| From SportHorseCM.com.com Breeding
Origin: Iceland Colour: All, except spotted. Height: 12-15hh
Conformation: Character: Self-willed but eager to work, with a good sense of direction. Uses: Driving, trekking, long distance riding, dressage, jumping, eventing, farm work, RDA. The Icelandic Horse is one of the most famous features of this land of ice and fire that lies in the inhospitable North Atlantic. The original horse of the Vikings, it was taken to Iceland over a thousand years ago and pure bred ever since. Used for every sort of work in a land of glaciers, rivers, lava fields, and stony desert, where roads are not much in evidence. The breed’s use in sport is just as important. They are extremely versatile riding horses, bred to carry heavy adult riders. Although small, they are always referred to as "horses" - there is no word in Icelandic for pony, and the Icelanders wish to honour their national breed, which holds the title "the most useful servant". Icelandics are rarely more than 14.2hh, or less than 12hh, though heights are not fixed. They are rather stocky, with a deep chest, expressive head, supple, well-set neck and strong limbs. When ridden, they give an impression of courage and power, with a proud expression. The mane and tail are thick and plentiful. In the summer the coat is fine and shiny, but in winter the horse grows a long, thick coat with three distinct layers. The breed has great agility and is also very sure-footed. It can and does carry grown men at speed without tiring. The Icelandic is, moreover, economical and easy to keep. Horses that are kept in semi-wild conditions, and there are still some of them, are rarely given anything to supplement their diet of grass, although they are occasionally fed the highly nutritional herrings with which the Icelandic seas abound. Icelandics can be literally any colour - bay, brown, chestnut, grey, skewbald, palomino or dun, with hundreds of variations of the usual colours. One much sought-after colour is silver dapple, in which the body of the horse is chocolate brown and the mane and tail are silvery white. As well as the usual gaits - walk, trot and canter - Icelandics also have the four-beat running walk known as "TÖLT". This can be performed at any speed and is incredibly comfortable for the rider. Some Icelandics possess a fifth gait, FLYING PACE, a two-beat lateral gait used for racing. Flying Pace makes great demands of both horse and rider, but is spectacular to watch and exhilarating to ride. Icelandics should not be backed until they are at least four years old, and they are not considered mature until seven, but they are commonly still in work at 25 or 30 years of age - the oldest one so far in Britain died at the age of 42. For more information on the Icelandic Horse visit www.ihsgb.co.uk © Copyright 2005 by SportHorseCM.com |
