The Annual Breeding Meeting 2026 took place in Budapest, where 19 participants met to work on a wide agenda featuring numerous key topics.
Regulatory changes were discussed, with new regulations taking effect on April 1, 2026, rule changes requiring approval at the Delegates’ Assembly 2027 as well as clarifications and ideas for the future.
- Two positions in the breeding judge committee were up for election. Heimir Gunnarsson was re-elected as the chairperson of this committee and Rune Hansen was elected as the representative of the ringmasters.
- In the breeding committee, three positions were up for election. Friðrik Már Sigurðsson and Heimir Gunnarsson were both re-elected and Rasmus Jensen was elected.
Various proposals were discussed and voted on. It was decided that all FEIF member countries must register the matings into Worldfengur i.a. to make it more easy for breeders in different countries to have access to registered matings. Additionally, all foals born outside Iceland are required to have a complete proof of parentage.
Two proposals were voted on regarding the participation of breeding horses at the Worldchampionships. The FEIF breeding department recommend that each horse should only participate once in each age group, but each member country has to take the final decision on that. Stallions with hereditary or physical defects (red S or red T) are not eligable to participate at the Worldchampionchips.
The rules about handling inappropiate behaviour of riders at breeding shows were updated and the possibility was added also for show managers to report such cases that may result in a deprimand or dismission.
The training procedure of ringmasters was defined more clearly in the rules and the guidelines for judging foals and young horses were refined with minor word changes.
The recommandation that stallions should not be used for insemination until they have confirmed natural covering was added to the rules to ensure that we won´t loose important traits out of sight.
The topic artificial reproductive technics (ART) was discussed in the breeding department and in a joint meeting with the chair persons as well. With more available methods of artificial reproduction like OPU/ICSI we need to develope a frame for the use of those technics in the breed of the Icelandic horse.
The meeting ended with some future thoughts about the need of bringing up a better platform for breeding in Europe and education in this field, aiming for more presence, importance and enhancement.
