I know some of you want one!
May 17 2010
Who wants an Icey?
Icelandic Horse Rehoming Project
Yeah, the usual tale…lots of ponies, no $$…they were going to sell and make money, you know. That’s why they made so MANY of them. ‘Cause they are rare and therefore they are going to sell for a million zillion dollars. Kind of like those Shagyas!
*insert massive eye rolling*
(My advice for the day: You aren’t going to get rich breeding horses and you’re not going to get rich flipping real estate. Just get a damn job like the rest of us. Or 2 or 3 jobs, like many of the horsepeople I know whose horses DO have their feet done!)
Yeah, I’m glad they asked for help and invited rescue in to help, but I’d be gladder if they hadn’t bred a boatload of horses they could not afford to properly care for, and didn’t register, and didn’t handle. I know you are all going to say, well, at least they are not starving, and I feel like that too, but obese, unhandled and unregistered, not to mention most of the boys seem to be studs, is not my idea of responsible ownership either.
Anyway, if you’ve always wanted a furball of your very own – here you go! Anyone with Iceys know how big of a pain it will be to register them, or is the Icey registry probably going to be pretty cool about this and help adopters out?
68 comments to “I know some of you want one!”
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Ahhhhhhhh I want one!!! I have always had a thing for Icelandics!! But there was no mention of location on the website (that I could find) or adoption fees..? Any idea where they are located?
Solvang, California
Ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa
Oh, how did I know that would be where they were.
It also states that there is no adoption fee. You have to sign a contract though.
” HORSES WILL BE ADOPTED WITH A CONTRACT WITH ADOPTION FEES WAIVED. ADOPTERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO PICK UP AND TRANSPORT HORSES FROM FLAG IS UP FARMS. ”
I know, the shouting makes me not want to read the text too.
A good friend has Fjords (2) and she rides with a neighbor that owns Icelandics. Very good breeds, both, but again, ANY horse (or pony) of ANY breed is going to take TIME and MONEY just to keep healthy and fed, with proper feet and dental work as well as veterinary visits, whether there are issues (illness or injury) or NOT. The problem is that people think because they “lubs the horses” (shades of ABR board posters) there will be a market for them.
I know a gal who is breeding “Lippet” (spelling??) Morgans. Is there a market? She hopes so. She loves the old-style.
I love antique quilts, too, and I have them for sale — but there isn’t a market unless I find a new collector. At least I don’t have to feed the quilts or trim their feet.
The man who sold my horse to me said the only people who make money with horses are those who buy them cheap Friday after dinner and sell them for more Saturday before breakfast.
He was only half kidding.
Yes, there is definitely a market for Lippitt Morgans – assuming (as always with everything) they are high quality and trained appropriate to their ages. Actually a lot of Morgan people prefer the old style ones.
This is not what she is doing or what she is producing. Sad.
Give your friend the standard line: breed to IMPROVE. Not for a market. If she isn’t doing this, she has no business breeding. I belong to a Morgan discussion group & there are people who have been breeding high quality Morgan horses (both classic & newer style) for years (one woman is a second generation Morgan breeder) that have mentioned they didn’t breed their mares this year (one in particular also involved in Morgan rescue, so she sees first hand what goes on)
word has it nice Morgans go through New Holland left and right. Heart-breaking.
Maybe send her a link to a rescue website? Or to this site? It is frustrating, isn’t it? Even suggesting this to a lot of people just makes them angry & has no effect. Sometimes I understand where the expression “spitting tacks” comes from – it feels like I could!!
Actually, having Morgans, I’ve seen a lot of Lippitt foals selling faster than the new style ones. Although, these are well-bred horses. A true Lippitt has Lippitt lines. You have the percentage ones, as well. The higher percentage the better. Lippitts are easy to train, generally steady and kind. I’ve seen Lippitt babies standing tied by a month of age. I hope your friend gets it together, because Lippitts are great. Lamberts as well. And just generally Morgans are pretty cool.
A local vet has a trainer that works with his horses that are shown on weekends and give lessons through the week. They go together and buy cheap but high quality and registered babies, train them on the ground and in the saddle to be safe broke to death horses, then sell them. Minimal fees with vet care obviously and rather inexpensive to train because it’s a hand-in-hand deal. The horses look and act great after, but before they get them, they are more than likely slaughter bound at there $100-$500 prive tag with minimal to no handling.
