(By Aral Bereux)

American photographer Drew Doggett started his photography career in fashion but has since taken to the world, travelling in search of amazing landscapes and subjects to capture on film. Winning over 80 prestigious awards and honours for his world-renowned images and filmmaking, Doggett’s film techniques have helped him capture the true essence of remote places and peoples from a stunning angle.

In recent travels, Doggett discovered Iceland. His fascination with the nation’s Icelandic horses led him to the mystical landscapes where they roam, shooting his latest series, In the Realm of Legends.

The Icelandic Horse is one of the oldest and purest breeds in the world, with their Viking history stemming from the 9th and 10th  centuries. For centuries, other horse breeds were strictly forbidden in Iceland, and to this day strict exporting procedures means a horse that leaves Iceland is never permitted to return.

These friendly horses are used for riding and companionship, with many riders arguing that the Icelandic horses are some of the best horses in the world. The official website Horses of Iceland explains how the Icelandic horse’s natural elegance and robust health makes them optimal riding horses.

“The goal of breeding Icelandic horses is to produce a healthy, fertile, and durable riding horse. Robust, elegant and versatile with five excellent gaits. The conformation should offer optimal natural balance, and the movements should be supple, high and ground covering in all gaits, giving an elegant and powerful image.”

The Icelandic horse size varies in size and colour, with over 100 variations, and reaches between 14 and roughly 15 hands. Although small, they are not a pony. They have two natural gaits, the tölt and flying pace, in addition to the usual walk, trot, canter and gallop found in other horse breeds.

This article (Forget the Unicorns, Photographer Captures Fairytale-Like Horses Roaming Iceland’s Landscape) is a free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to author Aral Bereux and DNewsHQ.