EXPERIENCE 5 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE ICELANDIC HORSE The Icelandic Horse is beloved the world over for its qualities, skills and intelligence. Keep your eyes open when driving around the Icelandic countryside, you just might get a glimpse of these beautiful creatures. If you’re lucky, you might even get to see a foal! If you’re keen to learn more, here are some facts about the Icelandic horse that might surprise you.
1. IT’S NOT A PONY!
The Icelandic Horse is the only horse breed in the world that can perform five gaits (ways of walking), while other horse breeds can only perform three or four. The common gaits are called walk, trot, and canter, but Icelandic horses can also do something called a flying pace and tölt. Tölt is the Icelandic word for it but since only the Icelandic horse can do it, there’s not really a translation for it. Tölt is a sped up version of walking, but much more impressive as the horses lift their front legs up high, and only one foot touches the ground at any time. It’s a comfortable gait on the uneven ground of Iceland’s wilderness. Not all Icelandic horses can do the tölt, and those who have the ability usually need to be trained to do it properly.
3. YOU WON’T FIND ANY OTHER KIND OF HORSES HERE Importing horses to Iceland has been forbidden since as far back as 982 AD, to prevent the degeneration of the stock. This is the kind of thing you can do when you live on an island. Due to the aforementioned import restrictions, once an Icelandic horse leaves the country, it can never return to Iceland. This means that Icelanders going to riding competitions abroad never take their best horse with them since they will probably sell it after some competitions. The best horses are kept in Iceland to compete or breed.
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The Icelandic horse is just how Iceland likes to perceive itself: little but strong. They are squat and muscular and in winter they have long shaggy fur. Despite their (lack of size) they’re not called ponies. Icelandic horses tend to be between 80120 cm tall. Internationally, a horse breed shorter than 1 metre is dubbed a “pony,” so the Icelandic horse is right on the limit. But all our horses are horses because we say they are.
2. WALK THIS WAY
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