It is going to be enormously difficult to register them. The last registered horse was around 1996. You can DNA them, but then it is even more confusing because she focused on line breeding which I am Not a fan of at all. I offered to help several months ago, but realized it would just put me in the same situation, too many horses and unable to give each the individual attention they deserve. Also who has the money to take on 50 or 100 horses? Contact the Monty Roberts ranch if you are interested in adopting. You will get nowhere if you try to contact the breeder directly as she finds no one good enough to buy one of her horses. At one time, these were well bred high competition horses. I think out of the 100, there are about 5 that are broke to ride. If anyone needs help Icelandic information or the process of registering them, feel free to contact me.
Thanks, Icehorse! That will be helpful to people.
Hey Icehorse, Im not totally sure but just for my cornucopia….Isnt line breeding when you start with a select few (like 4 non related very well bred horses) and breed them and then keep breeding back every so often, but still not crossing parents on children? It makes DNA testing really hard because the gene pool is so concentrated you cant separate them some times? And even though its technically not inbreeding its believed to cause some birth defects because of the concentration build up over several generations. I think I read an article about line breeding being the cause of stuff like HYPP in QHs and severe neurosis in some arab lines.
Just wondering
I’m just going by our many phone conversations, and she didn’t see a problem breeding sons to dams. This entire breed has been closed off from outside breeding since 1100 AD. No outside horses(or even tack) have been allowed back into Iceland since then. So it would make sense to a responsible breeder to keep the inbreeding co-efficient as low as possible(like with Friesians) and not even consider line breeding.
There are also no predators on Iceland so most of them don’t have the flight instinct. I was lucky enough to have a small herd of super loving, totally bombproof Iceys. However, as gentle and kind as they are, they have short little strong necks and good luck trying to stop them when they bolt. Their pace gait is extremely fast, near 40mph, I’ve watched these guys outrun tbreds and quarterhorses by 20 lengths. So they can be great kids horses, but the competition ones can be very hot and very fast. Here’s some more info on Iceys: http://www.lonecedaricelandichorses.com/IceInfo.htm Also from our conversations, those crosses were horses she rescued and did not breed.
I want the black one! Oh I wish I could afford to board another horse
Here is the direct link with some good information about the horses.
http://icelandicrehomingproject.blogspot.com/
You left out the part about the creative crossbreeding– cute palomino STALLION, Peruvian x Icie. sigh
Yes, a friend who is a vet just commented that is like a recipe for DSLD.
I will say I have it easy with 1 mare and her foal to take care of. One job gives me plenty enough for routine care of these two. The filly turned 1 month old on May 12th and will take a halter, leads decently, and picks up her feet and lets me pick them out. Granted, she’s still a work in progress because of her unkept energy, even on 24/7 turnout.
I go over everyday and do ground work with her in a few 15 minute intervals. Beyond 15 minutes and it’s to much for her attention span so I let her play for an hour or so. The first 15 goes over what we know, the second 15 is new building on old, and if she is well focused or extremely quick to learn that day, I might do another 15 minutes. So with feeding, watering, and her ground work alone, I put enough in that I couldn’t imagine another baby to do the same with! On top of that, I have really been working on this bitless/bridless riding with one of the mother-in-law’s mares.
50 horses? I’d be exausted. No time to work somewhere in there between either my job or with the horses.
Yeah, 15 minutes is all it takes to get a foal very nicely trained appropriately to their age. But 15 minutes times 20 or so and you see why it does not happen.
I just do not get the appeal of having SO many horses. The most I have ever had was 16, and that was with 2 of us playing polo and I was running a busy lesson program, so I had lots of students to help with grooming, keeping them ridden, etc.
This is the way I’ve looked at it at 23 years old, I’m not wise, but I’ll use my head. I have personally owned 2 at most. That is what I can fit into my schedule for excercise and care. I always took lessons from a “cowboy” friend of the family until I owned horses myself. He had two green geldings that I rode and later realized I was helping finish at the same time. I learned as they did on the technical stuff that I didn’t understand was going on with the two broke to death horses I learned on.
