In a message dated 3/11/2008 1:14:13 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<<>>So, for the this forum can we all agree to the terminology in Lee's book? Absolutely. Great idea. There will be no problem in communication and understanding that way>> For more than the past decade, I have been interested in how people use language in describing our Icelandics. Maybe frustrated or irritated, to be more accurate. I am more tolerant now, but I used to keep a glossary in my head of Icelandicspeak. (Icelandicspeak not meaning the language people speak in Iceland but rather the choice of words people use in the English language about Icelandic horses.) "Willing" meant a nervous horse in the arena but not the horse which breaks into a gallop at mile 98 on a 100 mile endurance ride at the crack of dawn after being out on the trail since the morning before. "Competition horse" meant a horse which went to 2 or 3 little horse shows a year with a half dozen Icelandics but a horse campaigning throughout the year in endurance in open competition against thousands of horses from other breeds was a "pleasure horse." Horses with "no talent" or which would be "on the dinner table in Iceland" meant strong, independent horses like mine which have done so much to publicize the breed. So,I think the idea of trying to use some neutral, standard terminology as much as possible is a good one. The Lee Ziegler book is an excellent reference. It explains some things to me I've never noticed or understood before. Still, there are terms used in the book which aren't very well defined and aren't terms I hear much around other horse people. For example, I have seen the term "camel walk" used on this list but never hear it anywhere else and can't visualize the brief description offered in the book. We should also be careful to more precise about some terms we use aside from those in the Lee Ziegler book. For example, the term "strongly gaited" was used a few weeks ago with reference to its supposed absence in Icelandics which do endurance. That is the kind of thing I would have expected ten years ago, i.e. that a horse is not "strongly gaited" unless it has a pure, flashy tolt/rack. Is that how people want to use the term now? Or does a "strongly gaited" horse include a horse that does all the other gaits this list talks about Icelandics doing? Are those horses out there doing a running walk, foxtrot, stepping pace, amble or whatever else people now recognize Icelandics doing, "strongly gaited"? Anybody else consider the term "three gaited horse" to be a tired and inaccurate cliche when talking about gaited horses which don't happen to favor the tolt as their primary gait? Personally, I welcome recognition of the fact that gaitedness does not equal tolt alone. I could write a book on all the positive characteristics of gaitedness my horses have demonstrated in endurance rides which do not involving riding the tolt/rack. Think it is just a coincidence that Remington and Skjoldur can move downhill so much faster than other horses? Or that Remington is often walking when other horses are trotting? Or that one guest rider wrote on the ridecamp list that riding Skjoldur in a 75 miler was like riding a horse on wheels? Think there is any relationship between Remington's smoothness and his soundness over his long career? Think there might be a connection between Skjoldur's completing 32 fifty milers in less than two months traveling from Missouri to California on the XP 2001 without a step of lameness and how smoothly he travels? I.e, less concussion on the ground from the smooth traveling horse of whatever gait means less concussion on the horse's joints. Less concussion on the horse means less concussion on the rider. Less concussion on the rider means rider is less tired and can more easily ride in proper form for hours on end. Rider in proper form is easier on the horse's back and legs which helps keep the horse from being tired. Kind of a vicious cycle of good things happening. So, I raise a toast to the use of precise, neutral language to really talk about our horses instead of the often pejorative terms with vague, loaded meanings which have infected the discussion of Icelandic horses in the past. John Parke Solvang CA **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)
