This message is from: "Teressa Kandianis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
A group of us trailered down to Ocean Shores on the Washington coast last August. We took 10 horses of which 3 were fjords. The bravest horse in the group was Merit the fjord. He went right into the water and was having a blast. A Friesian mare and seasoned QH mare were also pretty blase about the surf as well. As for the rest, including my fjord mare, we saw some fabulous lateral movements when the scary white foam rolled in with each (small) wave. Though the next day when I brought my whip she went in and other horses were also getting brave. The beach there is hard packed sand fairly wide with soft sand and then dunes behind it. With all of the horses, they were having a great time racing down the beach, jumping logs etc. Lots of distractions there - families with kites, noise making kites at that, dogs, some cars though cars were not allowed on the stretch of beach where we rode, big flocks of sea birds that were floating in the tide pools and would take off as a group when the horse got close to them. In general, the horses were all pretty good. They were forward - Nina's overstep at the walk was huge - and were most likely comforted that they were with all of their buddies. The one caution is that when your horse is standing in the surf and it starts sucking back, the sand will move under the horse's feet (just like with us when we are standing in the surf) - Nina actually was tipped over at an angle - I just got her moving again and that fixed it but when you look down into the water, it can be disorienting. I don't know if the horse's view down is also disorienting - I didn't get the feeling from Nina that it bothered her - but it can be a bit of a panic. Irregardless of that, it was huge fun and a good break for the horses. Teressa in Ferndale, WA The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