Even now, I can look at my mother-in-law and say that 6 would be way to much for me to handle like she is right now. She knows that her and her husband are a little overwhelmed right now. Not with care, but just plain excercise. She plans on finding good homes for two and will have 2 broke for her and her husband and a yearling that just needs groundwork reinforcement for 2-3 years. Maybe this is also why I find someone holding on to 50 outrageous.
I have said many, many times: ONE HORSE IS NOT ENOUGH, TWO HORSES IS TOO MANY. That is for one person who has a family, works a job, keeps a home, etc…
I have 2 horses and they are not in my back yard and I am 50 years old. I am trying hard to be realistic by doing the right thing and sometimes it is at a minimal because of time and energy constraints. How do people become so idealistic??? without being realistic? and not SEE the results of their actions right before their eyes? Go figure!
Well, Fugs, it goes like this — you start with one old trail horse that you adore, get another trail horse so your eldest kid can ride with you. You buy a show horse, get hooked and buy another show horse (but keep the old friendly trail horses for knocking around trails on the weekends). then someone gives you a geriatric stallion who is a prince in exile from the show ring, but a terrific breed ambassador. You buy or borrow horses for each of your kids to show and before you know it you are up to 7 horses. Then you decide to breed one of the show horses and the baby is so spectacular you breed her back. In between someone swaps you two promising babies for the first show horse because they want something pushbutton. As Emeril would say “BAM!” You have 20 horses! Some of which are old and happily retired, some of which are too young to start and some of which are active participants in the family life. As long as you have the energy, money and facilities… meh.
Actually I love reading about people with 50+ horses because I think “Oh well, at least I’m not as back as SHE is!” Total denial, I know.
This has been brewing for years.. umm like 20.. This is no surprise here. They are fat because the valley has actually got rain this year. They are HOG wild. At one time you could watch them run in their pastures next to HWY 101, just a little outside of Buellton California. Larry Mahan (sp) did a show on her place back in the 1990′s the program used to come on OLN network, I don’t remember the name of it. Monty Roberts has his hands in the adoption? I can only recommend that you get EVERYTHING IN WRITTING. Not hand shake deals, just a word of advice..
Well, sounds like Monty will be busy…nothing like a pack of wild ponies!
Falcon Ridge just got 17 wild Shetlands with elf hooves, in case you are in the San Diego area and jonesing for a pony. They are becoming friendly and learning to have their feet done. Well, they all got their feet done, now they are going to learn to like it, ha ha.
neglected Shetlands… is there NO end to the numbers of those? I feel like I see these poor things all over (and always have). I always think I could take one home and let it live in my basement & its life would still be an improvement. My friend says “I could just give it a few grains I find lying around the apartment.” Maybe this is how they end up like this. People think they require no input.
Such cute little sh*ts! OK, how many of us have been abused by an ornery pony as a kid? and why do we still LIKE them???
maybe it’s the fluff
…and everyone knows that “pony attitude” is great fun to work with. haha!
Can you imagine wearing shoes that are twice the length of your feet for years and then one day some one coming along and showing you that they make shoes to fit your feet! How incredibly weird it must feel to walk afterwards. Then how sore and tender their poor bodies must be just because someone couldnt be bothered to to take care of one of their basic needs. Poor little pony butts
Wow, this sounds very similar to another place I know of. FHOTD, I emailed you about it a week or two ago.
Well, I will say this– Whoever the breeder is, she has impressed some influential people. I’m pleased to see Monty Roberts stepping up to help, and doing it in a very productive way– training the horses so they will be adoptable.
The horses/ponies seem nice, with good eyes, but as pointed out, if you haven’t registered anything in 15 years, you are probably out of luck unless the breed registry is so small they can afford to be kind.
I’ll take one! Have always heard fantastic things about them. Plus I love that they are small and gaited.
I wonder if that’s the ranch that I visited one time. They also had a pack of corgies, and the place was literally crawling with fleas. You walked on the ground and they leapt on your legs. I think they also had hundreds of horses. Fat and relatively happy (terrible hooves, though), but all ungelded and unhandled “stallion prospects.” Cross-breeding with other gaited horses, too. The horses were mostly mediocre but a few nice ones.
