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The History of the IHSGB
- Icelandics were first brought to Britain to work in the coal mines as
they were small but very strong. However, these horses were never registered as Icelandics
and now little sign remains of them.
- A Scottish farmer named Stuart MacKintosh worked in Iceland and
received as payment a group of horses which he brought to Scotland in 1956. These formed
the basis of a breeding herd which he used at his trekking centre. Along with his good
Icelandic friend Gunnar Bjarnason, he did a great deal to try to promote the breed, but
met with resistance from local pony breeders who felt threatened by the introduction of
this "new" breed.
- The breeding program produced a promising stallion, Eldur from
Alnwickhill (who was actually imported from Iceland in utero), in 1961 but sadly in 1962
Stuart MacKintosh drowned while crossing a river in Iceland so he was unable to appreciate
the numerous progeny which resulted.
- The trekking and breeding continued under the care of Stuart´s
widow, Margaret Buchanan-Smith, and when she retired the horses were dispersed. The
stallion Eldur (f Baldur frá Bóndhól, m Rauðka frá Svignaskarði) went to Caithness,
then on to Garry Gualach, an outdoor centre in Invergarry. John Holman of Stonehaven
imported the stallion Gustur 754 frá Hrafnkellstaðir and a number of mares, mainly from
Ólafsvellir. Along with a couple of mares from Caithness, and the homebred stallion
Þrystur (f Nasi frá Laugarvatn, m Stjarna frá Ólafsvellir), these formed the basis of
a breeding herd which produced many excellent horses.
- One of the Caithness mares was Æg from Woodhouselee , who was
eventually sold to Jackie Elias of Dorset in Southern England. Jackie knew Icelandics from
her time in Holland, and was very enthusiastic about them. Thanks to her dedication, and
that of several other people who had "caught the bug", the idea of forming a
society for Icelandics in Britain was born. In the autumn of 1986 a group of eight
enthusiasts met at Stonehaven for the inaugural meeting of the Icelandic Horse Society of
Great Britain.
- Since then there have been many changes. The centre at Stonehaven has
closed down, and many of the horses went to another trekking centre in the Pentland Hills
near Edinburgh. Many more
horses have been imported, and several more breeding herds set up in the South of England,
Northern Scotland, the Midlands and Wales. Icelandics can be found thoughout the length
and breadth of the British Isles, from the Shetland Islands to the moors of Cornwall, from
Pembrokeshire to Cambridge.
-
 There
are around 750 Icelandics now registered with the IHSGB. These include
many imported horses, mostly from Iceland, and some excellent stallions have been used
such as the
famous Stefnir frá Sandhólaferju (left) who was imported to Britain as a youngster but
trained and ridden by his British owner until he went on to be the highest-scoring ever
4-gaited stallion to be presented at a World Championships.
- Home-bred horses are doing just as well - stallions include Drífandi
from Oakwood (son of World 4-gait champion Boði frá Gerðum) and Drópi from Salisbury.
British-bred horses have competed at the World Championships and there are many
promising young horses all over the country. The young stallion Flytir from
Siamber Wen, bred and owned by Janice Hutchinson, gained the overall mark of 7.95, with
8.37 for conformation. This is an exceptional mark for a young four gaited horse. Flytir
was born in 1998 and is by Stefnir.
- As well as good stallions and youngsters, there are some excellent
imported mares. These include several exceptional first prize mares such as Árdís frá
Litla-Hvammi and Komma frá Rifkellsstöðum. Other good mares include Lotning frá
Þingeyrum, Ísafold frá Gíli, Rák frá Byrgisskarði and Dísa frá Ingólfshvóli.
- Icelandics are becoming well-known in Britain. In addition to many
individual horses, there are several thriving areas of high activity for Icelandic horses,
particularly in Southern England and around Edinburgh in Scotland. IHSGB members give
demonstrations at events all over the country and there have been plentiful magazine
articles and TV appearances. British-bred horses are popular abroad both as family horses
and for competition.
- IHS members give displays at many local and national shows, including
the Royal Bath and West and the Royal Highland, as well as having stands at the British
Equine Event and the Devon and Midlands Equine Fairs. More displays and Breed Society
stands are in the pipeline - the IHS has purchased an exhibition trailer to give our stand
a more professional look. There was a huge display at the Horse of the Year Show , with a team of professional riders with Champion horses from Iceland and Europe!
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