>>>>>> response to windgait So wrong. Being in the Vet world ,there is >>>>>> absolutely no statistical data to support your supposition. The >>>>>> diagnosis of spavin in Icelandics is virtually nonexistant home and >>>>>> abroad . Period . How shallow to think horses breed and breed on Ice >>>>>> for thousands of years would have a problem doing a Ice routine for >>>>>> 15 minutes . One of the major problems with pseudo- horse people is >>>>>> their total uneducation. Don't think any one with an education would >>>>>> buy your theory. Your agenda is not needed in Hanover.
>>>>hahhaha i have a pretty good guess who this one is. Yeah, I betcha. Probably the same one who said that breeders shouldn't check on their pregnant mares. Probably the same one who said my breeding program is questionable because I allowed a three-gaited gelding on my property...as if three-gaitedness is contagious. The same one who calls BTW, this is a new claim - that they were bred for THOUSANDS (plural?) of years on ice? The standard line is that they were isolated in Iceland for ONE thousand years, but I think there's evidence to indicate even that's questionable. And, as Judy questioned, how often do Icelandics really RUN on ice when left to their own devices? Unless their lives are in danger? Or do they step gingerly, picking their way for the most part? You'd think someone who claims to be a vet would know that horses don't "evolve" with special adaptive traits in a period of a mere thousand years. Certain traits can be selectively eliminated very quickly - even in a single generation, but adaptive evolution takes many, many, many years - tens of thousands to millions - to happen. Hey, but what do you expect from me - I'm proud to say that I check in on my pregnant mares several times a day when they are due, and we'll even pull a foal if there is any doubt about the mare's or foal's survival during delivery... Karen Thomas, NC
