Welcome to the list Lori. I bought my first gaited horse four years ago after a nasty back injury and my first Icelandics about 18 months ago. I have now been involved with horses for 45 years, many disciplines mostly "English" riding . I also trained professionally for a short time and wrote some free lance articles for several horse magazines. I'm writing this so you will know I was only a newbie in terms of gaited horses.
We bought two unstarted Icelandic fillies at a herd dispersal and they've been a delight in every way. The five year old is started under saddle and doing well as a trail horse and we're just starting the four year old. However, if I had it to do again, I'd buy a nice well-trained six or seven year old that had been proven to be gaited under saddle and had been out on trail and had found a bit and saddle that fit well. All of these issues have been non-issues for our girls, but reading the experiences of others suggests to mt that we were really fortunate. Others have not been so lucky with their first Icelandic purchases. There are breeders on this list who would be able to help you with the purchase of a nice trustworthy gaited, naturally trained Icelandic. Keep us informed of how your shopping is going won't you? Nancy
