Iceland has no truly wild horses. The horses you see grazing in fields and across the highlands look wild, but almost all of them have owners.1Icelandair. Everything you need to know about Icelandic horses What visitors are watching is a farming tradition of letting owned horses roam, and that freedom is real enough that their behavior and toughness resemble wild herds more than stabled horses do.
Wild, Feral, or Semi-Feral and Why the Words Matter
A truly wild animal is one whose ancestors were never domesticated.2Wikipedia. Feral horse By that standard, the only wild horses left anywhere are Przewalski’s horses of the central Asian steppes.3Wikipedia. Feral horse Every other free-living horse in the world, Iceland’s included, descends from tamed stock.
A feral horse is a free-roaming horse descended from domestic animals that escaped, strayed, or were released.4Wikipedia. Feral horse Horses that live freely but are owned and occasionally handled are called semi-feral.5Wikipedia. Feral horse A herd is usually counted as semi-feral rather than feral when its land is fenced or people provide water or food.6PubMed Central. A Geographic Assessment of the Global Scope for Rewilding with Wild-Living Horses (Equus ferus) Most Icelandic horses that look wild fit the semi-feral label. This is different from America’s mustangs, which are feral and managed as wildlife on public land. A herd standing on open highland can belong to a named farmer. A horse that looks abandoned or untended is almost never lost, and nobody should try to take it, rescue it, or move it.
Who Owns Iceland’s Horses
Most horses in Iceland are owned by farmers or by people who keep and train horses.7Icelandair. Everything you need to know about Icelandic horses Every horse is microchipped, which settles any doubt about whose animal it is.8Horses of Iceland. Free roaming and roundups: more than a tradition
A microchip is a tiny implant that holds an identification number, and a handheld reader can pull that number up to match the horse to a registered owner. Because the chip stays with the horse for life, ownership does not depend on a brand, a tag, or anyone’s memory. That is useful when horses from different farms mix on shared summer pasture and have to be sorted out afterward.
Iceland does have free-roaming horse populations that live largely on their own,9American Museum of Natural History. When Is “Wild” Actually “Feral”? but their owners still bring them in each autumn.10Horses of Iceland. Horses of Iceland Owners let them roam because large open pastures and highland grazing cost less than stabling. Young horses also grow stronger and learn manners in a herd, and the practice is centuries old and part of farm life.
If you stop by a herd, remember the horses are private property, often on private land, so stay outside fences. Feeding them snacks can upset their diet and teach them to crowd cars. Pull fully off the road before stopping, because parking on narrow verges is dangerous. If you want contact with horses, ask a farmer or book a riding tour.
The Autumn Roundup That Brings Them Home
From early September to mid-October, Icelanders hold réttir, roundups that gather sheep and sometimes free-roaming horses home for winter.11Visit Iceland. Sheep and horse roundups in Iceland Owners ride into the highlands on horseback to collect the herds and bring them closer to home.12Horses of Iceland. Horses of Iceland
The ride out often lasts several days, covering long distances over rough ground to find horses scattered across a wide grazing area. The horses spread out during summer, so the work is first to locate small groups and then to merge them into one larger herd. Riders push the herd along together, since horses tend to follow each other once a lead group starts moving. The drive is paced to the slowest animals, including foals, so reaching the home farms can take a long time.
In the sorting pen, groups of about 50 horses at a time are moved into a central circle where owners pick out their own.13Horses of Iceland. Free roaming and roundups: more than a tradition Each horse is guided into its owner’s section, with microchips used when a horse’s identity is unclear.14Horses of Iceland. Free roaming and roundups: more than a tradition A pen full of horses from many farms is a stressful place, with animals mixing and calling to one another after months apart. The circle lets owners keep each group in a contained space while they walk among the horses and recognize their own. Mares and foals are kept together, since a foal separated from its mother can panic. Afterward the horses winter nearer the farms with extra feed.
