No Canuck here – I’m from Sweden. The Icelandic horse is by far the largest gaited breed here (as in the rest of Scandinavia), and the only gaited breed I’ve ridden and seen IRL. The overseas breeds like Paso Peruano or American Saddlebred are in minority, and I don’t think there are any Mangalarga Marchador horses here at all, but that’s OK – I love the Icelandics and plan to buy one in a couple of years (need both money and training on how to ride gaited horses really well among other things – don’t want to turn the poor horse into a piggy-pacer). Basjkir horses seem to have become increasingly popular, though.
Sorry about the loss of the PP. Btw, since you’ve had both Icelandic and PP; what do you think of the Aegidienberger?
The StarTrekk comfort saddle looks interesting and like it can be very comfortable. Had to google them – the knowledge I have about saddles is both small and outdated; at the toddler/kid riding schools back in the 80’s, there were only allround saddles with trees. Nowadays people use all kinds of saddles here.
There is a competitive Icelandic horse rider in Sweden, who has had juvenile arthritis for many years, and she is allowed to compete bareback, since a saddle is too painful for her. I believe her disease is not of the spondylarthropathy variety, though.
I’ve tried Icelandic safety stirrups, and I liked that the eye was twisted 90 degrees so that the leathers were positioned with the flat sides towards the horse and the rider’s legs, and the stirrups were correctly positioned by default. Nothing revolutionary, but still a neat detail.
Pic in case someone doesn't understand my description:
I used to love trot; both sitting and posting. With some training (i.e. better balance and muscles for me), I might be able to sit trot in a comfortable way, but not sure about posting. Particularly one of my knees is very prone to inflammation and major swelling, and I don’t want to go through more aspirations and injections in a while now.
Are you using a safety vest? No one had those in my “pony days”, but they seem very common, and in some places mandatory, now. My main concern is that a vest would make my back movements stiffer and/or cause pain and paradoxically make the riding less safe. I would like to have a vest, though, but it’ll have to be one that is as flexible as possible, and not too heavy.
Thanks for the links – will check them out. I’ve only watched the videos with the racking pinto Skjoni and the playing foals so far. And thanks for the response; it was an interesting read!
