SERC

Endurance with an Icelandic horse

Kim (centre) with daughter Catriona (left) and friend Moira forming an Icelandic trio at the Longnewton ride in 2018

There are quite a few Icelandic horses taking part in Endurance in Scotland. I can think of 15 or 16 I’ve met at venues in the time I’ve been a SERC member and there are usually a couple at most rides.

I’m not an expert on either Endurance or indeed on Icelandic horses, but it’s been interesting riding my two in Endurance events over the last seven years and I’ve learned a lot about both over that time.

What are Icelandic horses? Icelandic horses are a gaited breed (walk, trot, canter/gallop, tölt and pace) and while there are only about a thousand in the UK, there are many more in other countries, where many weekends these small horses show their gaits on a long, slightly banked oval track, race in pace and compete for high honours. These are not cute little ponies but serious (and expensive) sport horses. Competitive Icelandic horse events are few in the UK and I don’t want to do Icelandic competitions, but I like the variety of gaits in the Icelandic and I do want to spend lots of time with my horses, riding through the countryside; Endurance is perfect for that.

My Icelandic horses I have two Icelandics: Ess From Pentland Hills, now 20 and retired from Endurance, and the snappily named Guðröður Jósef fra Skjöldólfsstöðum, who is 10 this year and Bronze Thistle Final qualified.

With Ess, I did pleasure rides with my Icelandic pals which was a lot of fun. He’s now semiretired, hacking 8-10km a couple of times a week.

I imported Josef in 2016, a 6 year old from Iceland. These horses are brought up running in a herd with minimum – or even no – intervention and are trained a little at 5, usually over winter, then turned away. His passport says he was gelded the day he left to come to me, which explains some of his behaviour when he joined our mixed sex Icelandic herd. Lots of things are new to young horses but it’s not usually trees, which are unknown and scary if you’ve never seen them before, especially when they move or bits drop off (including leaves). Also, trolls hide under rocks in Iceland, so these need to be avoided. Monsters live in the sea to nibble the unwary hoof. Gates are terrifying with their horse-eating jaws. We spent a lot of time on the ground getting used to things.

Going competitive with my Icelandic horse Josef had a year doing pleasure rides, seeing the countryside and learning to trot and not tölt or pace for the vet (‘what is your horse doing with his legs?’). We had our novice competitive season in 2018. Supported a lot by my many knowledgeable SERC friends, I was catapulted into my first competitive 30km ride, in the Eildon hills, as a more or less last-minute

addition to a team. The rider ahead of me and I worked nicely together on gates and her crew kindly crewed me too, especially appreciated by Josef after the last loop which included what is a near vertical ascent. We walked in to finish just below our declared maximum speed at 10.94 kph and a gold heart rate.

"You can do 30km rides without a crew but it's much nicer to have one"

Of course you can do 30km rides without a crew but it’s much nicer to have one and many people helped, most notably my daughter Catriona. A geography student, she kept me – and at times other crews - right with maps, was always there to meet me with the buckets of beet, water and sloshes.

We did our first 50km ride at the Championships at Brodie Castle in 2018,

Kim and Josef covering the ground at Longnewton

gaining our Bronze Thistle Final (at 12.71 kph with gold heart rate, coming second in the Novice class) – with thanks again to experienced SERC friends keeping me right at the vetgate. The highlight of 2019 was being in the winning interbranch Capercaillie team, bringing the trophy home for Lothians Branch.

What are the differences with an Icelandic horse? Actually, I’m not sure I know, but I do know what to do with mine.

FEEDING I keep them out 24/7 with hay in the winter. I feed a mixture of soaked beet, soaked coconut fibre, an alpine meadow chaff, micronized linseed and Science Supplements balancers. It’s DIY livery, and I also work, so this is once a day. I weigh tape Josef every week and alter the feed as needed.

CLIPPING I trace clip when his winter coat starts to grow. He uses a lot of energy and protein growing that thick Icelandic winter coat and I up his linseed. He has 4-5 weeks off in November/December. This year I bit the bullet, clipped him out in February and rugged him so I could get him nicely fit; we planned to do the Cairngorm 100 trail ride this year but with Covid that was not to be. Next year, maybe.

FEET My horses are barefoot and both wear Renegades, which works well for me. Ess’s feet grow very slowly so he’s cheap for the farrier but Josef gets trimmed every 6-8 weeks. I keep them both tidy in between.

EXERCISE I ride 3-4 times a week and also do some groundwork. I take Josef to polework lessons every fortnight, great for agility and core fitness. We trailer away for beach rides and hill training.

ENDURANCE RIDES I just ride a speed he’s comfortable at (~11/11.5 kph) and I don’t push it. He’s not an Arab, he has a thicker coat and he has more fat even when he’s on the thin side, so he can’t lose heat so easily. He’s offered beet, water, will drink (monster-free) wild water and gets a lot of sloshing. I often walk him in and always get off immediately I cross the finish. I don’t use ice but I do use lots of water and I don’t scrape it off. It works for me, gold heart rates are the norm for him.

Finally, I love my Icelandic horses and enjoy doing Endurance with them. I’ll never be doing 160km day classes – but how many of us will? For me, Endurance is about getting out, seeing the countryside and having fun with my friends – long may that be the case.

Kim Willoughby