HESTAR RANCH
A Little about each Horse
I have bred 11 horses from my precious breeding mares Elding, Blue and Frá, and then one in second generation from Héla.
In my breeding choices, I was always looking at the bloodlines and mainly decided for Kolkuos horses.
It is important to match conformation, temperament and spirit between the stallion and the mare.
My main goal was to breed good trail horses with lots of spirit and quite some natural gait for intermediate to advanced riders. I looked for off spring with all five gaits, and bred my mares only to 5-gaited and/or naturally tolting stallions that have some pace as well. All horses in my breeding program are linebred and trace their lines not far back to very famous and well known horses in or from Iceland.
Below are the horses that are here at the ranch, and maybe some of them are for sale, but only to proper equine homes that can offer lots of love, a nice barn, a big paddock and pasture. They all are very beloved family members and will only go to a new place that I feel is well worthy of them and the new rider is a very good match.
Elding "Lingling"
Elding vom Dissenhof DE199220981
She is a typical Pace Racer Lady, well
5-gaited, size: 140 cm breeding mare, with
5 well separated gaits and nice leg action. She has tolt in a good speed range and great flying pace, her bloodlines are out of mainly Kolkuos horses, Hrafn v Holtsmula and Vördur v Kyrholti mixt with Sörli v Saudarkroki. She got several prizes back home for Flying Pace Racing (incl. Swiss National Championship) and 5-Gait Competition in Switzerland. There she is well known for her qualities in willingness and speed. She had 7 offspring and is my heart horse❤️, my big Love of this life.
FEIF Assessment Certificate: Spirit 8, General Impression 8, Tölt 7.5, Slow Tölt 8, Pace 8, Gallop 8, Canter 7.5, Trot 7, Walk 8.5
Bláma "Blue"
Bláma from Schmalztopf US1996203342
I call her Blue. Blue is a Kolkuos Bloodline breeding mare as well, Hrafn fra Kroggolfsstodum, Hördur fra Kolkuosi, Hrafn fra Holtsmula. She is very elegant, good size 141 cm, 4-gaited breeding mare with big and powerful movements. She is 26 years old now, had 5 offspring and is still a very beautiful Lady, has excellent conformation, she is especially beautiful in movement. She is all in white now. For me she is easy to ride, but has not been ridden much in her life, she has always had a baby on her side since I have had her and she did not have a lot of training when I got her. Blue is the best girl-friend of Elding 💕, and she will stay here. Her remaining off-spring is available, Hára is ready to go.
Fífill "Fifi"
Fifill fra Holmahjaleigu IS1996184403
He is a older gelding now and has the size and look of a horse, he is 151 cm. He is the tallest/biggest one we could find in Iceland, and he once was meant to be for my ex-men because he wanted a horse and not a pony! He has natural tölt with nice speed and his pace is not trained and not fast. I would call him a natural tolter. His trot is smooth too, but tölt is his very best gait. He is well trained for trail rides, including neck raining. He is very good at ponying younger horses, and he likes to do that. He is an *easy to ride horse* and is good for any guest or helper that is not the best rider yet, and wants to learn and improve skills. He is a very good teacher and I like to have him for riding lessons with my helpers and students. Therefore I like him a lot and he will stay here for the rest of his life.
Eylimi
Eylimi from Hestar Ranch US2006103335
He is the sire of Hreindýr (2009), Eldfrá and Elja (2010). He is an elegant 5-gaited horse with five well-separated gaits and wonderful fluid movements.
He is a smaller 13,5 h, smart and talented horse, and I want him to have the opportunity to continue to show this. He is very much a gentleman, but still plays the protective role of a studhorse, taking very good care of the mares and younger boys while they are out on pasture. He keeps them all together, especially if there is a potential danger or if the mares are in heat and near the fence line, as there are wild horse herds bordering our property. So, he has an important job to do here, besides being my main riding horse. He is not for sale.
Skrugga
Skrugga from Hestar Ranch US2006203722 She is a 5-gaited black pinto mare with lots and lots of spirit and speed! She is a daughter of Elding and Smari in 2006. She is showing all five gaits with good speed on pasture and under the saddle too. She did not have to learn to tölt and pace, she has just done it in a nice speed range from the first day I went on the trails with her. She is very athletic and extremely powerful and energetic. Skrugga has a lot of potential and also enormous strength for a mare. She has very good speed in all gaits and is always very enthusiastic, but also sometimes hard headed😁.
Her excellent talent in gaiting, her very good size, strong body and her pretty color would make her a quality breeding horse. It is possible to order a off-spring from her. She is now my long distance riding horse.
