Icelandic Horse
by Eva Lechner
Title
Icelandic Horse
Artist
Eva Lechner
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The horses of Iceland are the original Viking horses and one of the purest horse breeds in the world. The breed has been isolated on the rugged island in the North-Atlantic since the settlement, or over 1000 years ago, without any genetic input from other breeds.
As the first settlers came to Iceland they could only bring a limited number of livestock with them, and most probably chose their very best animals. Thus, the Icelandic horse has its origin in a herd of preselected, high quality individuals who had to survive the rough trip on a Viking longship across the Atlantic, before taking on their role as “the most indispensable servant” for the first Icelanders in this vast, wild, and entirely unknown country.
Due to the geographical isolation of Iceland, very few horse diseases occur here, and no vaccinations are needed. However, this also means that no horse can enter the country at all. Once a horse leaves Iceland it can never return. Anybody travelling to Iceland is also kindly requested not to bring any used leather equipment such as gloves, chaps or riding boots, and to disinfect all gear (particularly helmets).
The Icelandic horse is an extremely versatile breed. These strong, intelligent and smooth horses are successful in endurance racing and very well suitable for therapeutic riding.
Uploaded
June 25th, 2022
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