Ambassador Horses: A Legacy
While we love and appreciate all of our horses, there are always some that seem to attach themselves deeper into our hearts. Some are true "hooves on" ambassadors who have carried countless riders for their first joyful rounds of tölt; others have just been done everything go anywhere horses or are just characters with unforgettable horse personalities. The following horses are a few of those amazing horses that remind us why we fell in love with this breed in the first place.
Borkur fra Alfholar | Valur fra Gamla Hraun | Skrekkur fra Vindheimar |
Valur fra Kufholi | Lettir fra Ey | Fraendi fra Buth | Sleipnir fra Lysuhol
Valur fra Gamla Hraun
1970-2002
aka Christine’s Valur and Valur the Wonderhorse
[Note! See more photos in gallery below.]
Valur was Christine's first horse. They met in Germany, just days after he was imported from Iceland at age 5. Little did he know that he would end up with only a handful of days off during his first 3 years with her until she went for her first trip to Canada and he got a well deserved break. Valur had to do it all, trail rides, jumping, weeklong trekking, packing and driving. He tired his best to keep her humble, taking off quite frequently with no brakes in site.
In 1981 Valur followed Christine to Canada where his career as "wonderhorse" took shape. His exceptional jumping skills (he would jump over 4 feet and more than his own height) made him a great candidate for three Challenge of the Breeds competitions where each breed was represented by one horse who had to compete in Western and English Pleasure, Trail Class, barrel Racing, Obstacle Driving and a Jumping course. He won the jumping and placed well in the competitions, but most importantly he was always the crowd's favourite with his freshly washed white coat. Being the only pony and the horse that seemed to have a blast in the ring made everybody cheer for the underdog. Valur jumped over fire in the demonstrations and plain old "did it all".
In his later years he became a patient teacher for young Mandy who learned to jump with him and stand on his back while he made his trot just a little bit smoother for her. His forward nature, and tight turns made sure she paid attention every moment.
Valur’s retirement years were spent with his best friend Borkur lounging in the retiree paddock. He enjoyed special meals and daily belly rubs; his favourite.
He left us to check out horsey heaven at the age of 32 and he keeps looking down on us making sure everybody is behaving themselves.
