>>>> I agree up to a point, but I have to add that I've got horses that were >>>> imported from Iceland where they were not handled at all as youngsters >>>> then had a "fast and dirty" training, which are, and always have been, >>>> quiet, friendly, calm and as bombproof as a horse can be.
>> We had one like that too, but I feel with those horses, it's a tribute to >> their temperment more than anything else. I TRY to be very careful about drawing conclusions from limited data, but by golly, I'm afraid all we have is limited data on this breed. On one hand, it annoys me no end when people (not Mic, I should be careful to say, but some others) try to draw conclusions based on one or two horses, when there is so much individuality even among offspring of the same parents, much less across any breed. But, on the other hand, we only have about 3000 Icelandic's in the USA, and maybe another 2000 in Canada - any way you slice and dice those statistics, it's a small number. But, as long as 50% of the foals born in Iceland are slaughtered each year, and heaven only knows how many older horses, then I certainly can't rely on any statistics from Iceland. Maybe they simply slaughter a random cross-section of their horses - which is pretty sick if you stop to think about it. Or, maybe they really do "cull" by slaughter. But, if they "cull" by slaughter, that would mean that any statistics are VERY skewed, since they would be destroying meaningful data in the process. Who knows what kind of horses never make it onto our radar screens...? Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.1/1182 - Release Date: 12/12/2007 11:29 AM
