Our Goals
I strive to breed for easy to work with, kind-hearted, gentle, and striking Icelandic's with floating, comfortable gaits. I want the Icelandic you buy to be one you'll want to keep for life. I'm happy to work with first time buyers and will accurately and honestly represent my horses.
My goal is to keep certain things in perspective when I buy and breed Icelandics. I want all my horses to be ride-able by anyone. And by anyone, I mean the first time rider to an experienced Icelandic trainer. Temperament is one of the most important aspects of a horse because it is easily passed on and affects our day to day interaction with that horse. If a horse has a nasty temperament, nobody wants to work or play with that animal and you end up owning a very expensive lawn ornament.
I want my horses to be structurally sound, correct, and beautiful. Icelandic horses should be strong, sturdy, elegant, upright, have good legs and hard hooves. Of course, having lots of mane and tail, a unique color, and elegant expressive heads is nice icing on the cake, but good conformation is more important to the usefulness of the horse, and conformation is very inheritable.
My breeding stock must be good trail horses. My mares get ridden when they aren’t in foal, and I like to ride in all different places and environments. All my horses need to trailer easily, and adjust to new environments without much fuss. They need to react calmly to anything they may encounter while out on the trail.
Other things I look for are pedigree and performance. I would like my breeding stock to come from first prize lines. I care very little about showing or ribbons, but if a horse does well in competition, or if its parents have done well, it attests to the horses versatility and clarity of gaits. I think the Icelanders put too much emphasis on speed, but good gaits and willingness are important. Pedigree can be an indication of what a mare or stallion may produce or how she or he will turn out.
This isn’t to say I’ll be buying fancy show horses. A show horse who does well in shows is not necessarily a pleasure to ride and own. Generally life long professionals ride these horses. The tasks horses are asked to perform in shows have nothing to do with temperament, ease in handling, trail worthiness, intelligence, or how comfortable they are to ride. What I truly desire is that each horse I sell is assessed on its own merits, according to how well you fit with that individual horse - not how well you liked its ancestors or how many ribbons it has received.
What's really important to me, and hopefully you, is a horse that gives you a special feeling and is a pleasure to work with.
I’ve decided to spend as long as it takes to find horses that fit my breeding program. Since the amount of horses shipped into the United States is small, this could take some time! I have no intention of becoming an importer. I’m more than willing to pay a little more and let someone else take the time, risks, experience, and energy to find really good horses to send to America. My current goal is to purchase at least one mare or filly each year until I have 3 to 6 producing mares and 1 or 2 young fillies. Try and be patient with me. It’ll take a couple of years before I have a consistent selection of horses for sale.
If you have any questions or comments about my goals, please feel free to email me. I'll be happy to discuss and explain the subject more.
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