Icelandic Horse

The Icelandic horses are the original Viking horses. They are one of the purest and oldest horse breeds in the world. The breed has been kept isolated in the barren North Atlantic island of Iceland for over a 1000 years. Bringing horses to Iceland was strictly forbidden very early on. Nowadays, it is still completely forbidden to take any horses to Iceland.

Due to the geographically isolated nature of Iceland, only a few illnesses in horses occur, so vaccinations are not needed. For this reason, no horses are allowed to enter Iceland. Once a horse leaves Iceland, it may never return.

Icelandic horses can be found all over the world. Over 250 000 Icelandic horses have been registered across the globe, and around 40% of them are in Iceland. These horses are unbelievably adaptable, as they can live comfortably in Arctic climates as well as under the warm sunlight in Australia or Hawaii.

Icelandic horses have a thick and weatherproof fur and a long and thick mane and tail. The breed is one of the most colorful breeds in the world, as almost all of the common coat colors can be found in these horses. Over 40 different colors and almost 100 color variations!

The Icelandic horse is small in size, but a strong and versatile riding horse. The average height at the withers is around 135 centimeters. However, the size of the Icelandic horse can vary from 120 cm to over 150 cm tall.

Source: Horses of Iceland