The Icelandic horse

-Centuries ago-
For many centuries the horse was man’s most loyal servant. The horse made it possible for the people to live on this raw island, with this cold and nasty variable weather and the rough landscape. In a storm your horse could find the right way home although the jockey couldn’t see anything! The special ability of the horse to walk in a rocky slope is amazing. It can struggle for hours to safe their master.
Before the car came to Iceland the horse was used to do all the hard work. They had to carry hay home from the fields, tout sheep etc. It’s hard to find a job which the horse and the human didn’t do together

-The horse today-

The horse became less important on the farms, because of the cars and the tractors, it became more as a hobby. Family and friends have stables together and enjoy being in the nature on the horses.
But it also became a serious job for some people. People started to emphasize on the gaits. Because of the fact that the Icelandic horses have five gaits they started to gaze on the special gaits, like pass and tolt. There are big competitions where they contend in which horse runs or walks the best. Many people have a job exporting horses. The Icelandic horse is very popular for example in Sweden, Germany and in the Netherlands.

- The colures of the horse-

The Icelandic horses have many different colours.

Stjörnóttur- Bald with a star on the forehead