>>> He looks really nice. The area he came from has a lot of people, right? >>> I wonder if it works with him like it does with our youngsters. An >>> Icelandic friend sends his young horses up to us to grow up, and they >>> are always completely unhandled apart from the very, very basics. They >>> don't lead, some are virtually untouchable loose in the field. However, >>> after a summer out on the moor (which has lots of people walking dogs >>> etc) they all seem to be much more friendly.
I don't know first-hand how you handle your horses, but what's going on with the Bankers is nothing like what I've heard in the "traditional" lore of Icelandic raising. There are people there, way too many, although there are still small spots that are undeveloped. These horses see horses daily, but the people they encounter for the most part are tourists, who mostly know nothing about horses. There have been some acts of vandalism against the herd - seven were even murdered over the past seven years, a huge number for such a tiny herd. It's not like they are sent up into the mountains for months, years at a time, with no sitings of humans. MOST of their dealings with humans are pleasant, but not all. In many (most?) ways, I think the Bankers have less fear of humans than many of the imported Icelandic's I've encountered or heard of. That said, you can't rule out the "nature" part of the equation. People who have experience with various strains of mustangs say that the Colonial Spanish strains are the most gentle, and friendliest of any of the mustangs that they've found. Overall, that seems to apply equally to the ones who were discovered out west, who had much less contact with humans - I'm sure some never saw people until their capture, at least not very close. The Bankers seem particularly so - some people believe they are the purest of the Spanish herds...but maybe it's because of their close range with humans. Who knows? There's not a Banker over three weeks (3 days?) old who has never seen a human - there are just too darned many people on the island now. Unfortunately, some of the babies even get carrots and apples as handouts - which is kinda/sorta nice if done correctly, IF they are to be adopted, but not so nice if non-horsey tourists are spoiling them, taking the edge of their feral survival skills, and making them rude and unruly in the process. It's a complicated mess these horses are in. Bart has an "edge", a wariness, to him that makes me doubt he was hand-fed carrots in his youth, but I could be wrong. The herd manager said that Bart is by far the easiest of the mature stallions he's ever removed from the wild. His docility will make him a great domestic horse, but it probably is the reason he was injured and had to be removed. Steve also said that most of the Corolla horses (non-mature-stallions, that is) are similarly docile and extremely trainable. The five-year-old mare who was adopted by the boarding barn where Bart and Vinnie were staying was trained for riding, and was an amazing little mare - the breed ambassador for the "Wild Horse Days" type festivity/fund-raisers, but in her spare time, she gives 5-6 year old kids beginner "up-down" lessons, always with a lovely, sweet attitude. She's one in a million, and if I had to judge by looks, I'd say she's VERY closely related to Vinnie. (Maybe an older sister?) The herd manager has been around horses all his life, mostly QH and stock horses. He showed, and went to work for Craig Johnson, the noted reining horse trainer and competitor - the one who sometimes works with Parelli. He started many QH for Johnson and for others, some out of the huge Texas herds. In his lifetime (I suspect he's mid-late 30's, but I'm not sure) he said he's had two horses try to kill him. One was a mishandled, overtrained, overfed, questionably bred QH who was eventually euthanized. The other was the last mature Banker stallion removed from the wild, just prior to Bart. So, while this herd is generally VERY docile and sweet, they are still wild - or feral at least. It's really ironic that the two extremes in stallions he's met were the last two he removed from the Banker herd. I love working with raw animals, but NO WAY would I have attempted to work with that other stallion. He has been in domesticity for several months (a year?) and is finally (barely) under saddle, but he's hurt people in the process. There is also some local folklore about the adventures of that older stallion, that point to extreme intelligence and survival skill. Bart is wise...but thank god, not so "wiley." In other words, no way would I consider transitioning a horse from the current Banker environment to a family environment to be ideal, or anything to take notes from. I think they are gentle, sweet horses overall, but a early life that prepares them for survival on their own is not necessarily a good path for a horse that will be a domestic riding horse. I have all faith that Bart will make the transition, but that's because he's an exceptional individual from a distinctive breed. I feel sure he'll do it despite his raising, not because of it. Karen Thomas, NC
