Traditionally, Icelanders do not handle their young horses until they're brought up to the horse house for under-saddle training at about the age of four years. The tradition is probably due to "lots of horses, not enough time."
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Altho being raised in a herd is great for a young horse, being handled at a young age, and learning manners, leading, loading, standing, and other necessary things is also great. It helps build the relationship between the young horse and humans. Care should be taken to handle the young horse properly, as with any other horse, and not to let him become a lap-dog. A little imprinting at birth is a good idea along with regular handling. The colt in the photo is approximately 6-8 months old. The photo was taken on his first and only time thru the obstacle course. He was willing to try any obstacle and attempt to do what was asked of him. You can see more of him here. The obstacle course is great for groundwork. Rather than sending your horse in mindless circles, set up an obstacle course which will help him round his body, look for his foot placement, and keep his mind occupied. More information on obstacles can be found here. Your horse's Foundation Training is very important. Gwen Santagate has written a very nice article located here. The phrases "natural horsemanship", "horse whispering" and "resistance-free training" have become fashionable recently, brought into the public eye by the Robert Redford movie, the Horse Whisperer. But these philosophies of a kinder, gentler type of horse training have been around quite a bit longer than most people realize. Natural horsemanship, in it's purest form, is the understanding of the horse's natural instincts and body language and communicating with the horse in his own language, so that he willingly performs his handlers wishes without use of force or cruelty. The horse is presented with situations in which he makes a choice. If he does the "right" thing pressure on his side, or on his bit or whatever is relieved and he rewards himself. By doing the "wrong" thing he makes the pressure firmer, with no one to blame but himself. The horse can be said to have trained himself, and this leads to less resistance than conventional methods of horse training. There are a number of proponents of natural horsemanship and I have just brushed the surface here by including links to some of their Websites and articles about them which explain their philosophy and training methods, as well as giving information about clinic schedules. Many of the trainers below teach their methods and even certify others to use them and teach them.
Tom Dorrance The foundation of Tom Dorrance's teaching is to let the horse come up on his own pressure because it is a language a horse can understand since it matches what the horse experiences in a natural setting of herd life.
Ray Hunt Ray Hunt has started over 10,000 colts and for the past thirty years has been maintaining a busy schedule of educational clinics. His Web site now includes video clips of him in action that you can download and watch him working with horses.
Pat Parelli Parelli opened his first ever clinic with that sentence, 20 years ago. He now makes a living out of teaching people to teach horses using Parelli Natural Horsemanship, or PNH, and his Web site has details on the PNH programs, education and photographs, as well as information about seminars and workshops.
John Lyons He gives symposiums around the country and he offers video and audio tapes which explain his methods and philosophy.
Buck Brannaman He has been helping people with their problem horses since the mid-eighties and now gives demonstrations of his techniques around the US and Australia.
Jessica Jahiel Jessica gives clinics around the country and the very popular Horse Sense email newletter.
Even apart from these "big names", there are hundreds of trainers around the country who were using methods similar to these long before anyone had a name for it. For example, Mirror KB Appaloosa Horse Ranch, in Libby, Montana or Lisa Marshall and Erin Murphy's Teamwork Equine Services in Castro Valley, California, both of which offer clinics in natural horsemanship. At the Lazy M Ranch, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, you can spend your vacation learning what they call Horse Sense.
So, as you can see, "natural horsemanship" is somewhat of a buzzword these days, but in the end, horses and riders alike can benefit from a mutual respect and understanding and a closer working relationship with one another.
"Follow what the master seeks...... not the master himself." 
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