Icelandic horses

Icelandic Horses
Icelandic Horses - Origins, Characteristics and Use ...

Icelandic Horses in New Zealand
by Jennie Boerema
Jennie Boerema with Biskup frá Wetsinghe at the Horse Expo in Helensville ...

Icelandic Horses
Discovering Icelandic Horses
The cold homeland of Icelandic horses is enough of a clue to the horse's character. Since Iceland is obviously one of the coldest places on earth, only the sturdiest animals can hope to thrive in it.

Icelandic horses are bred in closed pedigrees because they must be traceable back to Icelandic ancestors. Icelandic horses have been bred only with horses from Iceland since the Middle Ages.

Icelandic horses have a long and well documented breeding history in part due to their isolated and remote location.

Icelandic horses have a trot and canter, and a running walk which is similar to the American Saddlebred, Tennesee Walker and Paso Fino gait.

Even today, Icelandic horses are exclusively bred in Iceland and not permitted to leave the country. Its current popular use is still as a riding horse.
vat ...

The majority of Icelandic horses can also perform a type of pace called flugskeið or a "flying pace," and are thus called "five-gaited".

Owners of about 30 Icelandic horses, mostly pintos, silver dapples and some roans. Their breeding goal is to produce nice tempered healthy and strong horses with unusual colors and good gaits. Located in Sweden.
Sunland Ranch ...

During the 1900's the breeding and rearing of Icelandic horses has changed and is now very similar to horse breeding found throughout Europe and North America.

There are around 100,000 Icelandic horses abroad, most in Europe but also a growing number in the United States and Canada.

It is thought that the horses the Vikings brought with them had a broad variation of looks and many colors, and as such there is today a large variation in color in the Icelandic horses.

Diseases are almost unknown among Icelandic horses. Protection of the horses is assured by the strict regulations of the Icelandic government. No horse which has been taken out of Iceland can come back into the country.

In 1956 a Scottish farmer received a group of Icelandic horses as payment for his work in Iceland and he brought these horses to Scotland and used them within his trekking centre.

Bred by: Flying C Ranch Icelandic Horses
Photo by: Asta Covert
Breed Description:
Icelandic Horses are extremely hardy and athletic, with five natural gaits: walk, trot, canter, tolt, and pace.

Another important system in place to aide in the breeding of superior Icelandic horses is the BLUP system which stands for Best Linear Unbias Prediction. This system evaluates the potential offspring of a cross between a mare and stud.

Today there are approximately 75,000 - 80,000 representatives of the breed in Iceland, and about 70,000 Icelandic horses in 19 other countries around the world.

Icelandic Horse World Resort: A resort in British Columbia, featuring trail rides and lessons on the resort's Icelandic Horses. Also has hiking, canoeing and other activities. Resort has Icelandic horses for sale and stud service.

In fact there are few breeds in which Sabino is absent, Icelandic Horses being one. Some breeds such as the Gelderland are almost exclusively sabinos, having the large facial white, chin-spot and high leg white.

The ancestors of today´s Icelandic horses came from Northern Scandinavia and the British Isles - in particular the Dole Horse of Norway and from Britain the Celtic Pony, the ancestor of the Exmoor and the Shetland.

It occurs in varying degrees of severity in horses of various breeds, and there appears to be a genetic link. It is particularly common in Icelandic horses.
Causes ...

There is a video library, and various IHSGB items may be purchased including sweatshirts, car-stickers, spare-wheel covers etc. National Championships are held every two years to coincide with the World Championships for Icelandic Horses to which ...

See also: Icelandic Horse, Icelandic, Canter, Trot, Gaits