IS2008258160 - Gríður frá Þúfum

Gríður has our favorite pedigree and favorite abilities. She is out of two honorary horses. The Lygna and Álfur-daughter Grýla frá Þúfum and Hróður frá Refsstöðum.

The start
First of all, everything went very well in all training. Gríður was so mild and friendly from the start, sensitive but calm and never afraid of anything. She was a favorite of Lea who rode her the first year. The walk was very large, trot and canter were straight away balanced and bouncy. She has this ability to keep good strides and suspension in slow as well as fast gaits.

The gaits
The trot has schwung, engagement and very good stride length. She always got 9 for trot. Gríður has this ability to go as fast as you want without trying to canter. That comes from Kolfinnur frá Kjarnholtum through Lygna, Álfur and Hróður. My feeling was that trot would be a 9,5 and I´m sure that would have come with more strength and endurance.

The very light and bouncy canter comes from Hróður. It is uphill and with good suspension. It is a very good ability to have, as a horse that canters well, develops good strength and carriage. It can be difficult for a horse to improve a weak canter because it puts a lot of strain on the horse, and they can do so little each day. Gríður had good engagement in collected canter which leads us to believe that it would be fun to develop it further. She got 9 for canter.

Gallop is outstanding, her power and ability to lift and strech forward like a cat is memorable. She was rewarded with 9.5!

Although she was easy to start in tölt, and the slow tölt was good straight away, it took some time to get the speed. We think it was from lack of strength. She has a very good back, a strong croup but lacked strength in the topline of the very supple neck to support it. Some horses lessen their movements and learn to go faster that way. Gríður always kept the large movements. And the quality of the tölt was always very good, it just took time. She also got 9 for tölt and slow tölt.

Deciding to breed
After a great FIZO evaluation when she was six, we thought about having her for competitions for a few years. She had everything a real four-gaiter needs. Would be fun to develop the canter even more since a lot of emphasis had been on the tölt. She then went along on a traditional Icelandic horse trip in the highlands. Never been ridden in a herd before we were very excited to see how she would handle it. And she was brilliant! One episode will never be forgotten. We were on the second day, and I was to ride her for the first time in the herd. We just stopped to grace the horses and put up some lines around them. I loosened the girth and took off the noseband so she could get a good rest. Suddenly everyone was ready to go but I had to roll up my line, so I was running a bit late. As I did that and put on the noseband again the horses started running and as we must do all the riders had to go with them. I had yet to tighten the girth as the last horses passed us. Not a good situation on a young unexperienced horse. But Gríður behaved like this was the most natural thing. To wait for me to tighten the girth and mount on a loose rein. I must say the breeding judges hit the nail straight on the head giving her 9,5 for spirit.
In a trip like this you really get to know the horse. The strength and temperament in demanding but natural surroundings. This is how the Icelandic horse was developed to be used. Bringing people safe and comfortable from one place to another. We should not forget that and lose this sort of basic abilities from the Icelandic horse breeding. After this experience and how she was on the trip under real circumstances we decided to put her to breeding. We had the information we needed.

Hopes and belives
The things we believe and hope Gríður will bring on to her offspring are a mild and good temperament. We think she will pass on lightness in movement, good engagement, schwung and stride length in all gaits, especially in the basic gaits. We believe she will breed good sports competition horses that everyone can ride. The things we will look for in stallions to match her will be a strong neck, and a broader chest. Temperament can be a little bit tougher, but we like mild and lightminded horses.