>>>> It's taken a while, but he has learned that there's a time and a place for everything, as my mother used to tell us.
Exactly. Our Arab seemed "crazy," "flighty" and all sorts of the typical Arab-y descriptions when we first got him. He has more energy than many horses - ok, maybe not so much now at age 28, but he sure did for most of his life. But, during those initial days with us, I KNOW he wasn't being "energetic" so much as he was confused by our lack of understanding - plus he had MANY holes in his training. Once we got a handle on what we needed to do, and found someone to help us fill in the gaps in his training, he became a MUCH more relaxed horse. He still had a good bit of "energy" - some of that was just inherent - but he was relaxed. Unfortunately, I see too many Icelandic's get stuck in that confused stage that Thunder came to us in... With Icelandic's, WAY too often that's just written of as "goey-ness"... The worst case I envision within Icelandic's is when someone takes one of these really quiet, slow horses and MAKES them "goey" out of fear and confusion. I'm betting that is a huge factor in some of the bolting we hear about. Team a beginner/timid rider with a horse that's been pushed to an energy level he's not comfortable with, and you have a recipe for disaster. Really sad, when you think that some of these same horses might have been perfect for that same rider, without the initial push for speed. Karen Karen Thomas Wingate, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.31/1129 - Release Date: 11/13/2007 9:22 PM
