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IcelandicCool future! The earliest importation of the breed into Australia was what is it about the Icelandic breed of that has kept recorded in 1863, when four were advertised in Amy so inspired and passionate in her work? Icelandic Horse: the Argus newspaper Melbourne in 1863 as follows: ‘‘ “Everything! Icelandic horses have five gaits – most breeds only have three. They have the most amazing temperaments, are Kirk’s Horse Bazaar. WC. YUILLE and Co. are very people orientated, easy to handle, very hardy and are fun Possibly the ‘coolest’ on the planet! Instructed to SELL by AUCTION, on the above date, and rewarding to ride and own. It’s so hard to describe why Four beautiful , admirably suited for they are so special but those who have met, ridden or ever ‘‘ juveniles, being perfectly docile and quiet. owned an Icelandic horse know what we are talking about! The Icelandic horse is believed to have arrived in Iceland with the The horses sold for an average of £21 each. More recently, “We’ve also found them really easy to care for. They usually there has been a count of almost 100 Icelandic have great feet, good health and do well without much extra Scandinavians sometime between 860 and 935 AD. Today, thanks to the hard horses in Australia and that number continues to grow each feeding. They come fully rugged in their winter fluff so most year. Today, thanks to the dedication of Haldane Icelandic of them don’t need any other rugging in the cold. In summer Horses, who established their Australian based breeding we provide them with shelter but we usually find them work and dedication of Victorian based breeder Amy Haldane, this hardy and program in the late 1990s, Australia is now home to some of sunbathing instead!” reliable breed of riding horse is fast finding fans among Australian horse lovers! Iceland’s finest horse bloodlines. Amy’s long-term goal is to make the Icelandic horse a much Haldane Icelandic Horses is located in Victoria and is home more well known breed here in Australia but this is proving to to the largest herd of purebred Icelandic horses in Australia; be a slow process. Because the young horses can’t be broken Sophie-Lea Upson filed this ‘super cool’ report for HorseWyse… with over 70 icelandic horses currently on farm! Icelandic in until they are three and a half years old, and the majority horses can also be found from Kalgoorlie & Perth in the West, of the Haldane herd is young stock, these spunky and eye through to Canberra, Tasmania, Sydney and Queensland! catching horses are only just beginning to get ‘out and is just 13 to 14 hands high. The breed can be found in Amy Haldane is the Stud Manager and it was Amy’s Uncle about’ at events and shows around Australia. In fact, Haldane 42 different coat colours, including , , dun, Clyde who established the Haldane stud back in 1996. Clyde Icelandic Horses will be visiting EQUITANA Sydney this , grey, black, pinto and and with over originally imported nine Icelandic horses from Denmark, but November (visit www.equitana.com.au to buy your tickets 100 different variations. Icelandic horses are known for after Clyde passed away in 2005, Amy (with help from her today!) as part of the popular Breeders Village exhibition! their easy-going nature and calm attitude. In Europe, the sister Thea) took over the care of the stud’s 35 horses. Icelandic horse is actually one of the more popular breeds Of course it’s not all easy work as there is a lot to be done Want to know more? of riding horses. The Icelandic breed is also sought after every day! Stud duties for Amy and Thea consist of feeding, Check out Haldane Icelandic Horses at: for its hardy temperament and longevity. Believe it or not, working, training and breeding these beautiful horses. So www.icelandichorses.com.au an Icelandic Horse in Denmark reached a record age of 56 years old – ‘cool’ huh? Cool paces! The Icelandic Horse is also the only horse in the world with five gaits. A gait, also known as a pace, is the name given to all of the different speeds a horse has. While many of our common Australian horse breeds have just three gaits (walk, and canter), the Icelandic horse has five different gaits; the walk, trot, tolt, flying pace and canter/gallop. The walk and trot of an Icelandic horse is the same as those Icelandic horses are thought to be genetically related to the paces in any other horse. But the ‘tolt’ is the first gait where Shetland horse, as well as such breeds as the Mongolian we see the unique abilities of these incredible horses. The horses and the Norwegian Nordland or Lyng horse. About ‘tolt’ is a pace where the horse’s footfalls follow the same 900 years ago there were attempts to bring some other pattern as a walk. This means that all four feet hit the breeds of horses into Iceland but this was not to be. A law ground individually and one after the other. The Icelandic was passed to prevent any other horses from being imported ‘difference’ between this and the walk is that the ‘tolt’ can into Iceland. Which means the Icelandic Horse is not only be performed at many different speeds, from that of a fast the native horse of Iceland, but also the ONLY horse breed in walk to the speed of a canter. Iceland! It also means this very special horse breed has been The second gait exclusive to the Icelandic Horse is the flying bred ‘pure’ in Iceland for more than 1,000 years… pace. This is a racing pace and is much the same as that of the Australian horse, the Standard bred. Cool colours! However, while the Standard bred is raced in a harness, the The Icelandic Horse tends to be quite small in size and Icelandic horse is raced while being ridden. In fact, some despite being referred to as a horse, their average height Icelandic’s have been clocked travelling at 48 km/h!

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