>>>> he is not an icelandic horse Vicka. He is half horse, half >>>> hummingbird, has been clocked by a vehicle at 20 mph at a saddle rack, >>>> not a true rack.
I had to smile when Janice explained that Stonewall isn't Icelandic. Yep, that's pretty much it. I've met Stonewall, and he's a drop-dead gorgeous doll-baby of a horse, nice conformation, athletic, very sweet, curious, seems very smart, but he is definitely what I'd call a hot horse. I was watching one of my new videos recently and there's a young mare (QH or TB?) on it who is so hot that all the trainer has to do is look at her and she canters. He spends the video trying to calm her - he doesn't want to kill her willingness (he actually used the word "goey") but he wants to channel it into a constructive, usable, thinking form. I liked his phrasing - "impulsive is not the same thing as impulsion." He wants impulsion, but not if the mare has to be impulsive to get it. I think it's good to remember what a truly energetic and "goey" horse is like. I'm just not convinced that really "hot" Icelandic's exist - genetically hot, inborn, not trained-in. Certainly not one like the mare in that video. :) Karen Thomas, NC