I’d love to help the Iceys but I have never been around the breed so I don’t think I could be of any true help. This is off topic but I was searching for a really horrid stable site and I think I found a winner-I cannot believe what their site says! I mean, have people ever heard of spell check? Or atleast they could have reread what they wrote to see if it made sense “jeese”(as they say on the site)!!! http://hlsstardust.tripod.com/index.html
Ha! Ha! I checked out the site and had to laugh! Have you ever played one of those online virtual horse games? Not positive, but if I had to guess, I would say that this is probably a twelve year old girl’s webpage for her ONLINE stable. Could be wrong…. hope I’m right…. but it’s worth checking out before you post it on another website.
From one of the pages:
“Player Point Updates…
at the moment i have:
120294pp”
Yup, it’s a kid with a game. The website is a free one hosted by Tripod, it looks like something she started one afternoon for a lark and then abandoned. From some of her comments it looks like the game encourages responsible breeding practices – she won’t breed her (virtual) stallion to anyone who overbreeds, doesn’t train, or doesn’t care for their horse in-game. This looks like an awesome educational tool for all the horse-crazy dreamers out there. Does anyone know what game it is?
http://www.horseland.com
Kid Broke Guilding – $250 (Atkins)
——————————————————————————–
Date: 2010-05-17, 9:27AM CDT
Reply to: sale-m7c4t-1744933491@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
——————————————————————————–
Private Horse is kid broke, trail safe. rides single, double or triple. any kid that can walk can lead him, any kid that can set in saddle can ride him. Never gonna make a rodeo horse, just way to chilled . Was resently castrated just to keep other stallions from fighting with him. Nothing fancy to look at. just small quarterhorse type. About13 hands, sorel with one stocking. Be great 1st horse, or nice step up from a pony. No need to hunt him in the pasture, he’ll come find you. Not too bothersome, just fallws you around pasture a few feet behind ya. catch him any where any time, no feed required to catch . Was in poor shape when we got him, is building back a little at a time. Attitude has had no change still calm as he gains weight. Had several people call about him when he was a stallion that wanted a guilding, Well now hes Guilded so come and get em. Price is FIRM. When he heals from castration, and puts on more weight, price will go up. Hes a 1000 dollars worth of gental So If I cant get $250, I’ll just keep him for the nephews to climb over.Call me (479)641-7461 or (479)264-0774
•Location: Atkins
•it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
This has to be the guy from Atkins, Arkansas again. There are several ads with pics. I cringed at everyone of them. The picture for this ad shows three kids on this little horse with an english saddle. The other pic of a child sitting on this horse..nothing to hold on too and next to road with a truck driving by..Ugh!!
Yes, please! I have always wanted a “gold” horse. (not one of those palominos, but real gold.)
You cant touch an untrained Iclandic horse in Europe for under 5,000. Unregistered or not they make great riding horses with those smooth gaits, and they have good solid minds. I would take one in a heartbeat, and put it in a good trainers hands fore a few months . Islandics are very nice horses, I am sure she will have no problem re homing them. I will pass on my trainers wise words once again… (or until it sinks in ) Training your horse to be as versetile as possible guarantees that he she will never see the inside of a slaughter truck. Its not that hard to ground train a horse to be haltered, and well manored, and if done right ,can be a quick process. This 1st step would at least get the horse into a good home instead of sitting in a dirty lot looking sad and confused.Those of you that cant seem to do this simple task are worthless, and should have your horses taken away from you. I know a few good trainers in California that could train one and get it re homed to a family with a little girl to love and adore it . Will pass on the message.
I seriously doubt you’ll be able to register them but is that realy important? The Icey show circuit is not a pretty place and that’s the only place I can see where it would matter. And I don’t have the impression that people on the Icey show circuit in CA would go for a free horse of dubious breeding anyway. A small, nasty, ungaited pony isn’t going to be valuable, papers or no papers! And likewise a small, good tempered, gaited pony is, even if it doesn’t have papers.
Icelandics are a “lifestyle breed” and people like them because they are small, rustic looking, good tempered, and because with or without the tölt they are easy to sit on.
A lot of the Icelandics in Iceland and elsewhere in Europe (where it’s common to turn young native breeds onto nature preserves for the first couple years of their life) are semi-wild when they begin their training. I would go so far as to say that’s pretty much par for the course. So long as you’ve got a trainer who can be sympathetic to that then I think it can be an advantage in the long term because they actualy know how to be horses. I see way more long term behavioral and training problems coming from the horses kept as “box babies”.
