The goal behind initial horse training is to make the trainer the horse’s leader. The leadershiprole is achieved when the horse trusts and respects the trainer. A green horse will show trust for example when they let a trainer catch them out in the field and touch them anywhere on their bodies. A horse in training will show respect for their trainer when the horse yields, without fear of the trainer when he is asked to do so. There are many ways to achieve this leadership role, probably as many ways as there are horse trainers. Most training methods are however accompanied by drawbacks that do not achieve this goal until much later if the goal is even reached.  

“Do you have a boyfriend?” I asked a woman where she stood and groomed her horse heavily. She said she did but gave me a look indicating she did not understand the purpose of my asking. We encountered one another once in a while in the stable where we both rented boxes for our horses when we were preparing them for a riding tour, so we had become acquaintances.

“You have probably at one time or another gotten a blister on your heal,” affirmed my horseshoe master to me. We stood by a horse, who had been brought to be retrained, and were looking at the positioning of its feet and its shoes.

“Have you argued with someone and you parted dissatified?” my riding instructor asked. We stood by a horse that had just arrived to partake in training. The owner of the horse described the horse, among other things as hard on the reins and stiff to the sides and always in a hurry and the owner wanted him “fixed.” “Yes, I recall such an incident when that has happened,” I answered hesitently in deep thought.  

“What sound is the horse making?” I asked my riding instructor, as I pointed in secret to a horse that was in the arena . We sat up in the bleachers and waited for the riding lession ahead of ours to finish. “The horse clamps his jaws continuously and vigorously,” said the teacher, “and the noise echoes because of the hollow in a horse’s skull.”

“No pain, no gain” was the motto for all athletic training since before mid-nineteenth century. It was believed that an athlete’s progress would be minimal if that individual did not torment themselves in training. Pushing a person past the threshold of pain was considered the best method to prepare an athlete for those tasks that were yet to come. The same thinking has applied to horse training.  

“Mr. Larusson, do you think that horses read the minds of humans?” asked an American horse-enthusiast woman at the end of a lesson a few years ago. “I won’t rule it out, but I reckon it doesn’t happen as often as people would like to think,”

"Sit still on the horse," said the  master rider abrasively to a foreign girlfriend of mine who had just began working for him. They were each on a different horse out riding. He rode one of the many competition horses in training with him. She rode a horse that was less trained, unsure of himself in trot and wanted to move to tölt when he lost his balance. "Do you mean, that I shouldn''''t raise the trot?" she asked curiously. "This is an unattractive way to ride a horse, it doesn''''t suit an Icelandic “gaedingi” and is only used on lazy hasty horses being ridden by children who are learning to ride" said the horse master slightly annoyed and added, "foreigners also do this but they are not used to gaited horses or good riding horses."

The horse in picture #1 is on the forehand, meaning he holds his weight on his front legs rather than his hind legs. You would describe him to be on the forehand which is how all horses start out in training, although to which degree varies. When training a horse, the goal is usually to get the horse off the forehand by transferring the weight to its hindquarters as can be seen in picture #3.

When is a horse trained in walk? A horse is considered trained in walk when he can walk without tension, has eagerness in the direction he is going, the neck position is a comfortable level for the horse, and he has freedom in his movements. A horse is trained in walk when he is walking with even steps, the hind legs step well ahead of the front foot footprints, and the horse uses his hind legs to for power.

"Iceland´s Favourite Places is a unique and user-friendly DVD with short films of over 100 Icelandic locations renowned for their natural beauty and cultural interest. You will discover the amazing contrast in Icelandic landscape, from majestic glaciers and active volcanoes to stunning geothermal areas, powerful waterfalls and rugged lavafields. Narration is in 7 languages:

Here are the finals of the tournament of the horse club Freyfaxi and selection for the district tournament 2007. The competition was held in wonderful weather this weekend. The greatest excitement was in the B category of good horses where Bessi from Bjorg won Taktur from Tjarnarland in the pre-competition.

One of the missions of FEIF is to focus on horse welfare – and one of our goals is to put the
welfare of the horse first in everything we do. This is clearly described in FIRO, FIPO and FIZO with reference to the FEI Code of Conduct. With this letter the Board of FEIF would like to express the importance of this part of our mission.

A quiet revolution is now taking place that transforms the art and science of horsemanship. The Bitless Bridle™ provides a humane alternative to the Bronze Age technology of the bit. Unlike the bit, no pain is inflicted. Your horse is free from fear, listens more attentively, breathes more freely, and moves more gracefully.

The Star toelt that was held last Saturday in The Skating Hall in Akureyri is now on the WebTV of IcehorseNews. The episode is in two parts before and after intermission.

The start off list for Stjornutoelt is ready. The Stjornutoelt will be held at the Skating Hall in Akureyri on Saturday 24th March 2007. A very hard competition can be expected, but it was Anton Nielsson who won the Stjornutoelt last year on Therna from Holar.

Registration is open for The Young Stallion Show of The Horse Breeding Association of Sudurland and already some very interesting young stallions have been registered. The brother of Stali from Kjarr (same mother), the brother of Leista from Lyngholl who was in 1st place in the 4 year olds category at the last National Competition and more.

At the annual festival of The Horse Club Hordur the rider Halldor Gudjonsson was nominated The Athletic of Hordur for the year 2006. Halldor is studying at the riding instructors department of Holar school.

One of the most successful horse breeder in the country, Sigurdur Saemundsson farmer at Holtsmuli, will come and educate about his breeding and give good advice on Thursday 22, March at 20:00 at Sorlastadir. Admission is FREE for the educational seminar.

At The Young Stallion Show of the Horse Breeding Association of Sudurland that will be held next Saturday at Olfushollin the owners can choose to use the novelty option of having a short video of the young stallions’ parents on a wide screen.