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Icelandics - your friend for life.
About the Breed
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SELECTIVE BREEDING for over one thousand years has created a unique breed of horse. More than one millennium of breeding free of outside bloodlines has produced one of the purest breeds of horse on earth. Its easy going, friendly disposition make the Icelandic Horse the ideal companion for the entire family. With no natural predators in its home country the horse has shed much of its natural fight and flight instinct. Icelandic Horses are very popular in Europe with close to 80,000 of them on the European continent, the same number in Iceland and they are catching on in North America, where roughly 2,000 can be found. |
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TOLT AND PACE
Beside the traditional walk, trot and canter, the Icelandic Horse performs two extra gaits, the TOLT and the FLYING PACE. The tolt is an extremely smooth four-beat gait, much like the running walk or rack, that allows the rider a virtually bounce-free ride at speeds up to 20 mph. The tolt is a natural gait, no artificial aids are needed and you often see foals tolting in the pasture. Depending on their breeding, many Icelandic Horses also show the FLYING PACE. The pace is a lateral racing gait and horses reach speeds of up to 30 mph. |
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VERSATILITY
Icelandic horses are equally at home taking the children for a ride, in the show ring or trekking in the mountains. Centuries of isolation in Iceland has produced an extremely sure footed horse who is agile on rough terrain and shows great reserves of stamina. Although only 13 to 14 hands, the Icelandic horse weighs between 800 and 1000 pounds and was bred to carry Vikings across Iceland. High bone density and strong sturdy legs enable them to carry an adult rider comfortably all day long. Their willingness to please makes the Icelandic Horse the ideal family companion.
Icelandics are very easy keepers and a thick winter coat protects them in cold climates. Slow to mature they are usually not ridden until they are four or five years old, but it is not unusual to ride them into their late twenties or early thirties. A great variety of colours, including many shades of dun and pintos can be found in the breed.
Both the United States Icelandic Horse Congress and the Canadian Icelandic Horse Federation are affiliated with FEIF, the European umbrella organization for Icelandic Horse Associations in Europe and North America.
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Why Icelandics? After several bad experiences trying to learn riding on "normal horses", Rainer was so frustrated that he just gave up. Years later he learned about Icelandic horses, enjoyed their company and playful nature and soon owned two of them! That was in the early 1970s back in Germany, and most people laughed about these "hairy pigs". Today in Europe the Icelandics outnumber any other breed. After imigrating to Canada we bought six mares from The Icelandic Horse Farm in Vernon, B.C in 1995: Two pregnant imported mares, Dukka fra Bakkakoti and Lisa fra Stokkseyri, two four year old canadian bred mares, Skugga and Skeifa fra Fitjamyri, and the yearling fillies Tyra fra Magnafaxi and Disa fra Icelandic Horse Farm made the start of our herd. Lisa had been bred by Sorli fra Tungufelli before she was imported from Iceland and presented us with a handsome chestnut colt with a flaxen mane and tail and lots of tolt who we named Faxi fra Big Bear Ranch. Dukka was in foal to Finnbogi fra Icelandic Horse Farm and her black colt, Krummi fra Big Bear Ranch was our main stud for several years. He has a very friendly disposition and a strong tolt. His offspring is mainly black. After Dukka got a very beautiful bay colt sired by Segull fra Stora-Hofi with smooth gaits, he, Dani fra Big Bear Ranch, now is our main stud and our herd gets more colourful.  | We raise our horses in big groups on large pastures. We have the perfect place to raise foals, growing up climbing hills, stepping over logs, getting lots of natural exercise and learning to look out for bears and cougars. This is a good base to meet our breeding goal: a strong, reliable and experienced trail horse, a true friend for life and lots of fun to ride. |
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Stud Service | For breeding we use our stallion Dani fra Big Bear Ranch.
Dani is a beautiful Icelandic horse with a dark reddish-brown colour and a nice character. Stud fee CDN$ 500.00 + 3 CDN$ per day mare care.
Purebred Icelandic mares only. - Live foal guarantee. |  | 2001 | Dani fra Big Bear Ranch
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Our Icelandic Horses
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Most of our horses are still too young to be ridden, so we do not try to give a description for every horse. Instead you are very welcome to visit our place and take a look: Join us on our daily horse exercise tour up and down the mountain. This is a 1-3 km drive of the whole herd to and off pasture in the morning and at night.
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Sale-Prices:
The horses are divided into categories depending on their price. The catogories are shown below:
| Category: |
Price: |
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| A |
up to 2.000 |
$ CDN |
| B |
2.000 - 3.500 |
$ CDN |
| C |
3.500 - 5.500 |
$ CDN |
| D |
5.500 - 8.000 |
$ CDN |
| E |
8.000 - 12.000 |
$ CDN |
| F |
over 12.000 |
$ CDN |
| N |
not for sale |
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Mares:
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Geldings:
Our Foals in 2007:
If it's not an Icelandic, it's just a horse!
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Icelandic Horses 
