> You know, I really wish we could leave race and > ethnicity out of this.
That is exactly why the subject title says "icelandic-style" instructor, which is not based on nationality but on the style of training. There are definitely Americans (and Germans, Swedish, etc.) who learned and practice icelandic-style training. We never know how the Icelandic Pony under us has been trained, what he has gone thru to get to being underneath us, unless we have trained him ourselves. Altho there is a wide range of temperments in the breed, if you pick the right one, you can generally train them yourself and be sure that there hasn't been any mis- or man-handling. One reason we have a list for "natural" training, riding, and gaiting for Icelandic Horses is because of the results of the icelandic-style training: a multitude of behavior problems such as bolting, stress; and a multitude of physical problems such as back pain, hoof pain, etc. Since the shift has been to natural horsemanship, we have far less behavioral and physical problems from the horse! Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
