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Iceland
Horse Insurance
Iceland Horse Insurance quotes UK.
Health accident and liability insurance for Iceland Horses.
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About the Iceland Breed
.The ponies of Iceland are not indigenous
but immigrants, and their history is almost exactly contemporaneous
with that of the inhabitants. The original settlers in Iceland
were two Norwegian jarls, Ingolf and Leif, who, refusing to
submit to Harold Fairhair when he made himself sole king of
all Norway in 870, removed themselves to Iceland in 871 and
finally settled there in 874. Other settlers followed from Norway,
and later in the same century from the Western Isles.
These settlers brought with them their families, household goods
and domestic livestock, including ponies. So there is good evidence
that the horse was introduced into Iceland from both east and
south-west – Norway and Ireland – and the present
animal is a mixture of two early varieties of the Celtic type
of a horse which we find so widely distributed over north and
west Europe. The ultimate place of origin of the south western
or Hebridean stock was Ireland, for there was a good deal of
traffic between Ireland and the Hebrides and Iceland. Horses
figure also in the Icelandic sagas, two famous ones being Starkad’s
chestnut stallion and Gunnar’s brown described in the
‘Saga of Burnt Njal’.
The Norse settlers in Iceland, in addition to the ordinary domestic
uses of their ponies, indulged in the pastime of horse fighting.
They also ate horseflesh on special occasions until their conversion
to Christianity at the end of the 10th century.
Iceland ponies are usually graded into riding and pack and (to
a lesser extent) draught, although the latter are all ridable
if necessary. The riding ponies are broken to an ambling gait.
They have been for the thousand or so years of their history
the only means of transport in Iceland.
In appearance they are short and stocky, with large heads and
intelligent eyes, very short, thick necks, and heavy mane and
forelock, and are from 12 to 13 hands. They are hardy in the
extreme and possess very keen sight. They also have a pronounced
homing instinct, and the customary way of returning a pony after
a long trek is to turn it loose, and it will usually find its
way home within 24 hours. Little ordinary horse training or
horse mastership is possible with them, and the usual method
of control is by voice. In character they are docile and friendly,
although, like all these small pony breeds, they are sturdily
independent by nature.
Attempts to produce a finer, more breedy type of Thoroughbred
cross in order to produce a good child’s pony have failed,
the best characteristics of both strains being lost. It would
seem that the Iceland pony is a mixture rather than a breed
and will not breed true outside its own blood.
Mention should be made here of a similar type, the ponies of
the Faroe Islands. Very much the same in appearance and character,
their prevailing colours are dark brown and chestnut and occasionally
black, while the most frequent colours of the Iceland pony are
grey and dun.
Up to comparatively recent times there was a steady trade in
England for the Iceland pony, many going to work in the pits,
others finding themselves between the shafts working mostly
in the towns. From the description given here of these small,
sturdy ponies it will be correctly assumed that they gave very
great satisfaction, and even today one hears the wish expressed
that some Icelanders could be seen as in the old days. It has
a close resemblance in outline, conformation and colour to many
of the Northern breeds – Scandinavian, Highland,, Norwegian
and, to a lesser extent, the Shetland and Connemara. In that
group are gathered ponies that posses a toughness rarely found
elsewhere, certainly never to be exceeded.
Iceland Horse Insurance
Cover
Insurance for horse breeds Index:
Arab
| Akhal-Teke
| Albino
| American
Quarter | American
Saddle | Andalusian
| Anglo-Arab
| Anglo-Arab
in France | Anglo-Kabarda
| Anglo-Norman
| Appaloosa
| Ardennes
| Australian
(Waler) | Austrian
| Balearic
| Barb
| Basuto
| Batak/Deli
| Beberbeck
| Beetwk
| Boulonnais
| Brabancon
| Breton
| Budyonovsky
| Burmese
(Shan) | Camargue
| Caspian
| Charollais
Half-bred | Cleveland
Bay | Clydesdale
| Cob
(Riding) | Connemara
| Criollo
| Dales
| Danish
| Danubian
| Dartmoor
| Donsky
| Dutch
Draught | East
Bulgarian | Exmoor
| Falabella
| Fell
| Flemish
| French
Thoroughbred | Friesian
| Galiceno
| Gelderland
| Gidran
and Nonius | Gothland
| Groningen
| Gudbrandsdal
| Hack
| Hackney
Horse | Hackney
Pony | Hafflinger
| Hanoverian
| Highland
| Holstein
| Hungarian
Shagya | Hunter
| Iceland
| Iomud
| Italian
| Jutland
| Kabarda
| Karabair
and Lokai | Karabakh
| Kathiawari
and Marwari | Klepper
| Knabstrup
| Konik
| Latvian
| Limousin
(Half-bred) | Lipizzaner
| Manipur
| Mecklenburg
| Mongolian
| Morgan
| Mustang
| New
Forest | Norwegian-Fjord
| Oldenburg
| Orlov
| Palomino
| Percheron
| Persian
| Pinto
| Pleven
| Polish
Arab | Polish
Half-bred | Polish
Thoroughbred | Rhenish
| Russian
Saddle | Russian
Steppe | Russian
Thoroughbred | Scandinavian
| Schleswig
| Shetland
| Shire
| Spanish
| Spiti
and Bhutia | Standard
Bred | Strelets
| Suffolk
| Swedish
| Tarpan
| Tennessee
Walking Horse | Tersky
| Thoroughbred
| Timor
Pony | Trakehner
| Turk
| Ukrainian
| Vendéen-Charentais
Half-bred | Viatka
| Welsh
Cob | Welsh
Mountain and Welsh Pony | Zeeland
Horse | Zemaitukas
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