Halter Training Icelandic Horse / Islandpferd

From the video poster: "Foal in Germany learning about a halter. It eventually gave up and layed down."

There are different ways to train foals to halter that may be easier on them and avoid this type of strain on their heads, necks, and bodies. Clicker training is a no-stress method of halter training, as well as approach / retreat.

We don't want to give the horse neck problems, rip any muscles, tendons, or ligaments, which may last his lifetime.

Hestur / Islandpferd / Icelandic Horse

Hestur.
Originally uploaded by diddý

Bits and Icelandic Horses

The Icelandic Horses in the images are all negatively affected by the bit and the contact on the reins. A horse should have a quiet, soft mouth when ridden properly (no noseband required).

An excerpt from an Eclectic Horseman article:

"That brings up the subject of maintaining a sensitive and soft mouth, which goes back to the school of Naples.

It was then clearly realized that in training a young horse, harsh rein action would occur, either inflicted by the rider, or the self-defense of a young horse, and the sensitivity of the bars would be progressively damaged.

Let's face it, a piece of steel in the mouth that is pulled on unilaterally or on both sides with the connection of the snaffle joint pushing against the palette is no treat.

Also for about 6,000 years all snaffle bits had cheek pieces, so when using one rein, the cheekpiece of the other side prevented the bit from slipping through the mouth and pushed the head in the desired direction.

More recently invented loose ring snaffles are not a step in the right direction."

Read more:

http://www.eclectic-horseman.com/content/view/55/33/

We should think about this in regard to the Icelandic Horses (islandpferd, cheval islandais, ijslands paard, islanninhevonen, islenskihesturinn) and what the bit does to his mouth when the rider's weight is on the reins.

Icelandic horse

Icelandic horse
Originally uploaded by Runar F

A picture of an Icelandic Horse in Iceland.

The Icelandic Horse

The Icelandic Horse
Originally uploaded by Styrmir Kári

A picture of the Icelandic Horse in Iceland.

Happy Pony?

Is this a happy pony (Icelandic Horse)?

Check out his head and neck in the trot.

He's behind the vertical.

Is this a good or not-good thing?

Check out the horse's tail.

What is he saying?

How much contact is required to get gait?

Is the horse fighting the bit?

Speaking Up For The Horse

Here are a few quotes that guide our journey with horses:

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong. ~~ William J. H. Boetcker

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. ~~ Martin Luther King Jr.

If we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves share in the guilt. "Black Beauty" ~~ Anna Sewell

All that is necessary for ignorance to prevail is for educated people to say nothing. ~~ Judy Ryder (adapted from the quote attributed to Edmund Burke)