Icelandic Horses are very interesting and versatile. Once they leave Iceland they cannot go back.

These horses belong to the “Gaited Horses”, meaning that they have additional gaits other than “Walk”, “Trot” , and “Gallop”. The other gaits are: “Pace” – a lateral gait where the left fore and hind limbs, as well as the right fore and hind limbs, are moving synchronously-  and the Tilt (Rack) – a 4-beat gait that is very smooth for the rider.

The horses are relatively small with a heights of approximately 140 cm. Despite this size adult riders are frequently aboard, which lately has become criticized by welfare organizations.

This year the World Championships are held in Switzerland. For this occasion, I donated one of my just finished sculptures “Speed Rack” as a prize. This sculpture will be bestowed to the horse who participated in an event and received the most votes by the public who followed the competitions during the championships: Winner Public Voting “Fan Favorite Horse”. An interesting fact: Iceland is a participant in the European and World Championships, but all the horses they send to the competition cannot be brought back to Iceland anymore; they will be sold during or after the Championships. This is to protect the inland-population of Iceland Horses against foreign diseases they do not know in Iceland. Obviously, the horses participating in the Championships will be vaccinated for the different diseases known in the Country of competition.