>>> I mentioned different ridign styles because Peruvian Horses are ridden more Western style and Icelandics seem to be ridden English with a lot more contact on the bit.
Not here! We always ride with a casual rein, minimal contact. A well-gaited horse doesn't need contact in order to gait. And that's certainly not anything specific to any breed. I'm a pleasure/trail rider, but my formal lessons have been in classical "English" riding - hunter lessons first, then some light dressage. Then I stumbled into natural horsemanship, which isn't really tied to any defined discipline, but is more about gentle, easy-going horsemanship built around a solid partnership with the horse. I can use these skills with an Icelandic just as easily as with any breed - and we have a blast. >>> The teachers are Icelandic so I imagine it will be differen than taking lessons from a Peruvian trainer Maybe I am wrong. I don't have a lot of experience either way. I don't know them, but having started riding when my daughter was eight, I would advise you to, first and foremost, pick a GOOD trainer for your daughter, someone who will teach her to value and respect her horse, to ride safely, and with good equitation. Good equitation is good equitation, and good horsemanship is good horsemanship. Period. Whatever the breed. I can't brag enough on the trainer we eventually found to work with my daughter and her Arab...and who still helps us with our Icelandic's. She always made Emily think of thing from the horse's viewpoint, not as some ATV. A good trainer is a good trainer. (The trainer we work with is American - and very good with Icelandics...and Arabs..and TWH...and QH...!) Riding CAN be a positive social outlet for kids (or it can be a competitive, snooty fiasco, where no one has fun, least of all the horses...) so I'd try to find her a trainer/instructor who will 1) teach her good horsemanship and respect for the animals, and 2) to ride in a way that she can relate to other kids. Unfortunately, Icelandic style riding is rather obscure in the USA, and may set her up for ridicule with her peers. It may not be nice, but kids can be awfully cliquish. It's quite possible to ride an Icelandic horse in a good, positive way - I don't think so many people are snobbish against Icelandic's, but the traditional, show-type riding style is definitely not "mainstream" horsemanship in the USA...to put it tactfully! Karen Karen Thomas Wingate, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.5/1190 - Release Date: 12/19/2007 7:37 PM
