>>> I'd suggest that you expose yourself to a variety of styles and sports, to see what appeals to you and your kid. The Parelli Seven Games video is a good one to get a feel of natural horsemanship, but there are also good videos by Lynn Palm (a versatility rider, who has shown western, dressage, driving, hunters, and about everything else.)
I had another in mind when I started that sentence - the Linda Tellington-Jones book, Let's Ride is certainly a nice book to have - for adults and for kids. Linda's sister, Robyn, is active in the TTEAM/TTOUCH program that LTJ started, and she's on this list. The book has pictures of Icelandic's...but also of other breed horses too. If I were going to think about a pony for my kid, I'd want to make sure the kid would be comfortable thinking of the pony as pony that could easily integrate with horses/ponies of other breeds, so they could comfortably hang out with other kids and their horses/ponies. The social side of horses can be very rewarding to kids if approached in the right way, and unfortunately, too many Icelandic trainers tend to try to isolate the horses from other breeds. Be aware of that when shopping for a trainer... Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.6/1192 - Release Date: 12/21/2007 1:17 PM
