The Majesty of the Horse: An Illustrated History. Tamsin Pickeral

      HEIGHT

       13.3–14 h.h. (average)

      APPEARANCE

      Large head with an intelligent aspect and a muscular neck. Rectangular body shape with short but exceptionally strong, sound limbs. Shoulders are long and sloping and the hocks of the hind leg set relatively low to the ground.

      COLOR

      Wide range of colors, including bay, chestnut, gray, palomino, skewbald, and piebald.

      APTITUDE

       Riding, showing, competitive horse sports

      ACCORDING TO THE MEDIEVAL Icelandic manuscript Landnámabók (the Book of Settlement), the first person to settle the rocky, volcanic island of Iceland was Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson, who landed around 874 C.E. at a place on the southwestern peninsula now known as Reykjavík, the country’s capital. Ingólfur was followed by other Norse chieftains of Scottish, Norwegian, and Irish descent who sailed to the island in their small, open boats, carrying with them their families and the best of their livestock. Thus arrived the first horses on the inhospitable land of smoking volcanoes and steaming geysers, and since that time these horses have remained almost completely genetically unaltered, making the Icelandic horse one of the purest and most unique of breeds.

      The original equines to arrive were, like their owners, of Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian origin. They were then shaped by their extreme environment and lifestyle to develop the characteristics of the modern-day Icelandic. There is no documented evidence of when the import of foreign horses to Iceland stopped; however, ancient accounts do indicate that the island was fully settled (all territory claimed) within about sixty years. This would suggest that immigration had greatly slowed, if not stopped, by the tenth century, which would mean the import of horses brought with settlers had also stopped. In the late thirteenth century, Iceland came under the rule of Norwegian kings, and following this were centuries of little foreign contact and almost total isolation on the island. The Icelandic horse is the only horse breed to live on Iceland and is virtually disease free. Because of the lack of exposure to disease, these horses have no resistance to common equine infections, and when infections do arrive on the island, they have the potential to decimate the Icelandic horse population rapidly. In 1882, a law was introduced to ban the importation of horses to the island to prevent the spread of disease and dilution of the breed; today, if any Icelandic horse leaves the island, it is never allowed to return. In 1993, a new law was added to further prevent the importation of used horse equipment to try to prevent the introduction of diseases. Despite this, in 1998 there was an outbreak of a viral infection that caused horse fever, and in 2010 a bacterial infection caused contagious coughing and brought Iceland’s equestrian industry to a halt for more than three months.

      It is only comparatively recently that roadways have come to crisscross the unforgiving volcanic terrain, and until this point the islanders relied solely on their horses for transportation. The Icelandic horse is second to none in terms of its toughness and is able to cover ground that would render most other horse breeds useless at high speed. They are enormously strong and energetic for their size; indeed, if judged on size, they would technically be referred to as ponies, but in no sense of the word are they such. These are small horses, capable of carrying grown men all day, at speed, and across the most difficult terrain. In the past, they were widely used in agriculture in a draft capacity as well as being ridden, though most horses today are kept for leisure purposes. Most towns have large stable complexes where the horses are housed during the winter, but in the summer they are kept on large meadows. Pleasure riding across the stunning landscape is a popular pastime, made even more enjoyable by the Icelandic horse’s tremendous gaits. Sporting events and racing are also popular, with the biennial National Horse Show—where the very best Icelandic horses are showcased and judged—the highlight of breeders’ and sport riders’ calendars.

      The horse is held in huge esteem by the Icelandic people, and the small, plucky horses are an understandable source of great national pride. Throughout history, the living conditions of the islanders did not greatly surpass those of their horses, and in great part the people relied on the honesty and bravery of their horses to transport them in adverse conditions. Horses also formed an important part of the local traditions and rituals. During early Icelandic history the horse was worshipped as a deity and considered a symbol of fertility. In many myths and legends horses play an important role, with a consistent theme being that of two powerful stallions battling it out in a ring, often joined by their masters, who offer support and encouragement. These legends were based on fact, and horse fighting formed part of popular entertainment during the early years of settlement. The Icelandic horse was considered the best fighting horse around, and in light of this many of them were gifted by Icelandic chiefs to foreign kings and bishops. The gods, too, were believed to own powerful horses, one of the more well known being the eight-legged Sleipnir, the fastest horse in the world, who belonged to the god Odin.

      It was not uncommon for favorite horses to be buried with their dead leaders, and during life horses that belonged to Icelandic chieftains were reputed to be fed a rich diet including grain and milk, which is extraordinary given the frugal lifestyle that the Icelandic people led. White horses have held a special place in the traditions of Iceland, believed to be magical and divine; white horses were often sacrificed during early Norse festivals.

      Color is important to the Icelandic horse breeders, and some modern breeding facilities concentrate on producing specific colorings, along with the required Icelandic gaits. That said, breeding for color is never done at the expense of conformational or gait quality. The breed can exhibit more than a hundred color variations, including a beautiful dark chestnut with a pale flaxen mane and tail produced from the Kirkjubaer Stud in the south of the island. It is, however, the performance of the horses and in particular their gaits that are most important in Icelandic breeding programs. The Icelandic horse is naturally gaited, which is a throwback to other ancient breeds, such as the Spanish Jennet and the Asturcian, which probably had Celtic foundations similar to the Icelandic. Gaited horses were highly prized because their smooth, fast gaits allowed travel over great distance in some comfort, a trait still much sought after in Iceland. The horses exhibit five gaits: the walk, a smart trot, the fast gallop, the pace, and the rack, referred to as a tölt in Icelandic. The tölt is the most impressive of these and is a four-beat movement equivalent to a running walk but conducted at great speed.

      Icelandic horses develop slowly and are normally not started under saddle until they are four years old. Their working life is, however, extremely long, and it is not uncommon for them to be working well into their twenties. They reach sexual maturity at around two years old and have a high fertility rate, although mares are not bred until they are at least three years or older. The horses have adapted to be perfectly suited to their environment. They are able to withstand extreme cold and moisture; now Icelandic horses are often provided with shelter and supplemental feed in the winter, but this was certainly not the case during their history. Because of the relatively sparse vegetation in the winter, they have evolved to gain weight rapidly during the summer months, when grass is more abundant, which then helps them to survive the winter. They are