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One of the things my ex-husband and I did during the "off-season" (ie,  
not foaling out) was break race horses.  One time some guy brought us  
a little QH he wanted to use as a track pony.  Where doing a good,  
kind, long-lasting job in a Thoroughbred could take a month, about two  
days after this QH showed up I tacked him up and rode him down the  
driveway. Bliss. If they were all that easy, I'd still be doing it.

Why wouldn't you use a Connemara in harness? I've seen them drive,  
they are fabulous. They might not be able to do as much as a big  
horse, but I think they are on a par with any other horse their size.

The other thing I meant to say earlier but didn't was that buying  
*anything* based on a pedigree might be a real waste. There are tonnes  
and tonnes of nice workaday horses to be had for cheap.  Just like a  
mutt can be the best dog ever...so can grade horses. You don't need a  
specific breed unless you really LOVE the breed, or you want to breed  
it.

I am currently paying about $3 a mile to ship horses when I need to  
send something long distance. You might consider the cost of shipping  
when you are factoring that in, to get something from Carolina to  
wherever you are might be more expensive than the horse itself. Not to  
mention shipping  something fresh off the beach could be a real  
challenge. Ooooh boy that could be a real fustercluck.


Celia



On Apr 16, 2008, at 1:48 PM, Lynda wrote:

> Icelandics are like that, as are Connemaras.  They are frequently  
> "born"
> broke.  We did quite a few of the Connemaras for pony clubers and  
> within 30
> days they were ready for the clubbing circuit.  They simply needed  
> to learn
> to give to the leg.  Not one of them bucked or was cinchy or swung   
> their
> hindquarters to get away from humans.
>
> Our neighbor has Icelandics and they are the same AND tough!
>
> I wouldn't put Connemaras in a work situation but the Icelandics  
> would pull
> just fine.
>
> Our "evil" pony was named Precious <g>
>
> Lynda
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Warren" <mogrits AT gmail.com>