of "don't handle Icelandic foals".
In Iceland, they like the foals a little skeptical, maybe apprehensive, of
people. They use that skepticism in the riding, working and using that
"edginess".
They don't really want them to be too friendly, relaxed, or too used to
people; otherwise the horses do not have that little bit (or a lot) of
wariness, tension, to be used in their style of riding.
Here's the crux of the situation, tho: we do not have the same riding style
as in Iceland!
They do not need their horses to be used to garage doors opening, dogs
jumping up near a fence, little whirlybirds in the garden, hoses, etc. Our
horses need to know how to stop NOW, to turn, to go downhill slowly, be
flexible. Our horses have a lot of "us" put into them. Our horses are not
disposable.
In Icelandic riding style, they need the horses to go fast from point A to
point B. Knowing how to stop, turn, or be supple, or have functional
movement is not important. The horses are disposable.
Very different from how we view, and what we are expecting from our horses.
Ergo, no need to raise them the same was as they do in Iceland. In fact,
they probably *need* to be raised differently, so that we are not
short-changing them and having them live their adult lives being on edge or
skeptical of people.
Judy
http://icehorses.net
http://clickryder.com
