Originating from Norway and the British Isles some 1100-1200 years ago, it has remained intact due to a ban on importing other horse breeds. Also, if an Icelandic horse leaves the country, it can never return.
One place to find out more about Icelandic horses is www.hest1.com.
This is a personal website by a horse enthusiast who is into breeding, training
and selling horses and also has some very nice pictures of Icelandic horses
as well as some further links on the matter.
There also some good books on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-keywords=icelandic%20horses&search-type=ss&bq=1/104-2126641-4275938
Riding tours
A very popular thing with tourists and Icelanders alike is to take riding
tours on the Icelandic horse. This can be tours around the highlands, mountains,
glaciers and more or just brief tours around the outskirts of the capital
area.
It is also very popular to take some of the best hiking tracks no horseback,
rather than foot. To mention only a very few:
· Laugavegur
the trail to Landmannalaugar, with amazing scenery, a geothermal bathing area,
and unbelievable colours.
· Skaftafell National Park
the beautiful area around Vatnajokull, including waterfalls like Svartifoss,
a waterfall falling off and into an area of basalt columns, a very nice forest
area and the nearby glacial lagoon Jokulsarlon.
· Fimmvörðuháls
A trail between two glaciers, namely Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull,
in the South of Iceland, filled with beautiful landscapes - not least close
to Eyjafjallajökull.
· Lake Mývatn
and its surroundings in the North of Iceland. Beautiful formations from volcanic
eruptions in the past have shaped the landscape around Myvatn to something
exquisite and very popular.
One of Iceland's biggest and best horse tour operators is without a doubt
Ishestar (Icehorses). They offer short and long riding tours, either just
to try out riding the Icelandic horse or to experience the nature of Iceland
in a spectacular manner.
So your first stop for Icelandic riding tours should always be:
http://www.ishestar.is/ishestar.nsf/pages/index.html
Although if you are in the UK, one option as well is the BHS charity ride:
http://www.bhs.org.uk/Jordan_Ride/Iceland.htm
If you are still looking for more information on the Icelandic Horse, there
is also a rather nice site by a couple in New Zealand who have started importing
and breeding them: http://www.waitaki.net.nz/icelandic/what.htm
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