Denise Söderroos

The Icelandic horse is a popular breed that can be found in over 30 different countries all over the world. The breed is rather small with mean height at withers around 140 cm and a body weight of 330-370 kg. Compared with other breeds with similar size, it is common with adult riders. Because of that, it is an ongoing welfare debate how heavy its rider can be. Today we have limited knowledge about the weight carrying capacity in Icelandic horses and more research is needed to ensure the welfare of the horse.

The aim of the project is to develop a system to estimate the weight carrying capacity in the Icelandic horse. The aim is also to investigate the effect of the conformation on the weight carrying capacity.

The project consists of several parts:

-        The effect of back conformation on weight carrying capacity in the Icelandic horse

-        Developing a system to estimate the weight carrying capacity in the Icelandic horse

-        Investigate the effect of a training program on the weight carrying capacity in the Icelandic horse

The supervisor for the project is Anna Jansson

The co-supervisors are Marie Rhodin, Gudrun Stefánsdóttir and Sveinn Ragnarsson.

Animal agronomist with a master in animal science, graduated at SLU 2019