The Horses

The Icelandic horse is a breed of horse developed in Iceland.  Icelandic horses are long-lived and hardy. In their native country they have few diseases; Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return. The Icelandic horse displays two gaits in addition to the typical walk, trot, and canter/gallop commonly displayed by other breeds. This is the only breed of horse in Iceland, they are also popular internationally, and sizable populations exist in Europe and North America. The breed is still used for traditional farm work for example roundup of sheep, as well as for leisure, showing, and racing. Developed from ponies taken to Iceland by Scandinavian settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries, the breed is mentioned in literature and historical records throughout Icelandic history; the first reference to a named horse appears in the 12th century. Horses were highly respected in Norse mythology, a custom brought to Iceland by the country’s earliest settlers. Selective breeding over the centuries has developed the breed into its current form. Natural selection has also played a role, as the harsh Icelandic climate eliminated many horses through cold and starvation. In the 1780s, much of the breed was wiped out in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. The first breed society for the Icelandic horse was created in Iceland in 1904, and today the breed is represented by organizations in 19 different nations, organized under a parent association, the International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations.

Sproti, born 1996.

Sproti is a a soft five-gaiter. He tolts really well and has soft trot. Sproti is very friendly and tries really hard to please the rider. He is excellent at leading the heard. When Doddi goes to round up the sheep and has a hand horse he does not need to lead Sproti – he follows. Once he was really occupied with eating grass and lost the sight of Doddi which was riding Sólon. Sproti ran around the valley calling for Sólon. When he did not find him he went straight home to Skorrastaður.

Sleipnir, born 1994.

Sleipnir is a five gaiter with a lot of main and tail. He takes big steps and can therefore be bit harsh on trot. He is rather small but a sturdy travel horse. During the first tour in 2012 he was hit by another horse in his hind leg and could not continue with the tour. He was not broken and was therefore left to heal in a deserted fjord for tree weeks. He got the whole winter off and healed nicely. Sleipnir has for many years been the families main competition horse. He has been to Fjórðungsmót and to Landsmót in addition to smaller local tournaments. In 2006 he was Doddi’s main travel horse on his nine day trip from Landsmót in Skagafjörður to Norðfjörður. Sleipnir is really independent and in our mind the chief of the group.

Sólon, born 1998.

Sólon is a five-gaiter and his best quality is his power and spirit. He sprints really fast and is usually the winner when we race the horses on our tours. He knows by now where we race the horses so when we approach the location he is already eager to sprint. Sólon is a decedent of Doddi’s stallion H-Blesi which was born in 1968 and was put down in 1998. The decedents of H-Blesi are really high spirited, hard working and fast runners. When riding in the mountains we use a tail-band on Sólon to make sure the saddle stays in the right place.

Vaka, born 2001.

Vaka, like Sólon, is a decedent of H-Blesi. She as really soft tölt and even though she does not take big steps because of her size she can go really fast. You can really rely on her but she has a sensitive mouth is so she requires a soft touch by the rider. She will eat her way through the mountain if we would allow her, so we make sure that she will get enough to eat but not to much. When riding in the mountains we use a tail-band on Vaka to make sure the saddle stays in the right place.

Ljóska, born 2002.

Ljóska is a hard worker in the mountains. Her gates are soft and she gallops really fast like other decedents of H-Blesi. She sees safety in numbers so she follows the heard really well when it is on the run. We also have to use tail band on Ljóska, as she has the same structure as Vaka, her aunt. She can be used by less experienced riders, and children. Very experienced riders enjoy her fast gallop.

Skúmur, born 2002.

Skúmur is really a sweet five-gaiter. Those who get to know Skúmur tend to choose him for his soft tolt and easy handling. Skúmur has been to the capital. He lived there for one year with his owner Sóley when she was studying at the university. Skúmur is therefore one of few Skorrahestar horses that has the experience of city life.

Silfurtoppur, born 1993.

Silfurtoppur was a gift to Sigga Thea, Doddis and Theas granddaughter when she was 5 years old. She named him after her favorite Playmobil horse. Silfurtoppur is a reliable and strong horse and has given many inexperienced riders the courage to ride upon high mountains. When Doddi rode to the top of the highest mountain in Norðfjörður on 4. September 2004 he was one of his horses along with Sleipnir and Stjarna. The color of Silfurtoppur is rare (bleikálóttur, vindóttur)and he is one of our most photographed horse and always ready to pose.

Mugga, born 1998.

Mugga is a hard worker and does her best work in the mountains. Her former owner always said “Mugga dear” when he talked to her. Doddi says that Mugga pays more attention to him if he says “Mugga dear”. Mugga is well tempered and a great horse to roundup sheep’s in the mountain. She is now more or less only used for younger children that need to be in the hand of either Doddi or Sunna, as Mugga is a great hand horse.

