Can a Icelandic horse live a healthy life in England?

Gabriella20xx

Gabriella20xx

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Does anyone have experience owning one of these lovely horses? I've heard Icelandic horses have weak immune systems because of thier isolation in Iceland and things like sweet itch affecting them. Is this a different story if they are born in England ?
 
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I haven't owned one, but I did ride for a breeder here in Ireland. They are very prone to sweetitch (as are many foreign bred horses coming into a climate where they have no previous exposure), but not all will get it. There is a certain genetic element, so if the parents have it they will be more likely to develop the condition. Again, not all will do so.
 
I didnt know this about Icelandic horses, really interesting. I think they're pretty amazing. OP if you haven't seen them, do search for Scary Ozzy, he's beautiful and the videos are really something.
 
Cortez said:
I haven't owned one, but I did ride for a breeder here in Ireland. They are very prone to sweetitch (as are many foreign bred horses coming into a climate where they have no previous exposure), but not all will get it. There is a certain genetic element, so if the parents have it they will be more likely to develop the condition. Again, not all will do so.
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You sound very well informed, thank you
 
I owned one. The British bred ones are no more prone to sweet itch than any other horse, but the Icelandic bred ones will likely get it when shipped to Europe, as they don't have the midge in question in Iceland. I've not heard anything about them having weak immune systems - plenty of people do import them from Iceland to Europe and they are tough little beggars.

Are you looking for one? If you want to PM me I can suggest some people to contact - it's a small community, everyone knows each other and people are mostly very kind and helpful. There are more Iceys in Wales and SE England than in the North, so be prepared to travel if that's not where you happen to be. There is more demand than supply in this country, so it's quite common to import European bred ones, as there are many more of them over there and it's an easy trip to go and view some. People also import from Iceland but obviously if you want to view before buying that is somewhat more difficult / expensive! You will find that experienced "Icey people" have trusted contacts in Europe and Iceland who can pick out horses for them.

In my limited experience they are very easy keepers with lovely solid little feet, but as with any native type you must be careful re. laminitis.
 
Widgeon said:
I owned one. The British bred ones are no more prone to sweet itch than any other horse, but the Icelandic bred ones will likely get it when shipped to Europe, as they don't have the midge in question in Iceland. I've not heard anything about them having weak immune systems - plenty of people do import them from Iceland to Europe and they are tough little beggars.

Are you looking for one? If you want to PM me I can suggest some people to contact - it's a small community, everyone knows each other and people are mostly very kind and helpful. There are more Iceys in Wales and SE England than in the North, so be prepared to travel if that's not where you happen to be. There is more demand than supply in this country, so it's quite common to import European bred ones, as there are many more of them over there and it's an easy trip to go and view some. People also import from Iceland but obviously if you want to view before buying that is somewhat more difficult / expensive! You will find that experienced "Icey people" have trusted contacts in Europe and Iceland who can pick out horses for them.

In my limited experience they are very easy keepers with lovely solid little feet, but as with any native type you must be careful re. laminitis.
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thank you for your reply,
i am very intrested in the breed and they seem like the dream horse to me, im based in the south west so it sounds like a easy trip. wont be for quite some time untill im ready to comit to buying one though im only weighing the pros and cons of them. thank you
 
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Yes they can and do....We have 2 here and a 3rd in Iceland....There are approx. 1000 in the UK. Sweetitch is a big concern with horses imported from Iceland...its very much luck of the draw with that one...the 2 we currently have here are both imported 1 is now 10yrs and has sweetitch which is controllable with a good regime the second was imported at 1yr old in the hope that his immune system was still actively building up resistance ..he is now 2 and shows no sign of it but it can take several years to show itself. I believe there are a lot of horses that don't have sweetitch but as soon as they start to itch they get self diagnosed with it rightly or wrongly.
Wherabouts are you? I would advise you to join some of the facebook groups i.e "Icelandic Horse Chat", "South Central Icelandic Horse" also check out the IHSGB website as there are links to breeders etc on there. Theres never many for sale and a lot are sold word of mouth rather than being advertised.
 
I fit a few of them and would say I've not met one that can take more than a 16.5", just because large men ride them doesn't mean they should....and they're very flat and not always easy to saddle fit :)
 
sbloom said:
I fit a few of them and would say I've not met one that can take more than a 16.5", just because large men ride them doesn't mean they should....and they're very flat and not always easy to saddle fit :)
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Mine was a real barrel shape, he was in a 17" Ideal WH saddle and although it did fit us both, it left me a bit "perched". A dressage saddle would probably have been a better bet.
 
sbloom said:
I fit a few of them and would say I've not met one that can take more than a 16.5", just because large men ride them doesn't mean they should....and they're very flat and not always easy to saddle fit :)
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There is quite a variety of sizes from the experience I’ve had - I did about 200km trek on them and there we’re definitely some that were bigger and had absolutely no problem carrying larger men who even if slim generally weigh more than women. They were as fresh on the last day as they were the first and I didn’t see any with sore backs or unable to travel extremely fast in the Tolt. They are amazing tough little horses.
 
Sussexbythesea said:
There is quite a variety of sizes from the experience I’ve had - I did about 200km trek on them and there we’re definitely some that were bigger and had absolutely no problem carrying larger men who even if slim generally weigh more than women. They were as fresh on the last day as they were the first and I didn’t see any with sore backs or unable to travel extremely fast in the Tolt. They are amazing tough little horses.
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Just beause they have the bone and the theoretical ability to carry a man, my point was they shouldn't if they can't carry more than a 16.5" saddle which very few men will fit into. If they're too big for the saddle the PSI is likely too high and it can so easily go out of balance or lose clearance. I'm glad they all seemed sound on the day, most issues are repetitive strain injuries, in all horses, according to Gillian Higgins. The injury is the point at which the RSI aggravation becomes an injury.
 
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