> > I thought he was one of the ones that was really good?!?!? I think he is now. Someone reported that he is a delight to work with. But a local "trainer" said he was reactive and edgy. I suspect that tells us something about the two riders.
> > Sometimes people buy the horses thinking that they are something they are > not. I was thinking about that this morning. The fact that many of them are stoic and phlegmatic by nature tricks people into thinking they are not real horses with real horse reactions to things. When we went to look at the ponies, the barn guy caught Tosca right away because she tended to be resistant to being caught. From the moment she got here, she has been watching our faces to see what we wanted. If I go to the pasture to catch Hunter, she usually watches from a distance. If I go to the pasture to catch Tosca, she's headed right to the gait to meet me. Our friends had their disabled daughter on her Icelandic three weeks after they bought her. She was three. They have been politely disapproving that I have spent so much time with Tosca. They just can't fathom that I don't think she's ready for Stephanie. But I've ridden their mare. She's barely trained, just nicely willing to do what they ask. And her rider has been off of her at least twice. I do not consider coming off part of therapeutic riding. Nancy