Smári, born 1998.

Smári is born on 1. May and named after a Smári Geirsson, the biggest socialist in the town council of Little Moskva (Neskaupstaður). Smári (the horse) is a really good tolt horse and nicely tempered and reliable horse even though his grandmother (on his mothers side) was fowled tempered. Smári can though be a bit difficult when the herd is free – his motto is “home sweet home”.

Daniella, born 2003.

Daniella is a sputnik five-gaiter. She is at her best in the mountains and on difficult and long trails. Daniella is a splendid swimmer and when she paces on a even ground she travels as fast as other horses do on gallop. Daniella is easy in the bridle, but still very active mare. She is only for experienced riders. Daniella is the daughter of Þyrnir from Þóroddsstaðir.

Skíma, born 2004.

Skíma is a reliable, tough travel-horse. She is at her best on difficult trails, narrow sheep-trails and steep mountains. Skíma never hesitates when asked to challenge herself in water or on land.

Skorri, born 2007.

Skorri is one of those horses that has the “X-factor”. He is alert, stunning, with beautiful main and tail and really powerful gaits. Horses like that are also difficult to train. He is only be for the extremely experienced riders of Skorrahestar. Skorri is the son of Gári from Auðsholtshjáleigu a renowned Icelandic stallion and truly looks like his father.

Freyja, born 2005.

Freyja has high leg-action on tölt. She is delicate and very much aware of her surroundings and does not like to be left behind. Freyja is a true viking mare and does not like to be tied to anything or she will break loose. She is the mother of Röskva.

Skotta, born 2007.

Skotta is Sigga Thea’s horse (grandchild of Doddi and Thea). Skotta is really hard working and soft to ride. Sigga Thea found Skotta at a roundup in north of Iceland when Skotta was two years old. The owner of Skotta was going to send her to the slaughter house but her beautiful color and soft spirit caught Sigga Theas eyes. Sigga Thea bought her from the farmer and took her to Skorrastaður where she enjoys her life. She is a great mountain- and beach horse, and easy to handle. That being said, she is not for beginners.

Súper-Sindri, born 2005.

Our ‘’headbanger’’ is one of our most reliable horses we have. He is very big, since he wasn’t castrated until he was 4 years old. He is very strong and can therefor carry full-grown individuals. He is also very good in the mountain as he knows the trails very well. We use him for our beginners, since we can trust him 100%. Súper–Sindri and Freyja are from the same father Þokki frá Árgerði.

Sindri, born 1996

Sindri is experienced and very reliable horse. He is no longer the fastest horse, but knows how to take care of his riders, weather they are unexperienced adults or children. His trot is very soft, but he does not tölt that much. When hearding he becomes few years younger, as he looks forward eating the grass on the field.
Sindri is to the right on this picture.

Skálmöld, born 2009.

Skálmöld ‘’the fighting lady’’ was bought last year from a farmer close to Húsavík. She was mainly bought to increase the color diversity in our heard. Surprisingly she has become one of our most popular riding horse both for experienced riders as well as beginners. She does not want to take the lead in the riding tour, but she does also not want to be the last horse. Her name was originally Díana, because her mother’s name was Prinsessa. We thought this was not good name enough, so we had to figure out a new name. She is very pushy when loose, and fights with the other horses. Skálm means a sword, and Öld means century – therefor the fighting lady name fitted her very well. You should also check Skálmöld, the heavy metal band to listen to some great Nordic mythology music!

Elgur, born 1996.

Elgur came to our farm about 12 years ago from Vopnafjörður. He is a decedent of Doddi’s stallion H-Blesi. Elgur was not an easy horse from the start. He had been to many trainers that gave up on him. Doddi started training him during the winter when there was a lot of snow, so he couldn’t easily run away with him. Elgur was trained for about 2 years by Doddi before anyone else could ride him. Since then he has been Sunna’s favorite round-up horse, as he goes everywhere. He is four-gaited and has a lot of power. Since Elgur came to the farm he’s been losing his sight on one eye, and now he’s completely blind on that eye. That doesn’t stop him though, it just means that the rider needs to be more careful of where he’s going.

Geysir, born 2004.

Geysir was bought last year from a friend in town. He has very soft and comfortable tölt. He doesn’t like that much to stand still, so if experienced riders want lively horse, Geysir is a good match.

Hrollur, born 2000.

Hrollur is owned by Siggi, a friend in town that often joins us on the riding tours. Hrollur is a four-gaiter with a lot of power. He can go very fast in tölt.

Haukur, born 1998.

