Professional photographer and artist, Drew Doggett, flew from his home state of South Carolina to the majestic country of Iceland to capture some enchanting pictures of the iconic horse breed, the Icelandic horses.
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Drew often travels the world to capture the best shots of animals, people, and landscapes and the photos he got from Iceland were something like a fairytale. He took many pictures and posted them to his Instagram titling them under a series called “In the Realm of Legends.”
The Icelandic horses are truly special and known as one of the oldest horse breeds on the planet. Historians say that the Vikings first brought the horses to Iceland back in the 9th and 10th centries and because Iceland is such a remote place the horses there have not mixed with any other breeds in over a 1000 years.
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Iceland has very strict laws that ban any other horse from entering Iceland and they do this to protect the legendary bloodline of the Icelandic horses. If a horse is transported off the island it is not allowed to ever return. The horses are actually very short compared to the horses we’re used to in the United States.
Some folks might even say they’re not horses at all, they’re ponies, but Iceland breeders refer to them as horses. They’re only about 52-56 inches tall and weigh 730-840 pounds, they’re usually not ridden until age four, and they don’t completely develop into maturity until seven years old. Their prime years are from eight and 18.
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Most of the horses he took pictures of were white but they come in all different colors. In fact, the Icelandic language has over 100 different names for the many arrangements of colors and patterns of the horse’s coats. You can view more pictures of the horses on Drew’s Instagram page, here.