Icelandic Horse Becomes Possee Certified!

From Janice and Trausti, Icelandic Horse:

Trausti passed his posse certification today! He flunked a couple of areas but did so well on others he passed anyway! Here are pictures:

1. had to stand for five minutes while guns were fired. (first from left to right) he flinched the first ten shots or so. The first shot he sort of tried to skitter ahead but saw the other horses were calm so the next was just tense and flinched then the next less tense etc. New horses are put next to horses already desensitized. At the end they fired a high powered rifle BOOM and he flinched again, then after three shots didnt even flinch.


2. Here we are coming in second in the race where the slowest horse wins. we weren't allowed to check the horse's speed with out hands. I don't know how to do it any other way. I kept saying easssyyyy but he just wanted to go fast! The winner actually, was pretty funny, the one slowest and last and therefore the winner, was a barrel racer haha.


3. Here we had to leave the group and go off in pairs, lead and follow, a simple exercise you think but sirens were going.


He did not do very well at the deal where you toss a bag of aluminum cans from the saddle, but of all the ones who didn't like that he was best, I mean some totally lost it, he just wanted to back away from it. And we had to partner with someone and carry a flapping banner between us and the horse we were partnered with freaked out entirely, ran backwards and almost sat and she dropped her end and Trausti was scared because the other horse was scared and went sideways but i hollered whoa and he did and I gathered the banner to keep it from flapping so me and the other girl had to dismount and leave the arena and work on getting out horses used to the banner.

But he passed!! yeay! The worlds second Icelandic Horse is posse certified! he had to stand and walk close touching sides to others, he was great at that, and in the egg and spoon race when he started to take his first step I dropped the egg so we had to go stand in the middle all alone and he kept sorta turning wondering why we couldn't go with the others but didn't dance and act out like some later on.

Stonewall flunked entirely. I could not even mount him and neither could my husband. But it was great for him to have exposure to the only thing that freaks him out... new places and new things and a lot of horses. I am going to take him to every session from now on. He stood tied to the trailer calling and calling and whenever we left the arena to go stand in the shade in a large mounted group and listen to our grouchy macho leader jim, Stonewall would call and Trausti would turn and want to go to him and I would have to rattle reins and tug one rein or scold, but he would calm down.

Oh! he was hilarious at barrel racing. he sauntered casually to the first barrel (after being mister hurry up in the slow walk race) and insisted on stopping to sniff it all over from top to bottom while everyone laughed and jeered. Then he went to the next barrel and walked wayyyy around it, then to the last one and then going for home I gave him a nudge and he turned and hurried up headed for the gate, not the end of the arena, but he was better than many! and the barrel racers horse knocked a barrel over :)

Janice