Wildheart's Schleich additions

No,please.Don't stop!Those are great pieces of information!
Just like the one with my name.I didn't know it was used in other countries,too.Could you tell me more about it?

Congrats! It is a lovely horse. It is one of my favourites :)

Wildheart wrote:

No,please.Don't stop!Those are great pieces of information!
Just like the one with my name.I didn't know it was used in other countries,too.Could you tell me more about it?

Ha, ha, don`t say that , - I could write a thick book about them

Please do so!

Miss Mufflon wrote:

Congrats! It is a lovely horse. It is one of my favourites :)

I also think it is one of their best horse models ever!

Congratulations Mihnea, what a beautiful icelandic horse!!

Susanne, I love to hear about these horses, it really interests me... please write more

Thanks, Mihnea and Henriette! You are very kind

I will write tomorrow.
Tonight I have had a couple of glasses of wine, so it may just be rubbish I write now

and

Congratulations Mihnea!
Your horse is very beautiful!:)

Congratulation,beautiful animal,I would like buy it in december. :)

I don't use to collect horses or domestic animals... But this one is really really tempting me

I recommend it to anybody interested in having a dynamic,beautiful horse model!

Ha, ha here you are

Hi, Mihnea, Henriette and others who would like to know a little about this fantastic horse, - The Thoroughbred of the North.

Others, just forget this an go to another string

When the vikings and people from the British Iles inhabited Iceland app 1200 years ago they brought their horses. The Icelandic horse stems directly frome these small, sturdy horses, which were the kind of horses they had in Europe at that time.
For at least 1000 years no other horses came to Iceland, but in the late 1800s a well- meaning fool brought an Arab stallion to Iceland to "improve" the breed. Fortunately the farmers did not like this "spider-horse", and the few offspring were not able to survive the harsh climate for long.
So the horses are offspring of the original, European breed, adapted to survive a very harsh life.

Two obious properties prove this : The variations in gaits and colours.

Iceys can have almost any horse colour.
The only exceptions are Appaloosa, Champagne and two kinds of Paints : Overo and Sabino.
Roan, silver dappeled, striped duns, splashed- and tobiano paint, palominos, buckskin, cremellos, grey, etc, + all imaginable combinations of these and the "ordinary" chestnuts, bays and blacks.
At the beginning of the 20th century an European agricultural advisor tried to convince the farmers that they should only breed chestnuts with flaxen mane and tail. But the farmers shook their head in disbelief ; Who on earth could get such a stupid idea ? You do not ride on the colour. If a horse is good, then the colour does not matter !

Iceys have five gaits compared to the 3 of most other breeds. The most famous is of course the Tölt, a kind of running walk, that has no comparison to the gaits of f.inst. the Tennesse Walker. The iceys can go this gait with incredible speed , bearing their head proudly high and lifting the front legs in a high movement. The sound of good Tölt is a clear, fast 4-beat sound, and the rider sits low and almost without movement in the saddle.
A very impressive gait is "flying pace", where the horse jumps from full speed gallop into an extremely fast pace, looking as if it almost does not touch the ground. The horse can only go this gait for a few hundre meters, - it is used for racing competitons.
Slow pace is considered very ugly, the horse holds its back stiff and it is quite unplesant to ride.
But pace is neccesary in breeding for tölt. Only horses that have the vertical movement of pace, and "normal" movement of trot, can go Tölt. It is indeed a ballance to breed for the good Tölt!
Only the "gait" canter, - slow gallop - is not a gait the Icelandic riders like. It is considered only for sissys :-D

One very, vey good thing about icies is that the will never, never ever kick or bite you !!!
For a thousand years, if a horse was kicking or biting, it was used for dinner :-0
Unfortunately when it became popular as a riding horse in Europe some 60 years ago, people did not continue this selection. So very soon it was agreed that the temperament is an important part of the judging of stallions. If they lay their ears at people, no matter what, they will get thumps down, and nobody wants to use that stallion to their mares.

Also the names of Iceys is special. They MUST have an icelandic name to come in the stud books here in Europe.
Names of the old gods like Þór (Thor) , Freya, Óðinn (Odin) are popular. But also names of birds, weather, plants etc are used. Often the name of the horse descripes its colour, patterns, blaze or star (Stjarni) or the gaits or temperament. But I know of a horse in Iceland called Toyota LOL

So, friends, did you fall asleep ?
No more this time

Bis!Bis!

Thank you Susanne!! I enjoyed reading that very much!

Here are my latest aquisitions:






They will all be retired,exept for the mopane(unbelievable :) ).
If you want to see closer pics,drop me a line and I will post them here!

Congratulations :)

I still need to get 14 models that will be retired next year.

Congratulations Mihnea!

Very nice Mihnea! The mopane tree looks good. I'll get one in the future.

Congratulations on this beautiful horse :)

It took me 4 models to find one in good condition. I kept one to customise.

Now this little horse does interest me more then before, so this is what you achieved Susanne!
I love the original wild horses like the tarpan and the Przewalski-horses...
now i understand, that the iceland breed, is still very close to them, as the polish Konick-horse for example.

The history about the horse i another thing that interest me very much, as it brings me back in times, and to the times, that wild horses roamed Europe too.

The fact that this little horse has abilities, and skills that no other horse has makes it even a greater breed of horse!

Congrats on your model by the way Mihnea!

Congratulations to you Mihnea beautiful horse.
Susanne thank you very much for the fascinating story of this horse. Your story reminds me of a horse Mountaineer (Hutzul) from the Eastern Carpathians. I hope that someday Schleich will launch this wonderful horse figurine.

Thank you!
It is indeed a work of art!

It's been a while since I bought these guys,but I had no time to post photos of them.
I will try to take some pics when I get home on wednesday!
The new critters are:
Schleich pegasus foal
Schleich mustang (grey)
Schleich penguin

Now I am prepared to face 2011.
:)

I want to see the photos Mihnea

Congratulations by your new additons! :D:D

Yeah, and you make us wait till wednesday ... :)