A quote from a rider in Iceland: "One of the unusual things about Icelandics is that they are five gaited. In addition to the usual walk, trot and canter, there is also tölt and there is another kind of gallop. It was time to tölt! It is often used for covering downhill stretches, although I don't know why. To get your horse to tölt, you have to really shorten up the reins and collect the head, and then you roll your legs and knees into the horse while sitting really firmly in the butt. Glorious! It is a running walk, and it flies across the ground very smoothly. It is very easy to sit to, and not at all bouncy. Kjarkor, my horse, is one who is known for his lovely tölt. I was lucky! In fact, he doesn't like to trot, almost immediately going to tölt. We also had a short canter at one point."
In regard to "tölt ... often used for covering downhill stretches": this is because it's easier to get a horse that is not very naturally gaited to gait going downhill, and to trot uphill. In regard to "really shorten up the reins and collect the head": collection is something that references the frame of the whole horse, starting with the hindquarters. You can't "collect" a head. In reference to "It is a running walk": I think some Icelandics do a running walk, but the tolt is a rack (the slower tolt being a saddle rack). Judy http://iceryder.net http://clickryder.com