Haukur is born on the farm next to us. He was the previous owner’s main horse for many years. 2016 Skorrahestar bought Haukur as he is great with beginners, children and intermediate riders. He is easy to tölt, and has a comfortable trot as well. Spring 2018 Haukur almost died, as he fell into a ditch that was hiding under the snow. Doddi saw that something wasn’t right in the field so he went there and saw a horse 3 meters under the snow. To pull Haukur up Doddi needed his tractor and a lot of people to help out. He was very wet and looked ill, but as soon as he was on the ground he started running around. He stayed in the neighbors stable for 2 nights as his eye was full of mud and water, but other than that nothing was wrong with him. A true survivor.
Haukur is to the left on this photo.

Stubbur, born 1995.

Stubbur is owned by a friend of ours from town, but has been in the Skorrahestar’s family for the past 10 years or so. He is five-gaited and can go very fast in pace.

Melkorka, born 2009.

Melkorka is born on the farm. She is four-gated and has excellent slow and medium speed tölt. However she is very fast both in trot and gallop. She is independent, stable, with good spirit and the perfect horse for experienced riders.

Orka, born 1992.

Orka frá Meðalfelli (our senior) was bought by Doddi and Jóna in 2003, and she has been our main breeding mare since then. She has had 12 off-springs in the last 14 years: Skörungur, Skrúður, Maísól, Skarpur, Kyndill, Fröken Fífa, Gletta, Skerpla, Gípa, Skáldið, Úlfur and Sólstafur.

Skörungur, born 2004.

Skörungur can out-run all other horses on both tölt and trot. Skörungur is a five-gaiter but pace has not trained much. When in the mountain he is a hard-worker as he is both tall and strong. Skörungur is the son of Sær from Bakkakoti which is a famous Icelandic stallion.

Maísól, born 2008.

Maísól is a beautiful mare with really fast tölt. She could be a breeding mare or a great competition horse, but at the moment she is a great riding horse for highly experienced riders. She depends a lot on the rider, so the riders have to have a lot of confidence when riding her. She is the daughter of Hágangur frá Narfastöðum, a famous Icelandic stallion.

Skarpur, born 2009.

Skarpur is owned by Júlíus Bjarni, 10 year old grandson of Doddi and Thea. Skarpur is a higly reliable and good riding horse, and works well with beginners and children. He has really sweet spirit and is really interested in his rider. Skarpur is a reliable four-gaiter with good tölt.

Kyndill, born 2010.

Kyndill means torch, hence the blaze he has on his head that looks like a torch. He is four-gaited and has a very fast tölt. He is though very ‘’trotty’’ and therefore only experienced riders ride him. He is our best horse at slow gallop, and lifts the legs very high. He is also very afraid of water like his sister Gletta. He is becoming our main competition horse at small competitions, as he is easy to control and stress-free. Most of his siblings have done some competition.

Fröken Fífa, born 2011.

Fröken Fífa is also an offspring from Orka. She is from the stallion Fífill frá Eskifirði. She is a very small sputnik mare. She is only used for highly experienced riders, as she is still not stable enough for intermediate riders.

Gletta, born 2012.

Gletta is our pet horse. She is born on the farm, and has always been very fond of human. She has a big family, one out of 12 siblings from the same mare – Orka. Gletta has been trained for 2 years, but is kind of self-trained from the start. She does very nice slow tölt, and trots as well. She is easy going, but very afraid of water! At the moment she is used for experienced riders, since she tends to piggy pace with beginners.
She loves being included in selfie’s!

Skerpla, born 2013.

Skerpla is an offspring from Orka. Born completely black, but is slowly turning grey. Her father is Hrymur frá Hofi. She has been trained for about 1 year, and is promising. Last year she joined the sheep round-up after only 2 months of training, and did very well. She even followed the rest of the trip after we let her loose with other riding horses.

Gípa, born 2014.

Gípa is owned by Sóley Þórðardóttir, one of Doddi and Thea’s daughter. She is
named after the giant that walked through Skorrahestar’s property in the old age. The name fits her very well as she is a tall mare, but she is more elegant and beautiful than a giant is said to be. She is five gated and in the start of training.

Skáldið, born 2015.

‘’The poet’’ is the full brother of Úlfur, and the same color. He is owned by Doddi and Thea’s oldest daughter, Jóna Árný. He is a very curious and human friendly gelding, like his brother. It will be interesting to see what type of horse he will become.

Úlfur, born 2016.

Úlfur is named after the Icelandic rap duo ÚlfurÚlfur, as he was born the night they held a concert in Neskaupstaður (the village close by Skorrastaður) + they stayed in Skorrahestar’s guesthouse that night. Úlfur also means wolf, and the name fits his color as well, which is blue dun. Úlfur and Skáldið are full brothers, sons of Orka frá Meðalfelli and Steinn Steinarr frá Útnyrðingsstöðum. Úlfur is very curious and human friendly, so it will be exciting to start training him in 2019.

