The Icelandic Horse was brought to Iceland about 11 centuries ago. During those times the Nordic immigrants of Scandinavia, the vikings, were "heathen". Believing in the great gods of Asgard. Horses were holy and greatly valued. Often becoming the offering for the gods. Bones of horses have also been found in old graves of vikings, meaning that they had to accompany their owners into the afterlife.
Not many written information has been found regarding where the horses came from although two mares were said to come from Norway, Fluga and Skálm. The most valuable information of the origins of the Icelandic Horse are bones of the horses buried with their owners and comparing them to bones of other graves around Europe. Those researches showed the biggest simularity with Norwegian and German horses from that time although a bit smaller. People have suggested that the horse shrung quite quickly after it's arrival to Iceland. It had then adopted itself to the harsh conditions here and changed relatively little untill the twentieth century. Bones found in Greenland also show simularity to the Icelandic Horse.
Most of the explored resources of information about life in ancient Iceland have been found by reading the old scripts that were written around the year 1000. Not much has been written about how the horses lived but more like which horses were the most valued by farmers around. But it is well known that life was all but easy and horses often had to go by with little or no human help in feeding, thus trusting more so in themselves. Horses roaming the mountains were in the most danger when harsh winters struck.
The winter 1406, for example, was called the "Great Snowy Winter". A lot of sheep and horses died in the South. Skálholtsstaður owned 300 adult horses without counting those 3 years or younger that autumn. The spring after that farm had 35 workable horses around the South and 24 that Wilchin Bishop had.
In year 1525 the freezing cold was so much that horses stood frozen to death and fat due to the enormous layer of snow.
After volcanic eruption 1783-84 28013 horses died and those left were 8395 or 23% of the whole horse population 1783.
Like many of the ancient European horse breeds were the Icelandic Horse is gaited and still is. The gaits are five: Walk, Trot, Gallop, Pace and Tölt (The four beat gait Paso Finos, ASB's and more got as well). Pace diverts into two things, the clean pace and the so called piggy-pace. In general the piggy-pace is not defined as a gait more so like gait-disturbance (which it is! ;-)). Pace was for long valued as the most appreciated gait and few dared let their horses tölt because it could make the horse perform the piggy-pace. When travelling the "lope" or a variation of the gallop has probably been the preferred gait. Smoother than trot and didn't tire the horses as much as the tölt. Today the "lope" doesn't exist when talking about the gaits as it is but variation of the gallop.