If you want to watch, note that horse roundups are fewer than sheep roundups, so check dates with local tourism offices. Some farms and tour operators let visitors ride along in the drive. The sorting pen is crowded and loud, so stand where hosts direct you. The day often ends with a community gathering.
Where Iceland’s Horses Came From
Norse settlers from Norway and nearby lands brought domestic horses when they settled Iceland in the late 800s.15Crossings: An Undergraduate Arts Journal. Equus caballus in Iceland: From Landnám to Christianization Some of these early horses came by way of the British Isles.16PubMed. The origin of ambling horses Icelandic records name individual horses as early as the 1100s.17Wikipedia. Icelandic horse Settlers carried horses over the sea for transport, packing loads, and farm work in a country with few roads.
Since settlement the horses have lived isolated, with no significant new bloodlines from abroad.18PubMed Central. Genetic diversity and signatures of selection in Icelandic horses and Exmoor ponies They survived harsh weather and even volcanic eruptions on their own island.19PubMed Central. Genetic diversity and signatures of selection in Icelandic horses and Exmoor ponies Until the 20th century they were working animals shaped mostly by that harsh environment.20PubMed Central. Genetic diversity and signatures of selection in Icelandic horses and Exmoor ponies In the 1950s Iceland set its first official breeding goal, a versatile riding horse with five gaits.21PubMed Central. Genetic diversity and signatures of selection in Icelandic horses and Exmoor ponies Breeders have worked only with the horses already on the island, selecting among them for temperament and gait. Iceland bans importing horses to protect its isolated herd, and a horse that leaves the country can never return.
The horses are pony-sized, but Icelanders always call them horses. It is a single breed unique to the island, and its small, sturdy build came from centuries of hardship.
The Extra Gaits That Set Them Apart
Most horses use walk, trot, and canter or gallop. Icelandic horses use those too, and many have two more, which is why they are described as having up to five gaits. The extra two are the smooth running walk, called the tölt, and the pace. Not every horse can do both. The pace is a fast, flying gait in which the legs on each side move together, unlike the diagonal pairs of the trot.
The early settlers seem to have favored horses with a smooth ambling gait soon after arriving.22PubMed. The origin of ambling horses A gene variant became common that lets horses perform side-to-side gaits.23PubMed. The effect of the ‘Gait keeper’ mutation in the DMRT3 gene on gaiting ability in Icelandic horses Horses carrying two copies of it are the ones able to perform the fast flying pace.24PubMed. The effect of the ‘Gait keeper’ mutation in the DMRT3 gene on gaiting ability in Icelandic horses It also improves the smooth running walk in rhythm, speed, and suppleness.25PubMed. The effect of the ‘Gait keeper’ mutation in the DMRT3 gene on gaiting ability in Icelandic horses Other genes also shape gait ability.26PubMed Central. The genetics of gaits in Icelandic horses goes beyond DMRT3, with RELN and STAU2 identified as two new candidate genes
In the smooth running walk the horse always has at least one foot on the ground, so there is no moment of suspension like the trot’s. That steadiness is why the rider sits almost motionless while the horse moves briskly. The smooth running walk covers rough ground quickly and comfortably.
How They Survive Iceland’s Winters Outdoors
Icelandic horses carry genes linked to a compact, muscular, sturdy body and possibly to a dense coat.27PubMed Central. Genetic diversity and signatures of selection in Icelandic horses and Exmoor ponies Horses with heavier hair coats lose less heat through their skin,28PubMed. Effects of hair coat characteristics on radiant surface temperature in horses and in winter their neck coats grew to about 4.6 cm long.29Canadian Journal of Animal Science. Responses to climatic variables of horses housed outdoors under Nordic winter conditions
A thick coat traps a layer of air next to the skin, and that trapped air is what holds heat in. A longer coat holds more of it, which is why horses grow heavier hair as days shorten. Coats that stay dry and fluffed up insulate best, so dry cold is easier on them than wet.