Sólstafur, born 2017.

Sólstafur is the last foal of Orka. He is owned by Jóna’s husband, Siggi. His name is from the heavy metal band. Sólstafir, as they were playing in the nearby town the night he was born. The name fits very well as his blaze looks like a sunray (=sólstafur).

Sæstjarna, born 2008.

Sæstjarna is a small spirited mare with really soft trot and tölt. She is a sputnik horse for highly experienced riders. Sæstjarna is a daughter of Þóroddur frá Þóroddsstöðum, a famous icelandic stallion.

Frigg frá Fremra-Hálsi (born 1996) –> deceased

Frigg came to Skorrastaður in 2006. She was a first prize mare (total grade 8,11) and the mother of Blysfari frá Fremra-hálsi which did very well on Landsmót in 2011 with the grade of 8,49. Frigg gave birth to 11 foals in total in her lifetime. All her off-springs born in Skorrastaður are very promising, with a lot of power. Most of them seem to have inherited her speed in tölt.

2003 – Spaði frá Fremra-Hálsi (bread by Jón Benjamínsson) – Father Þristur frá Feti

2004 – Frá frá Fremra-Hálsi (bread by Jón Benjamínsson) – Father Gauti frá Reykjavík

2005 – Blysfari frá Fremra-Hálsi (bread by Jón Benjamínsson) – Father Arður frá Brautarholti

2007 – Skorri frá Skorrastað – Father Gári frá Auðsholtshjáleigu (deceased)

2008 – Sæstjarna frá Skorrastað – Father Þóroddur frá Þóroddsstöðum

2009 – Reikistjarna frá Skorrastað – Father Grásteinn frá Brekku, Fljótsdal

2010 – Hástjarna frá Skorrastað – Father Hágangur frá Narfastöðum

2011 – Perla frá Skorrastað – Father Markús frá Langholtsparti (deceased)

2014 – Sólar frá Skorrastað – Father Hágangur frá Narfastöðum

2015 – Skart frá Skorrastað – Father Þristur frá Feti

2016 – Gimsteinn frá Skorrastað – Father Magni frá Ósabakka

Reikistjarna, born 2009.

Reikistjarna is another word in Icelandic for planet. She is five-gated, but not much trained in pace. She is hard working and independent horse, which also means she sometimes does not want to be caught in the field. Her tölt is really good and soft, and she trots nicely as well. Her mother is Frigg frá Fremra-hálsi and father is Grásteinn frá Brekku.

Hástjarna, born 2010.

The third mare born from Frigg also received the star name, but this time with the prefix ‘’há’’ as her father name is Hágangur frá Narfastöðum. Additionally she grew up to her name, as ‘’há’’ also means tall in Icelandic: she is our tallest horse! Hástjarna is five-gated, but not much trained. She has very high temperament and therefor is only for a small selection of riders.

Sólar, born 2014.

As the forth foal born after the three stars (Sæstjarna, Reikistjarna and Hástjarna), he therefore got the galaxy-related name Sólar (sól = sun). He is the full sibling of Hástjarna, but not nearly as tall. He is more petite build, but has a lot of spirit. He is just at the beginning phase of training, and it’s exciting to see what kind of horse he will be.

Skart, born 2015.

Skart means jewel, and the name fits well as she has a small white spot on her back. She is owned by Sunna Júlía, Doddi and Thea’s youngest daughter, and will be in training this winter. She looks promising as a four-gaited mare, but is not tall.

Gimsteinn, born 2016.

Gimsteinn is the last off-spring from Frigg. Gimsteinn means gemstone. He is a very good friend of Úlfur, since they were brought up together.

Vindur, born 2014.

Vindur ‘’The wind’’ came from the north of Iceland where he was saved from slaughtering. He joined the Skorrahestar family when he was one year old and brought a new color to the heard: vindóttur (silver dapple). Vindur is four-gated, but it will take time to find his tölt – since he is just in the start of training.

Söngur, born 2017.

Söngur was born in northern part of Iceland, Skagafjörður – the mekka of Icelandic horses. Sunna was working on a farm there in the spring 2017. She was riding a mare for 2 months to get her into shape. Little did she know that the mare was pregnant and she had a foal the same day she left the farm. This foal she got as a bonus for her work, and now he’s a part of our family. Söngur means song, as his mother name is Aría.

Æsa, born 1994.

Æsa was owned by a cousin of Sunna Júlía. She came to the farm for one summer, and Sunna Júlía rode her a lot. The cousin gave her to Sunna Júlía last year, so now she’s a part of the family as well. In memory she has great tölt and good temper. It’s promising to see if she can be used by guest’s summer 2018.