225 C. Vial and R. Evans (eds.) The new equine economy in the 21 st century EAAP publication no. 136 – DOI 10.3920/978-90-8686-824-7_19, © Wageningen Academic Publishers 2015 19. The new equine economy of Iceland I. Sigurðardóttir 1 and G. Helgadóttir 1,2* 1 Department of Rural Tourism, Holar University College, Holar, Iceland / Department of Business Administration, University of Iceland, 551 Sauðárkrókur, Iceland; gudr@holar.is 2 Tourism Management, Department of Economics and Informatics, Telemark University College, Gullbringvegen 36, 3800 Bø i Telemark, Norway Abstract When many other horse breeds lost their role following the industrial revolution, the Icelandic horse gained a new economic role. This chapter explains the development of this new role of the Icelandic horse and what economic and social factors it includes. The research is based on a literature review and analyses of secondary data. It also collates information from the authors’ prior research on equestrian tourism. Findings indicate that the new economic, cultural and social roles of the Icelandic horse are extensive and many-sided. It includes breeding in the country of origin, participation in events and shows, inclusion in various social activities in Iceland and abroad and multifarious business operations including e.g. breeding, training and equestrian tourism. Despite the fact that equestrianism is a lifestyle choice of its practitioners, the new equine economy in Iceland does not only rely on the domestic market, as international markets with Icelandic horses and services are substantial. The horse industry is in many ways similar in Iceland and other countries, but it is unique in that there is only one breed in the country. The Icelandic horse is highly recognised and popular worldwide. The breed has a worldwide studbook and an acknowledged country of origin. There is a very high number of horses per person in Iceland, a strong culture of equestrianism and expansive grassland available. This allows for horse husbandry that lets horses live according to their nature as herd animals, free ranging for part of the year and for young horses to grow up with mature horses with minimal human interference. Keywords: equestrianism, horse industry, horse events, horse tourism, economic importance Introduction The aim of the chapter is to collate information from previous research to create an overview of the contemporary use, economic and cultural value of the Icelandic horse. This overview is based on a research program dating back a decade involving several projects. Quality in horse based tourism (Helgadóttir and Sigurðardóttir, 2008), the culture of horsemanship in Iceland (Helgadóttir, 2006), horse round-ups as a tourism attraction (Helgadóttir, 2015), native breeds tourism and a research on equestrian tourism as an industry in Iceland, including research on the demand side (Sigurðardóttir and Helgadóttir, 2015), the supply side (Sigurðardóttir, 2015) and cluster development (Sigurðardóttir and Steinþórsson, 2015). The research methods range from qualitative ieldwork such as interviews and participant observation to visitor surveys and analysis of secondary data such as export statistics and available key igures on the horse economy. Published sources on the history of the Icelandic horse and relevant publications on Icelandic horsemanship were consulted, as well as the publications of stakeholders such as the international association of Icelandic horse breeders, the farmers’ association and the ministry of Agriculture. The chapter examines the morphology of the horse sector in Iceland, rather than addressing economic evaluation. The focus is on describing the new economic role of the horse in a society that for ages depended highly on the horse in transport and work, cherished its riding abilities and has in the last decades created a new role for the horse exclusively as a leisure and sport horse.