> This sort of comment is just as much one of those "myths" as the ones > that they need special saddles and bridles, they all tolt and they can > carry 350lb people all day.
I don't think that the icelandic riding style is anywhere near how we ride the horses here. I think it's very obvious. It may have changed from 20 years ago, and from that point, the change may be going in our direction, maybe one degree out of 100, but there is still a BIG difference in riding, functional use, flexing, suppling, etc. The icelandic riding and training style may use the words but the underlying knowledge of the how and why of horsemanship is just not there yet, in my opinion. >>> they always have had to have good brakes simply because of the way >>> motorists on Icelandic roads behave towards ridden horses (ie ignore >>> them completely)<<<< How could that possibly be true when we have so many horses imported from Iceland that do not have brakes? I think perhaps we are talking about different things. Are the "good brakes" you are talking about occurring because the horse has a tight noseband and the rider braces in the stirrups and pulls on the horse's mouth with all his weight, and the bit digs into the palate of his mouth? I don't see having good brakes as the horse being ridden on a casual rein, stopping when the rider asks by an imperceptible cue from his body. Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
