The Icelandic horse:
- is the original "Viking" horse, brought to Iceland from Britian and western Norway over 1,000 years ago
- has been isolated from all other horses for the past 900 years
- importation to Iceland was stopped in 1100 AD to keep the breed disease free (once a horse leaves Iceland it can never return)
- is a healthy and robust breed today, after many centuries of natural selection in the harsh and demanding Iceland climate
- is generally an "easy keeper" breed
- exportation to Europe began in the 1950's, and to the USA about thirty years ago
- was originally used for transportation and farm work throughout Iceland, as well as an important source of meat for humans
- ranges in height from 13-14 hands and weigh 800-1000 pounds
- is technically a pony by US standards, but is called a horse in Iceland and Europe
- is slow to mature and is not ridden until 4 years old, and then ridden lightly until age 5
- is long lived, often reaching thirty years
- comes in all colors and markings
- has five natural gaits - walk, trot, canter, tolt and flying pace
- tolt is a 4 beat lateral staccato sounding and very smooth gait - reminiscent of the smooth gait attained by racking horses but without the need of special shoes and training
- flying pace is a two beat lateral gait traditionally used in Iceland for racing on smooth surfaces (typically a smooth frozen stretch of ice)
|