Saturday, January 3, 2009

Heavy Contact on the Reins of the Icelandic Horse



If there is heavy contact on the reins of the ridden Icelandic Horse, it will show in several ways.

The lips will be stretched beyond normal, to an intolerable point, hurting the horse. Try stretching your own lips backwards.

The mouthpiece of the bit will be showing so much that we might wonder how much is left in the mouth!

The bridle sidepiece will bend and fall away from the side of the horse's face.

The neck will show wrinkles at the throatlatch and the withers.

Is this right to do to the Icelandic Horse to get him to tolt?

Who encourages riding like this? Who sanctions it?

Is all of this odd, hurtful riding style approved by FEIF?

2 comments:

Sigga said...

Hi!
I think it´s great that you´r telling the world about the negative sides in Icelandic horse competitions, but what about the positives? There are many "soft" riders out there doing a great job!
If you consider how young this sport is compared to other horse sports, it has developed a lot the last years as I know it. There´s an maximum limit for the thickness and length of the shoe, a limit for length of the hoof and limit for the extra weight (250 grams). If the horse starts to bleed from the mouth the rider will be disqualified and also for bad riding while good riding is rewarded with extra points. Of course there´s some downsides, but at least it´s going the right way! Btw, check out the rules for sport competitions at www.feif.org

lalalovely said...

come on! i cane find lots of pictures from all horserinde disiplines. there are always a few people who can't ride.