Youth
Icelandic horses enrich the lives of people of all ages and it’s never too early to fall in love with the horses. The USIHC is committed to providing opportunities for young Icelandic horse enthusiasts to learn about and experience the breed. Young riders build confidence, learn the values of patience and dedication, develop good sportsmanship, and make life-long friends. Youth members can compete at USIHC sanctioned shows, participate in educational seminars, enter the Spaeri Award
Contest, and compete at the FEIF Youth Cup. Additionally, youth members have access to all new and archived issues of the Icelandic Horse Quarterly Magazine.
Membership also comes with access to WorldFengur.
Join today and begin your Icelandic horse journey. A community of supportive horse enthusiasts awaits you.
USIHC Penpal Program
USIHC is launching a new program to connect youth across the country. Youth members can sign up by filling out a form on our website and writing their first letter to their penpal. They will then be connected with another youth member to exchange letters with for the year. A list of topics and ideas for these letters will be provided. Each year youth participants will receive a new penpal but can decide to also continue writing with their previous penpals. We hope this will forge new friendships for youth who love Icelandic horses!
PENPAL SIGN UP
SAMPLE PENPAL LETTER TOPICS
Questions? email youth@icelandics.org
The FEIF Youth Cup
The FEIF Youth Cup is an international Icelandic horse competition held in a different European country in July of even-numbered summers. The United States is allowed to send three riders. Teams of six teen-age riders from different FEIF countries are made up the first day of the Cup. Renowned Icelandic horse trainers train the riders the first three days. The competition among the international teams is held the last two days. Ages for the competition are 14-17 (you must be turning 14 by December 31st of said year, and you must not be turning 18 by December 31st of said year). Applicants must be a member of the USIHC. He/she must fill out an application, ask his/her riding instructor for an evaluation, and send a video showing a 4-gait or 5-gait program, and a tolt program. The videos are judged by a FEIF judge. Programs scoring over 4.5 are eligible for the Youth Cup team. The applications are evaluated by an independent panel to break any ties in the video scores.
The 2024 FEIF Youth Cup Tryouts will be held in combination with the 2023 Virtual Fall Show.
Download the application below:
FYC Country Leader Application
Questions? email youth@icelandics.org
The Spaeri Youth Award
Spaeri is the Icelandic name of the Icelandic endurance horse known as Remington, famous for his determination, passion and indomitable will. This award is intended to inspire and encourage these same qualities in our youth when spending time with Icelandic Horses.
The Spaeri Award will be given annually to a youth who clearly demonstrates commitment to and love for Icelandic horses. The recipient of the award will be chosen from USIHC youth who submit articles demonstrating these sought after qualities for publication in the Quarterly during the calendar year. Articles will be reviewed at the end of the calendar year, and the Quarterly staff and Youth Committee will select one winner who will receive the award, along with $50.
How to Qualify:
A recipient must be a USIHC member under 18 years of age during the entire year the article is submitted.
The recipient must submit a self-written article for publication in the Quarterly, along with a high resolution photograph of him/her and the horse or activity.
To demonstrate the desired qualities, the article may describe any horse-related activity, such as trail or competition riding, driving, gymkhana, endurance, dressage, team penning, or jumping. Participation in non-riding activities such as 4-H, therapeutic riding, rescue and adoption, or simply training or caring for Icelandic horses, as long as the activity demonstrates love and commitment to the Icelandic horse. The youth writing the article need not own the Icelandic horse.
If the article concerns a specific Icelandic horse, it need not be USIHC registered.
Youth Articles for submission should be sent to quarterly@icelandics.org identified as a Youth Article submitted for the Spaeri Award.
Submissions must be received by December 31 to be considered.
The winner will be notified early in the following year and announced in the first issue of The Icelandic Horse Quarterly of the year.
The FEIF Youth Camp
The FEIF Youth Camp was the first youth event organized by FEIF. It all started in 1986 when an "international youth week" was arranged by FEIF and the Netherlands. 1988 Germany hosted the newly named FEIF YouthCamp and ever since this camp has run every second year. The goal of the FEIF YouthCamp is to bring together young people from different countries. All should share a passion for the Icelandic horse, and the participants will also learn something of the horse culture(s) of the host nation. In order to take part in the FEIF YouthCamp, riders do not have to own (or bring) a horse, but they should be interested in Icelandics, and have some riding experience. Throughout the week a range of activities, with and without horses are offered. These vary greatly, and have in the past included hiking and other outdoor activities, crafts, long hacks, and even polo lessons on Icelandic horses. Participants are expected to join in all activities. The aim of all FEIF youth work is to create an awareness of different (horse) cultures, to raise standards of all aspects of horsemanship, and to foster international friendship.
2023 FEIF Youth Camp Application (Due March 1, 2023)
Questions? email youth@icelandics.org
North American Youth Cup
The 2025 North American Youth Cup will take place June 22-29th 2025 at Harmony Icelandics in Truro, Iowa. For more information on the North American Youth Cup and to apply, please visit the North American Youth Cup website.
