Sorry for the delay in responding to any of these posts but since I did not
work much last week I had a lot to do at the office today.
Most of the young horses came from one farm. The owner of this farm
said they usually do not bring them in to start working with them until they
are 3 years old. I do not know if and how they are taken care of prior to
that
time. They all run loose in a huge pasture. You guys should have seen them
trying to herd these young horses up to go on the trailer.
When I got there Thursday I thought Stormur had a stall. They had
problems getting the portable stalls in and did not get the cover all up in
time
to be used. Therefore, Stormur had to go in a small paddock. They turned 20
young stallions loose beside him and we were all afraid that he might decide
to jump the fence so he ended up out with them. I know have my baby pretty
banged up from all the stallion fighting/playing.
I was told to be at the pasture at 9am to catch Stormur. Well, I just
called him and he left the other 20 horses and came running to me. I stood
with him tied for about 90 minutes before they figured out that it would be
much later for him to go to the indoor arena. It took them a long time to
catch the others again. They were smart by this time
The young horse evaluation started with mares and foals. Several
comments from the judges were "lack of energy'. Well, I watched 3 mothers and
young 1-2 week old foals be chased for 30-45 minutes before being caught and
hauled to the arena. They had lots of energy then. The mares were led around
and then turned loose so they could be chased to watch the mother and babies
gaits. The mother was then taken away and the foal was chased to watch it
gait. Most of the foals were not happy. The judges did take note the ones
that
seemed to get the most upset and let the mothers back in quickly.
It was really interesting to see how different some foals were in gait
and build. One young weanling had a donkey as a friend and he actually came
in the arena with the Icelandic. The judge recommended separating them
because the weanling "was acting and gaiting too much like a donkey."
I do think the conformation part of the evaluation is helpful. It
helped me to see what is considered ideal in our great breed. I do not agree
that "correctness of legs" is not really important. Maybe I just don't know
enough to understand but being a physician I know that incorrect joints/back
etc. will effect development of arthritis in humans.
I also learned the maximum boot weight is 120 grams. People did really
seem to try to take care of their horses that were there for riding
evaluation. There was a lady watching that does therapeutic riding with 10
Icelandics in S.C. that made the comment "I have never seen a show where the
focus is
on the welfare of the horse like it is here."
Renee
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