- Did you know that the Icelandic horse has five gaits?
- Did you know that there are approximately 70,000 Icelandic horses in Iceland and 130,000 outside of Iceland?
- Did you know that around 10% of the Icelandic nation practices horsemanship?
It is believed that the Icelandic settlers were more strategic in their breeding of horses than of other livestock. The ancient breed, which has evolved in isolation without any cross-breeding, has considerably little relations with other European horse breeds. The strongest relations are with the Norwegian Fjord and Nordlandshest breeds, as well as with the Shetland pony. However, the Icelandic horse is not a pony. Adult horses are 360–370 kg (790-815 lbs) and measure 140 cm (13.8 hh) to the withers.
The special qualities of the Icelandic horse include a great diversity in colours and five gaits: Walk, trot, canter/gallop, tölt and flying pace. It is best known for the tölt which is a soft and comfortable gait. It’s one of the qualities that make the Icelandic horse a supreme riding horse and it has contributed to its popularity around the world. Tölt is the characteristic gait for the Icelandic horse. It’s a four-beat lateral gait with no suspension between strides. Other qualities include strength, endurance, will to move forward, a friendly character and a high fertility rate.
The horse is used for leisure riding, travel, competition and as a working animal, particularly when searching for and herding sheep which graze in the mountains over the summer. Horse breeding is popular in Iceland and there are many large horse breeding farms around the country where great ambition is put into breeding quality riding horses for competition and sale. Numerous individuals breed riding horses for their own pleasure. Approximately 30% of horses demonstrated at breeding shows originate from North Iceland (from the Húnavatnssýslur region in the west to the Þingeyjarsýslur region in the east). As the Icelandic horse has been isolated from other horse breeds for a thousand years, the breed has not come in contact with the main infectious diseases which affect horses on the European mainland and North America.
On the website www.worldfengur.com you can find the studbook of origin for the Icelandic horse. There, information about Icelandic horses in all FEIF (International Federation of Icelandic Horse Association) member countries is collected. The database contains extensive information of more than 300,000 Icelandic horses and new registrations are added on a daily basis. These include information on family trees, offspring, breeding judgements, owners, breeders, breeding evaluations, colours, micro chips and more.
