At the Old Hills Stud we breed and train Icelandic Horses.  Currently, we have a German bred stallion, a small number of brood mares, a selection of youngsters at various stages of training, and the usual collection of old friends and hangers-on.

Icelandic Horses have many advantages over other kinds of horse and pony.  It is, of course, a generalisation, but we find that their temperament makes them easy to live with, while allowing them to be a useful and exciting mount. 

The Icelandic Horse has extra gaits that are no longer officially present in British breeds (although it is surprising how many other horses and ponies do actually show remnants of the lateral gaits once common in many other breeds).  This makes them more interesting to ride as there is the constant challenge of getting them to use the gait that you want as well as going forward at the speed you require. 

One of the extra gaits is called Tölt. It is very comfortable to ride, and many Icelandic Horse riders value this gait above all others.  However, it is important to also ride your horse in the basic gaits (walk, trot and canter) since failure to use all of your horse's gaits will result in him becoming stiff and hence less comfortable for both horse and rider.

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