The Icelandic Horse is a breed available in the Horse Reality game that can be obtained from the Foundation.
| Icelandic Horse | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Alternative names | Íslenski Hesturinn |
| Origin | Iceland |
| Horse Reality | |
| Colours & modifiers | Black, Chestnut, Bay, Seal Brown, Flaxen, Grey, Dun, Silver, Cream, Sooty, Pangaré, Non-Dun1 |
| White Patterns | White Markings, SW1, Tobiano, Roan, W8, W21 |
| Not yet in-game | / |
| Extra Gaits | Flying pace and tölt |
| Height | 130 - 145 cm |
| Registry | Icelandic Horse Society |
| Alternative names | Icey |
| Origin | Foundation |
| Status | In-game (2018) |
| Artists | |
| Lineart | D. Grochowska (2026) |
| Greyscale | D. Grochowska (2026) |
| Colours & patterns | D. Grochowska, M. Krale, W. Suchenia (2026) |
¶ History
The Icelandic Horse originated from horses brought to Iceland by Norse Viking settlers about 1000 years ago. Only the best horses were chosen, and they were crucial for the survival of the settlers: carrying goods and people, plowing fields, providing meat, hair and milk. Since then, the breed has lived isolated on the island, without the influence of other horses. Selective breeding and the cold, harsh environment shaped the Icelandic Horse into a hardy and resilient breed.[1,2]
Nowadays, the Icelandic Horse is also very popular outside of Iceland, but once a horse has left Iceland, it can never return. Due to the isolation of the island, very few infectious diseases are present, and no vaccinations are needed. Importing any horses (or even equipment) can be disastrous for the population.[1,3]
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Characteristics
Despite having a height of around 130-154 cm, the breed is considered a horse, and not a pony. They mature slowly and are generally not fully grown until six or seven years old, but they have a long, active life span. A typical Icelandic Horse is rectangular in shape: their lenght is greater than their height. The breed has a fine, light head with a high-set neck. The withers are high and long with long, sloping shoulders. The back is broad and strong, and the hindquarters are well-muscled with a long, sloping croup. The Icelandic Horse has very strong hooves. They have a long, thick mane and tail, a good amount of feathering and grow thick winter coats.[4]
In addition to walk, trot, canter, and gallop, the Icelandic Horse can have two additional gaits: the tölt and the flying pace. Not all Icelandic horses can pace, but they can all tölt.[1, 4]
Icelandic horses are friendly and easy-going. They are hard-working, reliable companions, but they are also very strong with good stamina. The breed is healthy, sturdy and very sure-footed; the result of living on the Icelandic Island for a very long time.[1,2]
¶ Colour Genetics
Despite the limited amount of influence on the breed, the Icelandic has a wide range of colours. The base colours bay, seal brown, black and chestnut are the most common, but grey, cream, dun, and silver also appear in the breed.[2]
White markings are uncommon and usually small. Most blazes and white legs can be attributed to either splashed white 1 and/or tobiano. Roan is also present in the breed.[2] Two separate white spotting mutations have been identified in the breed, W8 and W21. W8 was first found in the mare Þokkadis vom Rosenhof.[5] W21 was identified in 2015 in the stallion Ellert frá Baldurshaga.[6] Both provide the horse with a striking white pattern.
¶ In-game colours
All alleles available for the breed can be found below, highlighted in green. For better clarity, we bolded alleles that impact coat colours (eg. grey G vs non-grey g).
| Base Colours & Modifiers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Extension | Agouti | Grey |
| E, e | A, At, a | G, g |
| Dilutions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cream-Pearl | Dun | Champagne | Silver | Mushroom |
| CR, n | nd1, nd2 | ch | Z, z | n |
| White Patterns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frame | Appaloosa | PATN1 | MITF | SW2 | KIT |
| n | lp | patn1 | SW1, n | sw2 | TO, RN, W8, W21, n |
Please note that the table includes hidden agouti alleles (At ). Besides testable genes, untestable ones are also present: sooty, flaxen, and white markings (head markings, socks, etc.).
¶ Uses
The Icelandic Horse is a versatile and popular horse breed all around the world. Their gentle temperament and smooth tölt make them a comfortable riding horse. Icelandic horse competitions focus on showing the quality of their gaits, along with some races in pace.[1]
¶ Artwork changelog
¶ Artwork Updates
The Icelandic Horse is one of Horse Reality's oldest breeds, added during the beta version around 2017. Ever since the current Horse Reality version has been online, the Icelandic Horse received/will receive the following updates:
- On October 14th 2020, new coat variations (colour) were added[7]
- On September 22nd 2021, some additional grey coats were added[8]
- On April 19th 2023, the pangaré, sooty, and non-dun1 alleles were added to the game through new Foundation horses, and the dun artwork was updated[9]
- On February 17th 2026, the Icelandic Horse was migrated to the new art system, received an artwork update and W8 was added to the breed[10-13]
As of now, the breed has a complete set of alleles.[14]
¶ Artwork Legacy
If you're curious about what the Icelandic Horse looked like before the artwork update or just want to reminisce about good old times - search no more.
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This beautiful art was created by very talented artists. Horse Reality is forever grateful for them being a part of its history.
| Artists | |
|---|---|
| Lineart | S. Jullelin (2014) |
| Greyscale | J. Tarkela (2016) |
| Colours & patterns | T. van den Berg (2017), H. Vasseur (2020, 2023), D. Grochowska (2020) |
¶ References
- Horses of Iceland, The Icelandic Horse: https://www.horsesoficeland.is/the-icelandic-horse; Access: November 2022
- Islandshestar https://islandshestar.is/the-icelandic-horse/ ;Access: February 2026
- Icelandic Air, Everything you need to know about Icelandic horses: https://www.icelandair.com/arora/icelandic-horses/ Access: February 2026
- International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations, Breeding Rules and Regulations, April 2022
- Haase, B., et al., Seven novel KIT mutations in horses with white coat colour phenotypes, 2009, Animal Genetics, 40: 623-629.
- Haase, B., et al. A novel KIT variant in an Icelandic horse with white-spotted coat colour, 2015, Animal Genetics, 46: 466
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/34/birthday-surprise-new-horse-colour-variations-small-community-update-v2-transfer-bugfixes
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/72/community-update-new-icelandic-greys-other-bug-fixes-competition-scoring-server-struggles-tbs-market-redesign
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/133/community-update-foundation-batch-1-pantaneiro-horse-release-date-poll-results-more
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/127/community-update-massive-sales-quarter-horses-redo-art-survey-results-art-plans
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/25/brumby-arrival-on-july-28th-rules-update-thoroughbred-community-poll-foundation-names-changed
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/269/announcement-icelandic-horse-redo-arrives-feb-17
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/272/release-notes-icelandic-horse-redo
- https://deloryan.notion.site/Horse-Breeds-Artwork-Genetics-6d0a84be35284b12806976bbb8cc886c