Icelandic Horses

Heydeldel

Hi all,

Am having a wee adventure on a horse farm in Iceland at the mo. Thought some of you might be interested in seeing a few pics.

I'd never ridden a gaited horse before - very cool! I'm mostly working with young horses so the gaits can be hit and miss and needing work. BUT once they master the tolt it is very comfortable and easy to ride.

Just wondering why these little horses are not more popular at home? They are easy to keep, learn fast, very friendly ( any dangerous ones are er, put down and eaten from what I can see) and seem to make fun rides.


Riding in snow and on icy roads terrified me at first, but of course the shoes here are studded. The horses are extremely sure-footed also.

Enjoy!

I've seen standardbreds pacing but I've never tried it. I think to our eyes (Britain and Ireland) this action looks like an unbalanced horse's attempts to break into canter so it doesn't appeal. In fact it looks awful at first. Painful to watch! But apparently the tolt is a surprisingly comfortable gait... is this so?

I'd be interested to know the anatomy of tolting. Is it something they can unlearn? I know standardbreds can, but only after quite a lot of lateral work.

fits

They're not popular here as the Connemara adequately meets our needs. And Icelandics wouldn't be great jumpers. Cool little horses though. I have ridden them too.

Heydeldel

Hi,

Yes, it does look very strange to our eyes, but feels wonderfully comfortable once you get the hang of it. It's so popular here due to the tourist riding tours in the summer. Much, much easier and more enjoyable to ride tolt for a few hours than trot. In fact, I've been instructed not to trot some of the horses here. They must learn to tolt.

It depends on the horse, I guess, weather they could unlearn it. Some here are four gaiters, others five. Some tolt very well and for others it needs to be worked on. Again, some have a better build for tolting, they need to be strong in front to get the lift.

One thing I didn't expect is how soft they ride here. It's really important to work to keep the necks flexible and the horses loose. Almost have to ride with a barely there contact. Riding with the seat and leg aids is preferred rather than too much 'hand' if you get me. But can't ride them long and low either due to their short necks. Can be a fine line!

The zero tolerance shocked me too. Thinking of home with all the welfare cases and rehoming etc. That doesn't happen here. It's too expensive to have an unwanted or badly bred horses. The farm I'm working on butchers and eats and horses that are overly difficult, bad tempered or deemed dangerous. They just don't tolerate badly behaved animals.

Heydeldel

Yeah, not sure how they are to jump.

They seem very popular in Germany and the Scandi countries. Also in America I think.

Ave Sodalis

Does culling the horses have an effect on how they're bred? As in is there rapid breeding to keep up with culling? What about if they're bad tempered/difficult due to human mishandling?

fits

sup_dude wrote: »

Does culling the horses have an effect on how they're bred? As in is there rapid breeding to keep up with culling? What about if they're bad tempered/difficult due to human mishandling?

Its not dissimilar here tbh. Whatever the reason for their behaviour, bad horses end up in the factory.

Heydeldel

Of course it happens at home too.

It’s not a cull so no rush to bred more. Most owners have a few or a herd. The horses live a semi wild life.

Yep, even the ones who are difficult due to human handling ( do they become difficult any other way?)They are given a chance, but they seem quicker to put horses down here. The breeders and owners are less emotional about it.

Because it’s such a small country, breeders and sellers are reluctanct to pass on or sell a difficult horse, reputation is easily damaged

I’m just thinking of two people I know at home who were badly injured by their horses. Are we too tolerant at times? I injured myself badly from a horse with a terrible habit of bolting. Silly me of course, I should have walked away from it. The woman i work for here couldn’t understand why I persisted with it.

Anyhow, interesting to experience a different horse culture.

Ave Sodalis

Heydeldel wrote: »

Yep, even the ones who are difficult due to human handling ( do they become difficult any other way?)

I had assumed you were talking about horses that were difficult because they were highly spirited and excitable. I know some people deem that to be badly behaved so I wasn't sure which you meant, or both.

Wobbly_Legs

Adorable!

Heydeldel

Sorry, I wasn’t very clear.

Spirited is good - these little horses have lots of go!

Was out riding on snow covered roads again today. Zero traffic, total silence, just me and the horse. Fun!

Valentina

Heydeldel wrote: »

Was out riding on snow covered roads again today. Zero traffic, total silence, just me and the horse. Fun!

Wow! Sounds like my kind of hack

How did you end up doing this work in Iceland?

Heydeldel

Valentina wrote: »

Wow! Sounds like my kind of hack

How did you end up doing this work in Iceland?

I’m here doing a workaway. Have a gawk at workaway.info. You work a couple of hours a day in exchange for room and board.

Got to see the Northern Lights here a few weeks ago. Surreal.

Will definity do another workaway stint in the future.