Icelandics

[horsemad]

I was looking at Wally's website (very good by the way:) ) and came across photos of the really cute Icelandics at the trekking centre......and gorgeous wee Fat Cob too! Looks like a great place - might try to get over there one day :D

Anyway, I was just wondering what the Icelandic horses (ponies?) were like - what size are they etc. And what is the 'tolt' - what does it feel like to sit to, do any other horses do this pace?

Sorry - lots of questions!!

[Wally]

Icelandics come under the umbrella of "gaited" horses. All it means is that they can do other gaits other than walk, trot, canter and gallop.

Passo Finos, American walking Horses and various other horses have extra gaits, but the Icelandic is the only European horse to have two.

Tölt is a 4 time gait where the legs move in the same order as walk. It can be done at the speed of a slow walk or a fast gallop. It is absolutely smooth as there is no moment of suspension, where all the legs are off the ground. There is always one foot on the ground at any one time. All Icelandics should be able to tölt to some degree, some are better than others.

Flying pace comes after canter, it should never be asked for from any other gait otherwise it can invade the tölt and ruin it! It is a racing gait and should only be asked for from fit, balanced horses for any distance. The legs move in lateral pairs ie. a pair of legs on each side of the horse move together. They can reach speeds in excess of 30kph in pace.

They are generaly 13.2 to 14 hands. (some folk like to think they are bigger it's not common to get one bigger than 14.1 in spite of what some folk claim!!)

They are up to considerable weight and have been bred in Iceland in total isolation, it is illegal to import horses into Iceland and has been for 1000 years, yes one thousand! There is no other breed in Iceland so they are ridden by everyone, small kids and huge men, there is no choice so as you see thay have been bred for strength.

They need to be trained carefully as they are naturally willing and forward going, if you wind one up when training, you'd better know where the brakes are, if you train one to be calm and sensible that's what you'll get.

We have all characters from the downright mad (Ljóssie) to the perfect gentleman (Kvikur) I love 'em, they are soooooo comfy and fun. Riding gives you a new perspective on riding, you not only have to get walk, trot, canter and gallop right , but add tölt and pace to the pot and it's a real challenge.

[floppy]

all i can say is once you have ridden one that chances of you becoming addicted to them are very high :) it happened to me!

[horsemad]

Thanks for replying to my questions. They sound like good fun horses, as well as being very cute to look at!

:D