>>> Runa is turning out well and she looks pretty non concerned with the mounting process. Her mother was very nice.
Runa is a nice little mare, that's for sure. I shouldn't say "little" though - she's about the tallest Icelandic here. >>>Does Shirley start all of the horses with a treed saddle, or does it depend? We almost always use that little Thorowgood pony saddle at first, and if you notice, we almost always put a bit in their mouths early on too. My philosophy is that, while they will probably get ridden in a treeless saddle, and we will ride them part of the time early on with either a halter or sidepull, we like to be sure that they get their introduction to both treed saddles and bits under our watch. We know we'll be careful, but who knows what they will be exposed to later on. Runa is carrying the bit now, but we're doing her ground driving with the reins attached to the sidepull rings. That little Thorogood saddle is very short, and extra-wide, so it works fairly well on many of my Icelandics...at least for someone as lightweight as Shirley. The short panels don't have a lot of weight distributing area for a bigger person, but, on the other hand, it isn't so prone to bridge either. There was one horse we worked with last summer - Svertla I think - that the Thorowgood didn't settle well on. We used one of the Sensations on her. We always let Shirley be the first rider up - she's a much better rider than either Cary or me, plus at 98-ish pounds, the horses can barely feel her weight. Karen Karen Thomas Wingate, 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 IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
