How tall is this horse??

Kirstineridesagain

Kirstineridesagain

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Experienced horse people- how tall do you think this horse is (I know she’s pony sized, and heavily pregnant). I haven’t measured her yet, will update when I find out! She was sold as 143 cm (almost 14.1 h) but even though the breeder definitely isn’t a dodgy dealer I think she seems smaller. My husband calls her a “toy horse.” 😂 I’m 5ft8 in but Icelandics are ridden by tall people so I guess we’ll be fine (although trying to lose some weight to make it easier for her to carry me when the time comes).

My daughter is about 165 cm.

If she measures smaller it doesn’t matter - maybe the foal will grow taller as the dad is 146 cm.
 

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I'm going for 13.1hh - the NF I learned to ride on was 13.2hh (supposedly) and I think she was fractionally bigger than your mare. Icelandics do ride big though, they have (somehow) "plenty of neck" IMO!!
 
Don’t know how but they really are very strong and seem to manage adults weight. I’d still be mindful of putting more that 75kgs on including tack. They were historically ridden by men but of course fit men generally and probably even lighter than that!
 
pistolpete said:
Don’t know how but they really are very strong and seem to manage adults weight. I’d still be mindful of putting more that 75kgs on including tack. They were historically ridden by men but of course fit men generally and probably even lighter than that!
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They are no different to any other equine, so the same weight limits apply. Its another one of those just becuase they can doesnt mean they should. I know plenty of horses that would carry a 20 stone rider and appear fine. That doesnt mean its ok. I've seen some horrible sights with large women riding tiny ponies because Icelandics can carry men.
 
An icey is top of my bucket list if I can ever have another horse. Not sure how easy that will be to find but I want a gaited horse for my old age.
I rode one in a demo many years ago and even though 5'8" I didn't notice the size once on. OH who is 6ft rode the horse around the show ground and the size wasn't a problem at all, he didn't notice it. You would think that strange but it wasn't.
I guess people add a couple of cm to the description :)

your little mare is lovely.
 
Kirstineridesagain said:
Not easy to find, but not impossible! There are quite a few breeders in the UK, or you can import. Most people hang on to their horses, but you can occasionally buy a “used” one.
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They’re lovely. Real workmanlike little horses. Not met a lazy one! I’ve known a few. They’re great. If I ever get under 10st I’d love one!
 
Kirstineridesagain said:
They are a bit different from other horses and ponies, if you’re interested in rider weight for Icelandics this is a good source: https://ihsgb.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IHSGB-statement-of-rider-weight_Mar22v7.pdf
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They arent any different structurally. The link is from the icelandic horse society and uses research to support their opinion, but even they agree more than 15% is too much. The only thing that might have made them different is the bit about cannon bones, but the cannon bone thing also applies to any british native pony and absolutely applies to any cob/hw hunter, etc etc. Tbh it sounds like nonsense as the Icelandics I've seen seem to be larger bodies on smaller legs lacking in bone. I may have only seen poor quality ones though.

Its sad that they mention allowing nearly 25% in competitions and that it has a negative effect and 15% should be the limit but thats not enforced and they then suggest 23% is ok. Even that too high figure means the maximum weight an icelandic pony should carry, taking a mid point of 350kgs, is 12st6 or 80.5kgs . So a maxmium rider weight of 10 stone or 63kgs. If you take 15% then its 8stone2 or 52.5kgs, minus tack, thats a less than 7 stone or 45kg rider.

While I appreciate guessing a riders weight by eye is hard, I did it for years as an instructor and there are lots of people riding icelandics that absolutely exceed 10 stone and trot out the icelandics are special nonsense. I dont think Ive seen anyone thats 7 stone or less on one of these ponies.
 
Kirstineridesagain said:
Not easy to find, but not impossible! There are quite a few breeders in the UK, or you can import. Most people hang on to their horses, but you can occasionally buy a “used” one.
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you can't blame them for hanging on to them. I would :D:D

many of the ones I see advertised in the UK are youngstock and I specifically want an older one that is fully trained. I'm not in a hurry so will keep looking. :)
 
Icelandics aren’t some outlier breed that can magically ethically carry heavier riders in a % of rider to horse weight than other breeds. They have a back profile that is difficult to correctly fit a saddle to.

They are often expected to carry larger riders, and are expected to put up and shut up about it. Doesn’t mean that is ethically correct.
 
there are an awful lot of things in the horse world that are far from ethically correct. The riders may even be a suitable weight but their handling of the horse is far from acceptable as are a fair number of the activities we force them to do which does in fact kill the horse either short term or long term. .

This is the first item that has just come up on google. I don't know the weight of the riders they must look like a pretty normal group of riders but the horses look very far from being expected to put up and shut up. They look as if they could even be enjoying it.

www.horsesoficeland.is

The Icelandic horse

The horses of Iceland are the original Viking horses and one of the purest horse breeds in the world. The breed has been isolated on the rugged island in the North-Atlantic since the settlement, or over 1000 years ago, without any genetic input from other breeds.
www.horsesoficeland.is www.horsesoficeland.is
 
pistolpete said:
They’re lovely. Real workmanlike little horses. Not met a lazy one! I’ve known a few. They’re great. If I ever get under 10st I’d love one!
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They’re not (just) for tiny people children. It’s a UK thing thinking you have to be short and very light to ride them. You can definitely weigh more than 10 stone on most of these horses.

