About The Icelandic Horse
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ICELANDIC HORSE
HISTORY!
According to records and studies no horse has been imported to Iceland for the last millennium. The breed is believed to have been pure breed for a thousand years. In 1882 horse import was forbidden by law for decease control and to this date horses in Iceland are practically decease free. This means we are free from practicing horse vaccinations in Iceland but at the same time makes us vulnerable to deceases that can be carried with people from abroad.
Iceland has never had a military and roads weren't common until the age of motorized vehicles. For the Icelandic horse this means they we're never breed for military purposes or to pull carts, and thus have only been breed for the purpose of riding.
A struggling nation before the Second World War and harsh nature somewhat imposed "survival of the strongest" on the Icelandic horse. That contributed to the breeds exceptional good health and renowned tough and hardy qualities.
Today Icelandic horse breeding is one of the most advanced horse breeding program in the world. With the extensive record keeping in "World Fengur", breeding evaluations and the statistical method of "BLUP" (best linear unbiased prediction) at practice.
The breed is extremely popular throughout Europe as a pleasure and competition horse. In Germany today, there are as many Icelandic horses as there are in the homeland.
ATTRIBUTES:
What separates the breed from most horses (such as Thoroughbred, Arab, Quarter Horse...)is that the Icelandic horses are a "gaited" breed. The term "gaited" is used for horses that possess other gaits then the basic gaits: Walk, Trot and Canter. Furthermore, one of the attributes that separates Icelandics from other gaited breeds (such as Tennessee Walking horses, Rocky Mountain horses, Paso Fino's, Peruvian Paso....) is that for other gaited breeds a trot is undesirable and discouraged while an "ideal" Icelandic horse is breed and trained for the basic gaits AND the breed signature/exclusive gaits (often referred to as intermediate gaits). Each gaited breed then has their own exclusive signature gait.
The Icelandic exclusive gaits are the Tölt and Flying Pace. (Pace can be found in other breeds).
Tölt is a even four beat gait with eight phases.
The sequence of walk and tölt is the same: "right hind - right front - left hind - left front"
However, the phases and support are different in those two gaits.
Description of Tölt:
Even four beat gait with eight phases.
One or two legs are on the ground at the same time (one or two leg support). There is no period of suspension (no leg on the ground).
Sequence and support at the eight phases:
1 right hind
2 right hind + right front
3 right front
4 right front + left hind
5 left hind
6 left hind + left front
7 left front
8 left front + right hind
The time of each phase should be the same, it should not be uneven.
A good "tölt-er" should have a distinct, wide range of speed: slow - working/medium and fast.
Pace is a four beat gait with eight phases, however it usually looks and sounds as a two beat gait with four phases (in a simple explanation it's a two beat gait and the phases are four).
Sequence and support at the eight phases:
1 right hind
2 right hind + right front
3 right front
4 suspension (flight)
5 left hind
6 left hind + left front
7 left front
8 suspension (flight)
The phases with one leg support should be short and barely noticable to the eye.
The lengt of suspension (flight) depends on the speed, it increases with more speed.
Slow pace is discouraged and undesirable. Ideally the pace should be ridden from a transition from canter.
A good pacer can reach speeds up to about 35 MPH but transitions and form are very important as well.
Colors:
Many breeds are breed selectively for designated colors. While there is a well known linage in Iceland breed for "chestnut with flaxen and white marks" (The Kirkjubær linage), the breed consists of all colors known to horses except appaloosa and some pinto patterns (overo). One could say that less common and rare horse colors are common in Icelandics.
Size:
The average height for an Icelandic horse is about 13.2+ hands and the average weight is about 770 pounds. They are considered horses, not ponies.