Hára
Hára from Hestar Ranch US2007203599
She is a 5-gaited daughter of Bláma and Hördur in 2007. She is very attractive and she shows all five gaits on pasture and under saddle. She has some natural tölt from Hördur and her trot is good too. She is pretty strong and tall 13 3/4h, but has fine built legs, a good size mare and also a very good looking lady with nice conformation that could be used for breeding. Under saddle she is great forward and does the four gaits, pace is not trained, she is more like a tölt-horse. She likes to go on the trails, is enthusiastic and very good forward, but her rider needs to be experienced and have a very fine hand, because she is sensitive in her reactions. I ride her on trails and she is coming along with her tölt nicely now. She needs a confident rider though, because she has quite some go! 😅
Hreindýr
Hreindýr from Hestar Ranch US2008103906 He is a 5-gaited son of Héla and Eylimi from Hestar Ranch. Like his parents, his gaits are well-separated. He is very stout and strongly built 13,5h , and can easily carry a man who is not tall and/or too heavy. He still loves to play in the herd, especially with his father, Huni and with Hára. He is a strong and nice looking Icelandic and a good ranch horse. He has quite some speed already in walk, he also learned to "stay with me", he follows me in freestyle without a lead, and he is getting more gait training under saddle this year. I rode him mostly in a side pull but also he is doing fine with the bit, but needs an experienced hand, since he is very energetic and forward. He will get just a bit more training on the trails, especially with tölt and faster gaits. He likes to lead, as he has very good go under saddle. He needs a confident rider and is ready for a new home that has at least one other Icelandic gelding, as play is always very important to a gelding like him!
Huni
Hunar from Hestar Ranch US2008103907
I call him Huni. He is born in 2008, 5-gaited son of Elding and Hördur. He shows all 5 gaits on pasture with lots of natural tölt and some pace. He has long legs and is good-sized, about 14 hands. He is growing into a wonderful, quality trail and ranch horse with lots of easy tölt. He has some pace but will not be trained now. He is very handsome and loves to hang out with me or other friendly people, but also loves to goof around, run and play with Hreindýr and the herd. He has been ridden on the trail in all four gaits, but needs more miles for being sold, and tölt training is on the list for him as well. He will tölt in a side-pull now for a short time. He is not for sale at the moment, as I will likely train him more and then he also can be a guest trail-riding horse.
Eldfrá "Fraueli"
Eldfrá from Hestar Ranch US2010204270
She is a very pretty and talented 5-gaited mare out of Elding and Eylimi, born in 2010. She has a good temperament, 13 3/4 h size, and nice conformation. She is much like her mother Elding, and will step into her mother's place, as Elding is getting older now. She has great potential in all 5 gaits and will be an athletic, sensitive trail horse for an experienced rider. She will also make a lovely broodmare. She has had a difficult time in her first two years, as she was attacked from wildlife twice while on pasture, once by a mountain lion and once by a bear. She is fine now, but her scars are still there and some trauma as well. She will stay here and will not be sold. I did not ride her yet since she has two broken ribcages that will not grow together.
Gjafar
Gjafar from Schmalztopf US1993103326
He is an old 3-4-gaited gelding with expressive gaits, but not much tölt. He is more likely 3-gaited. He has a big walk, very nice trot and good 3-beat gallop. He strides out and is fast in all 3 basic gaits. He is now 30 years old in spring, but is still a good trail horse, walking faster than most big horses and preferring to lead. He is a wonderful caretaker to the mares and younger horses, and he still likes to play with the youngsters, more than any other gelding. He was a studhorse for many years, and he always tells me when a mare comes into heat! He likes all horses, and kids, too. He is actually retired except for very light riders, and what he choses to do on his own will.
Fagri Blakkur
Fagri Blakkur from Schmalztopf US2003103325
His name means Beautiful Black Boy, and this is really what he is. He is a very sensitive and talented 4-gaited gelding. He has a great range of speed and likes to please, but he also can get afraid of new things. Fagri needs a very sensitive and experienced, confident rider with a fine hand who can bring out the best in him. He is absolutely perfect for ponying as a hand horse too, and I think he could be a pack horse as well, especially next to Fifill--he loves Fifill and feels safe next to him. Watch us in the ranch movie! I ponied him a lot before riding him so that he could learn to trust and get to know the trails before riding out. He is not from my breeding, and he was not handled for his first 3 years, what left him feeling a bit insecure riding out alone. Unfortunately USIHC has cancelled his registration, as his previous owner did not take care of his mother's import paperwork and it has now been lost.
People ask me if I really would sell some of my Icelandic horses
Yes, there are a few for sale. There are some that I am way too attached to sell; those will stay here with me. However, I will sell my horses only to proper equine homes, and the most important thing is this: I have to feel that the horses are really happy with their new owners and will be loved and very well cared for, similar as I do. Not ridden by too heavy people, and that they are a great match for their new rider. My horses are my best friends and family members, and they will only go to homes that I feel are worthy of them, and to people that are knowledgeable with equines and will care for and play with them in order to keep them happy and in shape.
I would prefer that at least two horses could go together to a new place.
Horses are such family-oriented animals, that it would be very hard on one horse to leave this herd all by itself.
So, I will smile & close one eye and offer a good package-herd price for the buyer who purchases more than one horse and promises to keep them forever or give them back to me if their situation changes and they can no longer keep the horses.
We never know what life will give us!
I will always take back any horse that I did sell, if the new owner is not happy with the horse,
or is not able to keep it. I do not want any of my horses go from one owner to the next...and the next!
I like to have each horse to be back home, if their trip into the world did not work out well.