With training they could make lovely kids and small adult pleasure mounts. Possibley gaited (but there’s no guarentee of that). Many of the ones who are gaited need f*ed up feet, weights/chains, and a hard hand to gait “well” and stay in gait. Some of them are really hard wired and have a great natural tölt.I’ve seen a few that actualy *can’t* trot. But I’ve seen a hell of a lot more that can only tölt with a lot of training and influence from the rider. And a LOT of them are very pacey and don’t have *any* decent gaits. It’s realy a mixed bag.
Too many people protray these guys as unicorns who are safe with small unsupervised children or as gaiting machines that anybody can ride. They are a lovley breed but they are not unicorns or machines.
What you’ve got are feral, overweight, *possibly* gaited pones. Anyone who takes one should be prepared for the worst case scenario: a pony prone to overweight/laminitis who must be kept on limited grass; is not large or strong enough to cary an overweight adult (be honest with yourselves here people); and does not have comfortable or even decent gaits.
That said, I am currently leasing a very small, pacey, prone to overweight Icelandic who’s very mareish. I have to keep both of us on a diet, train her constantly, and can never ‘take my eye off the ball’ when riding out in the forest. But you know what? If she came up for sale I’d buy her in a second. She’s got a sweet nature (even if she’s not very reliable) and is easy to work with even if she does need a lot of work.
Aww man I’m a sucker for short fuzzy horses! If Cali wasn’t on the other side of the country I would totally snag one of those ponies. I’m looking for a project horse, and after reading this blog I’m definitely thinking about adopting a rescue.
What is the temperment like of this breed. I have a friend (nearing 80) that has talked about getting a gaited horse – we placed his pinto gelding for him last summer – he was the roughest horse I’d ever ridden and it was getting too much for him. Low to the ground would be a good idea too. But are they easy going – ok to be ridden once a month or so or are they more demanding that that? Obviously would be going for one of the trained ones and have to put some refreasher training in there…
Maya Horsey – how cute and appropriate
Anyway, the ponies are cute but that just doesn’t do it anymore. They actually have to DO something or BE something. I mena they aren’t THAT cute. 15 years ago they ran out of money to register or train (& apparently geld) their creations, why didn’t they get out then? Seriously what’s wrong with people?
Wow, I know so many people who have been interested in Icelandics in the past and went the route of other breeds because they in general are more affordable.
I am glad to see the group from Falcon Ridge is involved with the rehoming, I know them and a good fried of mine even got a horse directly from David. They are a great bunch and I know with the other groups they all will make sure these horses find good homes
Awww. I love the white one. And the one at the bottom of the page! Sooo cute.
Did anyone notice “MAYA HORSEY, HEAD TRAINER AT FLAG IS UP”? She’s the trainer and her last name is Horsey??? Too funny.
Well, I want to add there was a story on CBCnews.ca yesterday about the horse slaughter rules violations in a couple of slaughter houses in Canada. Link: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/05/17/f-horse-slaughter.html
I just want these places shut down. That’s my dream.
Ah, this is literally right by where I go to school. I really wish I could take one, but I’ll pass around the link to see if any of my equestrian friends are looking for a new prospect or pasture buddy. Hopefully they’ll all get good homes where they’ll be decently trained and gelded.
Gotta love breeders… Mini Pigs She’s in for a rude awakening as well if she thinks a pig for close to $1800 is going to be a very long lived business.
Next thing you know, she’ll have 100 fat, but otherwise neglected, animals as well.
Wait… Are there miniature pig rescues?
OT, but Ernie’s going to jail:
http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/paragallo-sentenced-to-two-years-in-jail/?hp
plus a fine, plus restitution to the rescues.
I gotta play DA on this one, Fugs. You’re making A LOT of assumptions here. You ASSUME these people created too many horses that they can’t afford anymore. You ASSUME they thought they could get rich off these horses. None of that is evident on their page–they are advertised as being simply older folks who can’t take care of them anymore, which is not uncommon.
Now I will say that most likely, the economy got to these people and that’s why they’re rehoming them. I’ve seen it before. But honestly, COME ON–you MUST give them kudos for reaching out for help, or accepting it when it came along. Admitting that you can’t handle what you have anymore is a huge step.
