> I think the USIHC is way out of touch with the majority of Icelandic Horse > owners. Look at how large and active our list is, yet none of them are > involved but only in their small group.
well remember what people have been saying for a while... that baby boomers, demographically the largest part of the US population now and has been for a while and will be til we start croaking I think-- are outdoorsy and earthy and horsey, old hippies who want to get back to the land, raise chickens, and very very horsey. Horse people have just grown exponetially in the last ten years. and aging people who ride, like to ride gaited horses. its easier on old bones. so it follows that there has been a boom in horseyness and in gaited horse ownership. so even pat parelli says stuff like how the old cowboy way doesnt work anymore because the majority of horse owners right now are not cowboys they are women, most of them mothers, the same young hippie mothers who were looking at different ways of child rearing that didnt involve a switch or paddle, mothers who started trying to understand what made kids tick instead of smacking them when they screamed. so it would behoove anyone who wants to make money off horses (thats not always a bad thing) to bear in mind that most of us out here are not only never gonna look great in tights again, (not that we CARE really haha) but that we also want a RELATIONSHIP with our horses. we want horses who like us and feel affection and trust to ride in beautiful woods in different ways, some fast and furious and fun and some laid back and lazy and fun and sometimes both. some of us like to show but wonder why we have to physically hurt and make our horses bleed to do so. Some of us enjoy the challenge of training as much as riding. Some of us are physically unable to ride. BUt still we want horses. I read an article years ago about one of the men who founded Mad Magazine. Him and his wife loved horses and always wanted them and bought a big ranch and horses and were thrown and got hurt and after a while realized they really didnt like the riding part of horsemanship at all. They just loved horses and enjoyed them from the ground so they started taking in rescues etc and really enjoyed their horses. This is my soapbox for the day I guess :) and i feel like most of the conflict in the horse world, any breed, stems from people wanting to hold on to the old harsh ways and scoff at the new caring, natural way, and vice versa. a lot of conflict. But things always follow the money. Thats just the way it is. So I feel sure the old way will fall away in time. also, i know it sounds egocentric, but i swear these horse magazine people are lurking. I have never in my life heard of botulism in hay until it was on the list recently, and now a magazine article. I see lots of that happening now. And that makes me realize horse magazines are no longer bringing us the news, we are bringing it to them, and all they are now anyway is an ad publication to make money, they arent in anyway into this to do any sort of service and probably dont give one rats a** if they print something that is absolutely ridiculous to most of us. i know I can get a lot more good from random creative junk on youtube about horses than horse illustrated. Now thats an eye opener. Horse illus was once a mighty publication. Now they are almost no substance sandwiched between lots and lots of ads, and what substance there is is garbage. think about it. Yes, things are really changing so quick its hard for publishers to keep up. we left them in dust a few years ago... like karen said, at least they had a series of parelli articles. then when thats done they will have lots of garbage and ads and a series of articles on some other popular guru. very sad thats all thats keeping them going now. janice yipie tie yie yo
