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You say you want a
tough horse to do a full day's work. But you don't want him to
eat too much. And you don't want him to go lame, but you do want
him to live a long, long time. How about a horse that thinks
it's normal to work three or four days in a row without stopping
for rest or food? And when he does get fed, he's happy with a
few salted herrings. How about a horse who knows it's a
"no-no" to go lame." That's great you say, but
how long does he live, you ask? Well, when one was 20 he was
sold to an elderly man who used him to pull a milk wagon. When
the horse was 50 years old, both he and the old man retired.
When the horse was 58 years old, the old man died. This
remarkable horse is actually not a horse at all-he's a pony, an
Icelandic Pony, and for the past 20 years his popularity in the
U.S. has been growing in "tolts".
So what's a "tolt?"
For Icelandic ponies, it's a fifth gait-a single-foot or running
walk. All Icelandic ponies walk, trot and canter. Most will also
pace-move both legs on the same side at the same time. They pace
as a way of resting after a fast gallop. Some will even tolt.
The tolt is a four-beat gait, with the footfall sequence the
same as the walk, for example right rear, right fore, left rear,
left fore. The Icelandic Pony can escalate the swiftness of the
gait to great speed. The Icelandic Pony ranges in size from 12
to 14 hands.
He was brought to
Iceland by the Vikings about 1000 AD. Iceland is a volcanic
island in the North Atlantic, skirting the Polar Circle. More
than 10 per cent of the country is covered with glaciers. Most
of the interior consists of lava fields, devoid of vegetation.
There are a lot of sand and stone deserts. More than a quarter
of a million people live in Iceland, and they count on more than
50,000 Icelandic ponies for help-help to survive. The climate
isn't suited to cattle, so sheep and ponies became the meat
mainstay. Therefore, more ponies are bred than are needed for
riding. (This is really selective breeding. If a pony isn't a
good one for work, pleasure or disposition, then he's a good one
for dinner.)
The Icelandic Pony
is extremely intelligent. Most of the time he had to fend for
himself, so he learned to live at the highest altitudes where
the early frost deep-freezes the grass while it is still green.
He developed a special way of breathing-taking short shallow
breaths-so he could work hard in cold weather. Taking in small
amounts of air at a time helps relieve him of excessive heat
during work, and prevents lung damage from large amounts of very
cold air. In appearance, the Icelandic Pony is stout, big-boned,
with the conformation needed to pull heavy loads. He comes in
all the normal horse colors and is quite shaggy unless in show
condition.
When at work, the
Icelandic Pony is an energetic, high-stepping, smooth-moving
animal. About the only thing Icelandic ponies don't do too well
is grow up fast. They are not full-grown before they are seven
or eight years old, and they are seldom ridden before they are
four or five years old.
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