Honestly, I do know of a large Icey farm that was doing quite well in CA before the economy crashed–perhaps this is them…? I know five different people who bought Icies from them here in AZ and they were extremely happy with the care and quality of the horses. Two of the people spent three days there trying out different horses before they got the right ones for them. Every time I’d heard about these folks, the owners were upfront and honest with the training level and were keen to match the person to the horse. I met three of the Icies that were brought back here, and they were real gems–the kinds of horses that were hard workers, no-nonsense trail machines, with a cute personality to boot.
Icies are extremely expensive to bring over from Iceland, same as Friesians, which is why they can cost so much. I do know the farm that was in CA was bringing in imports to resell, so their prices were not unreasonable.
Being negative about people who are obviously doing their best to get help is helping no one. I have to give them a huge pat on the back for choosing to find help when needed.
No, it’s not an assumption. No one creates 50+ horses without THINKING they are going to make money on them…why else WOULD you? No one can ride 50 horses regularly. Icelandics don’t race. They didn’t have an on site riding school. They don’t have six sons all playing polo on them. And if you were merely rehoming due to age and inability to care, then the feet would be done, for one thing.
You KNOW you are getting older. It is not a surprise, like, OMG! I thought I wasn’t going to age! (Yes, I do realize many of us, myself included, have been unpleasantly surprised to see what our butts now look like in fitting room mirrors, but you know what I mean)
I am glad they asked for help. But I know someone else who has been smart enough to ask for help before a single horse falls behind on hoof trims, because she knows she lost her job and is going to be smart. I mean, think ahead a little bit. This surely is not the worst case scenario, and I’m glad the horses are being networked and helped, but this is Fran Farmer just a few less miles down the road. Unregistered, no ground manners, lots of stud colts running amok.
It’s entirely possible the farm you knew about wasn’t this one, either.
Am I negative? Sure. Am I trying to discourage breeding? Absolutely. If you don’t feel really confident about your finances or your physically ability to care for your horses (often a factor when the owners are elderly), don’t breed. Your breed won’t die out, even if it is Icelandics. There are other people in better situations who will breed them.
I just wanted to add that if they where only affected in the last few years then why do they only have a very small percentage that are even halter broke. Theres so many that are in the double digits that just havent been handled…..Thats not a recent lack of funds thats a long term neglect case. Its not being mean, its the truth.
The third to last one it says
” has panicked during intermediate saddle training (bolted) so best if not ridden. ”
Am I missing something? Maybe they need to change it to say “Needs a patient and willing partner that will work slowly and kindly with him to show him its ok and start with the basics.”
I wonder If they tried to put a saddle on him or if the owner did a long time ago and they just took her word for it. Either way theres a lot of really cute little faces on there just begging to be some ones pony……I’d take ponies over horses any day but Im twisted like that!
Yes my name really is Maya Horsey – for those who doubt it – i was born with it . I am helping with the joint effort of re-homing these horses as we are only just down the road from the original breeder – I picked them up at the weekend and loaded each one and we have been getting to know them/assessing them since.
We currently have 12 of the Icelandics here – including 5 studs they are all due to be gelded in the next week it looks like. one gelding has a new home and leaves on Thursday. Most are easy to handle, gentle and loving the attention of being handled and groomed and having help shedding their thick coats – it has been getting warmer here lately. they are due to have all feet trimmed by the weekend as they are all a bit long but nothing horrific.
Out of the 12 here now at least half have been ridden but not for a few years and we have assessed with tack the ponies that the owner said were broke and all have been super easy and good – we haven’t ridden them yet. The descriptions on the blog are what the original owner described them as.
At the ranch i saw all of the horses, no pregnant mares that we were aware of, and no horses under the age of 5 so no recent breeding. Yes several stallions.
Lets not judge what these people have done but lets help the horses that are in a position to find new homes and have a new start. I am happy to speak to anyone about any of the horses – but i know nothing about registeries etc i do know that several have had DNA testings done and we are still waiting fro more paperwork from the owners
These owners have reached out for help, which Falcon Ridge Equine rescue, Return to Freedom and Join-Up International ( all 501c) have all stepped in to offer.
So if you are in a position to help these great horses who have been fortunate to get a second chance, please put aside your personal thoughts about the names involved in the rescue and help the situation positively. The sooner the first 12 I have here at the farm are adopted out the sooner i can go and get the next horses on the list.