Cold-adapted Icelandic horses handled temperatures down to −31°C without strain when given good feed and shelter.30Canadian Journal of Animal Science. Responses to climatic variables of horses housed outdoors under Nordic winter conditions They chose to stay outdoors about 70% of the time.31Canadian Journal of Animal Science. Responses to climatic variables of horses housed outdoors under Nordic winter conditions They used shelter more in the coldest weather and tended to seek it in rain and wind, while snow didn’t bother them.32Canadian Journal of Animal Science. Responses to climatic variables of horses housed outdoors under Nordic winter conditions The one shivering horse seen was on a rainy day at +5°C.33Canadian Journal of Animal Science. Responses to climatic variables of horses housed outdoors under Nordic winter conditions
Rain flattens and soaks the coat, which removes the trapped air and lets heat escape through the skin. Wind strips away the warm air near the body, so the horse loses heat faster even if the thermometer reads the same. A horse in dry, still cold at a very low temperature can be more comfortable than one in cold rain at a milder temperature.
That is why snow-covered horses are often fine: snow that sits on a horse’s back without melting is one sign the coat is insulating well. Owners provide hay and windbreaks in winter, so roadside horses aren’t neglected.
How Herds Live Together on Open Land
In a large Icelandic pasture, several stallions each kept their own group of mares.34International Journal of Zoology. The Behaviour of Stallions in a Semiferal Herd in Iceland: Time Budgets, Home Ranges, and Interactions Aggression between the horses was low.35International Journal of Zoology. The Behaviour of Stallions in a Semiferal Herd in Iceland: Time Budgets, Home Ranges, and Interactions Big herds give young horses room to develop normally in body and social skills.36International Journal of Zoology. The Behaviour of Stallions in a Semiferal Herd in Iceland: Time Budgets, Home Ranges, and Interactions
A stallion’s group is made up of a few mares and their young, and the stallion keeps them together and guards them from rivals. Mares often have a ranking among themselves, which affects who eats and drinks first. The structure gives each horse a place, which is part of why fights are rare.
In a large pasture there is room to keep away from rivals, so conflicts are usually settled with posturing rather than injury. Crowded horses fight more.
In herds without a mature stallion, adult mares groom each other more and have more favorite partners.37Behaviour. Social relationships in a group of horses without a mature stallion Some mares took on stallion-like behavior, including protecting foals.38Behaviour. Social relationships in a group of horses without a mature stallion
From the roadside, you may see a horse standing apart watching approaching people, often a stallion. Horses that groom each other are often close partners. Foals stay near their mothers, so don’t walk between them.
Why Their Isolation Matters for Health and the Land
Iceland’s horses have stayed free of major infectious diseases.39bioRxiv. Genomic Dissection of an Icelandic Epidemic of Equine Respiratory Disease Horses build defenses through exposure, so a population that has not met a germ has no prior immunity to it. When a new disease gets in, it can spread quickly because nearly every horse is susceptible. In 2010 a respiratory illness spread through the whole population in a few months.40bioRxiv. Genomic Dissection of an Icelandic Epidemic of Equine Respiratory Disease
Disease agents can cling to boots, gloves, saddles, and clothing that has touched horses, especially if damp or dirty. A traveler who has been at a stable abroad could carry them without knowing it, even with no sick horse in sight. So clean or leave at home any riding clothes, boots, and gear used around horses elsewhere. Washing and disinfecting reduces the risk but does not remove the need to follow the entry rules.
Those rules require used riding gear to be disinfected before entry, with proof. Gloves and saddles shouldn’t be brought from abroad, and tour operators lend gear so visitors don’t need their own.
Grazing also shapes the land. Where grazing animals were fenced out of Icelandic grasslands, the top layer of soil held about 8% less carbon.41Global Change Biology Communications. Sustained Livestock Grazing Enhances Soil Organic Carbon Storage in Sub‐Arctic Grassland Ungrazed grassland often turned into heath or birch woodland that stored less carbon.42Global Change Biology Communications. Sustained Livestock Grazing Enhances Soil Organic Carbon Storage in Sub‐Arctic Grassland