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Stonehaven Icelandics About out horses Stonehaven Icelandics About out people Health issues |
STONEHAVEN ICELANDICS The Gaits When people talk about gaits they are describing the sequence of leg movements by which the horse moves. Each sequence or gait pattern is known as a gait. In conventional British horses the gaits are walk, trot, canter and gallop. The Icelandic horse is known as a "gaited breed", meaning that it has an extra gait or gaits. Historical evidence indicates that these extra gaits were widespread throughout Europe and beyond until carriage work placed a greater emphasis on trot, and military and sport demands placed a premium on gallop. Gradually these ancient extra gaits were bred out of most breeds. However, because Iceland was relatively isolated, with few roads and tracks, and no military tradition, these extra gaits were not only preserved but flourished. The modern Icelandic horse should have all the gaits familiar to conventional big horses but also a gait called "tölt" and sometimes another gait called "pace".
It must also be said that although the Icelandic horse is prized as a gaited horse because of tölt and pace, this does not mean that the other gaits are ignored. A good supple ground covering trot with lots of movement and suspension is highly prized as is good walk, canter and gallop. |
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Tölt is a superbly
comfortable gait ridden in a variety of speeds from slow walk to very
fast. The horse should carry itself with a degree of collection and give
the rider a great feeling of controlled power. The horse's neck will come
up in front of the rider so even although the Icelandic may be smaller than many
other breeds it rides big! For the technically minded the tölt is a four
beat lateral gait with no period of suspension. The footfall is the same
as walk, but unlike walk which must always have three feet on the ground, tölt
will have two or sometimes even one at speed.
Pace is also very smooth but
it is always ridden in short bursts at speed. The horse's legs move in
lateral pairs and the horse literally flies through the air in each moment of
suspension. Not all Icelandics can pace and it requires a bit of skill to
train and ride it effectively. Pace is highly prized as a show of
horsemanship skills or for competition. It is also widely believed that it
is an important component in the breeding of gaited horses so a stallion with
pace as well as tölt will often achieve a higher overall mark than one without
pace. Pace is not so much a gait for everyday practical riding but it is
exciting and fun to ride when the opportunity arises and thrilling to watch.