Did anyone catch the program on PBS a couple of weeks ago called "Wild"? I missed it but my neighbor taped it for me and we watched it today. She wondered if what was said on the program was true about Icelandic horses. Because I was a guest in her house, I had to stop myself from throwing things at the TV, falling on the floor in a dead faint, harrumphing too loudly, etc.!
Trish - During the annual horse roundup, the narrator said that the horses recognize their owners and leave the herd to look for them. Could see rough handling of horses in background as horses and people milled around together and several people would grab a horse and manhandle it to get a halter on. Later in the program, it said that the imprinting of newborn foals contributes to horses recognizing their owners (showed a young child in a large covered barn, rubbing a foal and running his fingers over the foal's gums), and that this was a technique brought over from America. - During gait explanation, showed a horse and rider close-up and described it's gait as tolting. The horse was pacing. Usual position with head pulled up high, rider on the loins with feet flapping around and an Icelandic bit. No noseband though. Stated the penultimate gait was the flying pace. - Described the tourist industry surrounding the horse and said "even an untrained rider can ride an Icelandic horse". - "Icelandic horses are shod to protect their hooves" - Showed a woman plaiting horse hair to make reins. Implied that the hair was gathered - no mention of slaughter or dinner menus! - stated that "their fur changed with the season to avoid predators". Hmmm, I thought there were no predators in Iceland which is one of the reasons they are "bombproof"! It was a bit confusing what the narrator was talking about but seemed to be saying that all Icelandic horses are white in the winter and become colored in the summer as they shed their "fur". The most prized Icelandic horse is one that stays white year round. -"When mares give birth, it is called 'casting' a foal" - "When horses become unruly in a herd, it signals there is going to be a change in the weather" - "Buttercups are not eaten by the horses" - "Before trail rides, saddle bags are carefully weighed so they are not too heavy for the horse" -"Icelandic horses are at their best on rough-footed terrain and they enjoy the severe terrain" -"Icelandic horses originated from Celtic ponies mixed with Iberian blood" - one of the trek ponies had what looked like a loose ring snaffle but when it yawned the bit was a single piece of thin, twisted metal. -showed some old footage of a horse train being loaded with salt fish. No nosebands but the riding horses had long, shanked Icelandic bits. One horse was being hit because it would not go into the river to swim behind the boat. - more old footage of Icelandics being loaded onto boats to be sent to Britain to be used as mine ponies. Lots of manhandling, very sad. Once they went into the mines, they never saw daylight again and many went blind. In the early 1980's the last Icelandic horse came out of the mines. - about 1/2 of the ridden horses did not have nosebands (current footage). Almost all the horses I saw free were trotting - whether going along with the herd or as the extra horses on a trek. I saw one or two that gaited (not sure what gait) but would return to the trot. Most of the bits had long shanks.