Thank you to everyone in advance
Maya
Maya,
Thank you for the personal note! I’m unfortunately very very far away from CA, but I can only applaud a situation in which the horses will be trained before sent to new homes. Please give the gray with the tangled mane a kiss on his lovely nose when you see him– he has my heart, even though I’m not in position to adopt another horse at this time.
Does anyone know if there is a grey gelding by the name of Remington Steel (Remy) In this group of horses? He would be in his late teens or 20′s and was rideable, (went through Cal Poly SLO colt class). I know his previous owner and she would like him back for his retirement. She sold him back to the breeder several years ago because she and her husband were moving out of state and financially couldn’t take him with them. She is now on some property in Oregon and has room for him now.
He isn’t in this group and i have just spoken with mentioned owner we believe was from a different Icelandic ranch in the valley. But i have her details if he turns up in the next pick ups
Thank you for checking. I’ll let her know. If he does come through you can reach me a ellenwwind @ yahoo .com (taking out the spaces). I will also speak to a couple of other friends about the herd needing homes.
If the Remington Steel (Remy) you are referring to is the same horse as Spaejari, the last I heard he was alive & well. There is a youth essay award given in this horse’s name “The Spaejari Award” to a youth member of the USIHC each year.
BTW…When talking to people with Icelandics NEVER CAll THEM “PONIES”. You will be shut down so fast your head will spin. They are “horses” and calling them “ponies” is considered a mortal insult to the breed. You have just “shot yourself in the foot” so to speak. You will not to be considered a suitable home and may be chucked off the farm completely. (This is from my experience with talking to owners).
Think of it as a more extreme reaction to the one you get from arab owners when someone says “What a CUTE little Arab!!” Especially when it completed a 25/50 mile ride that would have left their horses in the dust. (sound of teeth grinding…).
LOL. But Arabs ARE cute. That’s why they have Most Classic Head class!
sorry for the pony mistake – i do know better – i referred to them as horses throughout – sorry if caused offence. i have been speaking to way to many people today about them for re homing and typing is out the window tonight !
Actually, a number of us who’ve been in the breed for a while call bullshit on that. Insisting they’ be called horses is a marketing thing.
They’re hairy, they’re hardy, they’re (usually) under 14.2hh–they’re ponies.
You forgot their cute
Wow – I didn’t know I was so arrogant & elitist!! All sarcasm aside, I realize there are Icelandic owners who get miffed if you call the breed a pony instead of a horse, but not all of us are this way. I call my own Icelandics ponies as a term of endearment on a daily basis. I personally don’t find it insulting, even when it is meant as an insult – which we sometimes get from the “big horse” riders at an all breed event. Those types of people will usually end up appreciating what an Icelandic can do after they see them in action. And if they don’t, then no worries – Icelandics aren’t for everyone & the world would be boring if everybody wanted & liked the same things.
This is a tremendous breed & I say that with conviction after having owned or worked with a wide variety of horses over the years. It has its good & bad in both people & horses, but so does every breed.
Most people who have Icelandics don’t show them, so I don’t think being unregistered is a problem. I have two Icelandics myself (inherited them), and think they are the cutest little horses (really fun to ride!). My older one is the perfect horse to put anyone on, beginners included. Since they are small, no one is afraid to get on them.
POSSIBLE UPDATE: I remember this post from last May, because last night someone alerted me to 54 Iceys needing help today. I believe they are now at Phantom Meadow somewhere in Washington, or someone there named Samantha is trying to place them in good homes. So I’m thinking it’s the same Icelandics and none of them have found homes yet. They are working on training and getting their feet in good condition, it sounds like, so I don’t know if that means they weren’t really adoptable when they were first discovered. Some were in a feedlot and quarantined, and some are adoptable now for around $500. The ranch is getting overwhelmed with calls from people who aren’t seriously interested, so they asked me not broadcast the phone number.
I’m really curious about this – in May 50-ish Icelandics in CA all needed rescue at once, and now 54 Icelandics are in WA looking for homes. Apparently some came from a feedlot. I don’t know any more facts than that so I can’t draw a conclusion. Has anyone followed this story by any chance?
Oh cr@p, it’s *that* Samantha…isn’t it…I’d better warn the Ponies for Grownies group.