Name: Svadi
Gender: Gelding
Breed: Icelandic
Birth: 2012
Status: With Blue Rider Since 2018
Svaði from Solheimar
We talk a lot at Blue Rider about how long horses take to settle into a new life, and learned helplessness, and adjusting to a life where they have a voice, and the ability to choose, and to be acknowledged as individuals.
And then we have Svadi.
Svadi came into Riding Instructor Becky’s life in 2015, when he was three. As a young Icelandic, he had not started his training, but had been raised by the herd at the farm where he was born. Becky had been a part of Blue Rider intermittently since 2000, and had experience working with and training horses in many different walks of life, so when she had the opportunity to start her own young horse, she spent a LOT of time thinking and planning how to do it; one of her primary goals was to teach her young horse to be a partner in the adventure, one with a voice, able to give feedback, able to tell her when he was worried, or happy, or bored, or excited, or….
The result is a horse who is eager to work, whether for his Girl or in lessons or therapy, at home or anywhere away. He is very brave and adventurous, rarely spooky (if he is worried about something, it’s probably a moose! or a bear), and extremely clear with the instructors. This makes him one of our go to horses in many situations because he always lets us know what is going on with his client.
It’s rare to meet a horse like Svadi, one with the confidence and versatility he has, who can convey his joy in life to the people he works with. As trainers and horse people, we’d love to see horses like Svadi inspire our students to create more horses like him.
