> Sweet is right, my boy has been a stallion all this time and has never > offered to kick or bite me ever.
just because I want to always go on record as to not perpetuate any stereotypes... I have owned/own three icelandics. All three were/have been pistol balls. They are not "sweet" little darling munchkins, little darling lambs all docile and cuddly. My twh stonewall is the most loving, human oriented, cuddly horse on the planet. He's also almost killed me several times under saddle, but on the ground, good lord, nothing sweeter. My icelandics, first of all nasi, my baby, got as a weanling, day one, nip nip nip, arrogant, not one second of one day, not one time in any moment around him in his presence did he not try to express dominance over me. He had deliberately, for fun, galloped as fast and hard as he could to knock me down and send me sprawling, bite my ankle and when I reached to swat him, bit my shoulder. Stuff like that. Born with an irrepressible free spirited arrogant macho-ness. When I finally gelded him at three all the biting went away, and there are a lot of times now when he seems a very malleable docile lovey dovey little bland potato. But he is a corker, and has always been. Tivar, he aint gonna take nothing if he dont think its fair, and he'll do whatever it takes. And you gotta respect that, admire it. But again, he is not lovey dovey little fluffy baby bunnee stuffed animal horse. in fact I dont even know where you guys get this, thats how vastly different my own icelandic experience is. and again, I am not saying this to be argumentative, I am saying it because I myself had heard so much of it that I had these expectations of a fluffy bunny horse and when I didnt get one I was baffled. I rescued my stali who died, and he had been so neglected and abused and mistreated at the hands of humans... but everything about him, his every look was "I am gonna do what you say for now, but dont push it lady," but with him, I never blamed him. and he never refused me, not once, even when dying he followed my every command, but his eyes always told me he did not like me, not one bit. he was not a "by nature" loving and cuddly horse, not one bit. With my Nasi, like Stonewall, he is my baby I raised, he came into the world a scamp, I let him get away with too many things, and now I keep him in line but he is nowhere NEAR a little pocket pony. With my Tivar, he is learning to trust me, he is getting just a hair more patient every day, but when he thinks he's being treated unfairly, oh my, you just have to back off and let him soak a bit because if you enter into a war of wills with him he is going to go into mean mode and since you cant really win when they get like that unless you beat them or something, its best to just back off and let him think about it, because I agree with all, they ARE smart, the smartest horses as a breed I have personally been around. But sweet and cuddly has not been my experience. that being said, I would not trade my mean iceys for your cuddly ones, i think in a way it is a sign of intelligence to express a refusal to cow down... I had to doctor tivar's rain rot today and he was great for about a half hour, then got impatient, started pawing, dancing, then did a little half rear when I was directly in front of him on the cross ties like "I can strike you" so I walked away and let him dance and paw and half rear for about five minutes, I was watering the chickens and when I looked and saw he had accepted things, I let him free and he was somewhat contrite. which always makes me smile. They can be so obviously contrite! that just cracks me up... janice :)-- yipie tie yie yo
