Blessi Is Now Sweetness of the World

Over the weekend, I took Blessi to a friend's stable so Kathleen, who is really new to horses (her second time on a horse), could ride Blessi. At first, Kathleen did not want to get on Blessi--she was too scared. But she led him around for a little bit and then decided she could get on.

Kathleen was riding for a few minutes when we stopped for a photo opportunity. Blessi broke the ice by hamming it up big time--he stood perfectly still but started giving these big horsey smiles--stretching his head up and lifting up his upper lip) which made everbody, including Kathleen, laugh hysterically. Blessi has never done that while under saddle.







So Kathleen continued her ride--in a much more relaxed frame of mind. In fact she rode him twice. Anyway Kathleen is in love with Blessi and Icelandics. Kathleen gave Blessi the title of "Sweetness of the World" and kept kissing his nose.

So my question is "Why did Blessi do this?" He doesn't regularly "Smile" and I don't give him treats for this behavior. Eight years ago, I tried to teach him the smile trick but I could not get him to do it on cue and gave up. He does "Smile" at odd times--such as when we are all standing around a long time listening to an instructor. And he has done it several times when people are taking pictures and the photographer says "Smile." So this behavior could just be a random event. But Blessi does tend to repeat behavior if people laugh at it.



What do you think?

And many thanks to the members of the International Icelandic Horse discussion group who reminded us of the importance of wearing helmets at all times--including photo opportunities.