at the risk of hurting anyones feelings, I hope not! Did anyone happen to catch recently... I did a post where I showed a saddle on tivar and showed how it very obviously did not fit him at all. Then immediately afterward someone posted hey thanks Janice! I have been wanting a saddle like that for my horse, so glad to see it fits an icelandic! ?? I was baffled. Its like sometimes on here we read what we want to hear and not what is real. So the danger i think, is someone will get the idea from these posts that horses should be started by children, or children should be put on green horses. yiiiiii. we need to remember even the most calm, deadbroke horse in the world can kill you, a responsible experienced adult. kill you graveyard dead! Like the time my deadbroke Jasp decided to help me out and load himself in a rain storm as I was walking out the trailer door, he slipped on the wet entrance and fell against the wall, on me, then went scrambling to find his footing, whamming me repeatedly into the metal wall. I could have been killed but he found purchase on the rubber matting...
anyway. just a disclaimer! we know our horses but some dont! or some are less perceptive than others! ANd I have seen the worst train wreck I have ever witnessed, the person died from injuries, from a child on a horse. She had the kid in one of those buddie saddles and when she mounted the kids heels kicked in the flanks excitedly and the horse took off bucking, launching the kid who had on a helmet saving him, and launching the mom who was kicked in the back of the head when she landed, had brain swelling then a year later mini strokes, now dead and the kid is only 6 now. motherless. just a word to the wise!! I feel like I have been there, done that with kids and horses, know what to watch for, know not to let my mind wander for a second, know not to blink, and you should too! Also I hope people know it takes a couple of years at least of ground work to get a horse ready to be mounted! Janice -- even good horses have bad days sometimes.