I didn’t mean for this to turn into a rider weight thread, though. Just a fun guessing game about her height.
 
Kirstineridesagain said:
They’re not (just) for tiny people children. It’s a UK thing thinking you have to be short and very light to ride them. You can definitely weigh more than 10 stone on most of these horses.

I didn’t mean for this to turn into a rider weight thread, though. Just a fun guessing game about her height.
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I appreciate that and dont want you to feel this is any sort of go at you, but this is something no one ever mentions and it should be.

At 23% of their bodyweight which is the amount in the article you linked, that is the absolute maximum they should carry, based on 350kg pony. They provide evidence that even Icelandics suffer physical harm at 25%. So yes they are only suitable for light weight riders and children based on the society's own Icelandic research. Most people think 15% is probably better so thats an even lower limit.

The German Veterinary Association for Animal Welfare (TVT) states that a rider should be no more than 15% of the horse’s weight, assuming the horse is of normal weight, adequately muscled and regularly trained.
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Gunnarsson et al. (2016) also showed that with increasing rider BWR above 20%, stride length, frequency, and limb support was negatively affected which would indicate a decline in gait quality according to the breeding goals of the Icelandic horse.
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So at 20% they have research to show harm is being done specifically in Icelandics which makes this statement sad to see.

Assuming the horse is the correct weight and suitably fit,the average of the reported BWRs (i.e. less than 23% including saddle etc.) could perhaps be used as a ‘guide’ for general riding. It should be noted, however, that this limit will likely be less if the conditions mentioned above are not ideal.
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Anyone riding these ponies at more than 15% is potentially doing harm to them. Anyone riding these horses at the society's maximum of 23% IS doing harm, it just seems that may be justified for some unknown reason. And thats for fit, well put together examples that are neither old or young.

I'm guessing the society put out this statement due to issues with heavier riders. But it seems that no attention is being paid to it anyway as despite the advice, you dont need to pay any attention as Icelandics are good weight carriers as opposed to small lightweight ponies. I despair.
 
One other significant section I thought was this:
'...it was found that an average of ~23% BWR (range of 17-27.5%) was the upper limit in the healthy Icelandic horse for longer periods of tolt (GJ Stefansdottir et al., 2016). This was based on unsustainable lactate accumulation (i.e. muscle fatigue) during a leisure ride of 4km which included short periods of medium tölt.'

To me, that reads that at an average of 23% bodyweight, but sometimes as low as 17%, during a leisure ride of presumably mostly walk but including some medium tolt, muscle fatigue developed. So even doing a very minimal amount of work carrying this average 23% was detrimental to the Icelandics. How detrimental is it to them when they are asked to do more work with the higher percentages of rider weight?

For me, the interpretation of the data and how it was offered in that section alone seemed quite misleading.

I have ridden Icelandics and think they are wonderful. But the notion that almost any weight on them was fine was a concept that bothered me. I think it's something that is always going to be commented on in non-Icelandic circles whenever the subject comes even close to it.
 
I think people will do a lot of mind games to justify longstanding cultural practices, regardless of what the most modern paradigms of science and ethics and all that sh1t says,

Are Icelandic horses blessed with magical capabilities of carrying more weight than similarly built European mountain/moorland breeds like Highlands, Exmoors, Halflingers, Fells and so on?Probably not. Equus Caballus is Equus Caballus.

Are they so deeply ingrained in Icelandic culture and the only thing that f**cking survives there, that people have utterly convinced themselves of their magical weight carrying abilties? Probably. I have been to Iceland, so I know they eat the ponies who don't play ball. The horses bred to be ridden are incredibly tolerant. God knows these old breeds are - my PRE is putting up with bullshqt my Shire-TBx would have never tolerated. I have to do it. But sometimes, the only choices you have are bad ones. If the only horses that survive in a certain environment aren't bigger than 13.3hh, then that doesn't make carrying 13st blokes around any more ethical than it does in a place where you have 17hh Irish Draughts. It just means you've made a choice. Before mechanised agriculture and transport, maybe it was the only choice. But now....?
 
When it comes to horse welfare (in which rider weight is only one of many factors) I don’t feel worried for my horse. Started late, as is the custom with Icelandics (and probably one of the most important things in regards to long term health), will definitely not be over worked or over-jumped (unlike many competition horses), will hopefully live out 24/7 all her life with ample space and horse friends etc. I don’t know the exact weight of my own horse, but they do vary - I’ve been riding one that weighs in at 470 kilos. Although he’s taller (14.2h) and wider than my own horse, he’s not necessarily stronger than smaller horses. There are many factors at play. I’ll never weigh under 10 stone again (unless I’m very ill), but I’m a balanced rider and will do my best to lose more weight to make it easier for her and also share the horse with my much lighter daughters. I’ll also choose a lightweight saddle, check her back regularly with physio appointments and bring her slowly back into work. It’s fine to worry about this issue in general, but it comes across as rather patronising when people use this thread to hammer on about rider weight.
 
I don't mean the OP, who is probably fine to ride her pony, but if you go to Iceland, you see huge hulking Icelandic men on them, who weigh a damned sight over 10st.

People will tell you that the horses can carry far more weight as per their size than any other horse on the planet, including mountain/moorland breeds from other countries.
 
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