Horses of Iceland at the World Championships

We are back from the World Championships in the Netherlands and couldn‘t be happier with the 10 days we spent there!

The organizers and volunteers did an amazing job in showcasing the Icelandic horse on the level it deserves and the quality of both horses and riders was incredible. The weather also decided to behave (most of the time) once the competition week started, which we were very thankful for given the amount of rain we had had during the few days prior.

We will never cease to be amazed to see the Icelandic horse bring so many people from all over the world together.

Representatives from 13 countries were competing this year and we also had visitors from other countries such as Romania and New-Zealand, (Romania is not part of FEIF - yet - which is a requirement to compete at the World Championships) in the Horses of Iceland tent.

This international gathering is so important to us who want to see the Icelandic Horse thrive all over the world and we were extremely pleased by the positive atmosphere during the whole event. It is an opportunity to meet old friends, make new ones and create new ties between countries.

The riders showed great sportsmanship and we were delighted to see the audience rejoice at all the beautiful presentations. One great aspect was also the palpable compassion throughout the grandstands when bad luck struck on the track, no matter the performer's nationality.

To us, that is the perfect reflection of the Icelandic horse community: one that stands together, helps each other out, and burns for the Icelandic horse.

But let us now tell you a little more about what we, Horses of Iceland, were doing at the World Championships.

During the event, Horses of Iceland hosted

FEIF

,

IPZV

,

Icelandair Cargo

,

WorldFengur

,

Landsmót Hestamanna 2024

,

Íslensk.is

and

Bertha Kvaran Art

in our tent. Icelandair Cargo was also the host of our mutual partners:

Export Hestar

,

Fákaland Export

and

Hestvit

.

On the Horses of Iceland side, the aim was to meet Icelandic horse enthusiasts, tell them about the project and make contact with

potential new partners

.

A few gatherings were held in our tent such as a live music event with Stjáni Stuð, a Hot Dog party hosted by IPZV, a gathering for the riders of the ride from Germany to Oirschot hosted by IPZV and FEIF, another one for the riders of the virtual ride hosted by FEIF, and a Meet and Greet event hosted by the French national team. Horses of Iceland also hosted a presentation of the

Equine Science department at Hólar University

by Master trainer Þórarinn Eymundsson where we served Icelandic dried fish, water, candy and cold Dutch beer.

We would like to thank all our partners and add special thanks to the ones who gave prizes away for our

sweepstake

. They allowed us to make 11 lucky winners happy and that always puts a smile on our faces.

We would also like to thank

Icelandic Glacial

water for giving us Icelandic water to distribute during the event. They allowed us to refresh many passers by during the warmest days of the week. 

We now look forward to the next World Championships which will take place in Switzerland in 2025.

To see results from the World Championships, please

visit this page

.

To know more about the World Championships in general,

click here

.