Iceland, New York, Anchorage January, 3 2009
Five or six years ago, I was visiting Agust Sigurdsson, the chief breeding advisor for Iceland. We were talking about how a person could go about improving his herd of horses. Agust is a practical guy. He, along with a brother, owned the farm well known for producing the highest rated mare to date in Iceland, Rauðetta fra Kirkubæ. He holds a PhD from the University of Sweden. He speaks good English. He is a family man who loves more than anything to ride horses with his kids. My question for him was, How do you go about improving your horses without just starting over with better ones.

He had some interesting comments that I’ll share. First, he said, many folk think that the stallion is the secret to herd improvement. There only half right. The best stallions in Iceland are usually bred to the best mares because the owners want their stallions to produce well. When these stallions produce great young their popularity continues and their stud fees continue to roll in. When the best can charge $5000.00 for a stud fee and have a waiting list of mares, they can produce great horses. You could buy one of these stallions for hundreds of thousands of dollars or you could buy a nice first prize mare and breed her to one or several of these stallions. The cost of first prize mares will go up but will not compare with these stallions because they only produce one foal a year. You figure the costs.

It didn’t take long to understand Agust’s logic. I began to look for a first prize mare that I wanted and could afford. It wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. I traveled Iceland for a couple weeks and found a lot of fine mares, but few were for sale at any price. My timing was wrong. It was a Landsmot year, and most owners wanted to tryout for the big show and then sell afterwards when their horse scored high and was worth more. I wanted to buy before the show based upon my own evaluation and get a price I could afford.

I literally looked at over 200 mares. Many of them, great horses, but for some reason or another I really didn’t like them that much. I was looking for an average size Icelandic with lots of power and nice character. I’d heard of two at Flugumyri that I should check out. I was accompanied to Flugumyri by Laura Benson. She had worked there the year before and knew these horses well. She also had ridden with me and knew what I liked. I tried them both and there was no doubt that the mare Prinsessa was my first choice.

The Palli Palsson family was full-time into breeding, competing and selling horses. The problem with Prinsessa was that she was their family horse. Their girls had ridden her often and really didn’t want to see her go. But being realists they knew she needed to move on sometime. It would be good if she could stay for a few more years and have some foals there. A price was determined and a schedule set up for breeding. Stallions were chosen and I went home much poorer, but happy.

Each year I returned to Iceland and visited Prinsessa and her new foal. It is a credit to her breeders and trainers that she is such a fine horse. That first summer I visited her in a meadow in the South of Iceland. Her new foal Rauðhetta (red flame) circled us while I took some pictures. Her father is Þokki frá Kýrholti. Adam frá Ásmundarstöðum, the father of the next foal approached me from behind while I focused my camera on Rauðhetta. Gently he put his nose on my shoulder. I met his offspring, Njáll, a black colt, named after a saga character who was known as a peacemaker but died when his house was set on fire, in Prinsessa´s home pasture at Flugumýri. The third foal also a colt was named Farandi, the traveler, because he had so far to go as a youngster. His father is Þóroddur frá Þóroddsstöðum. Each year I could go into her pasture and she would allow me, a total stranger, to catch her, pet her and hang out with the new foal. The other mares would keep their distance, but she would always come to me or stand still while I came to her. She was always the same steady mare.

My plan had been to breed her four years in a row and then aim for the narrow window of time when the third foal was three months old and she was less than three months pregnant. Icelandic law required that a foal be at least three months old before shipping out of the country and that mares over three months pregnant not be shipped. Four horses would fill one shipping container, so I wouldn’t be paying for an empty space, nor would I have to wait around for another horse to fill the space and miss the special time slot.

The day came Sept. 21, 2007. I got a message the horses were airborne for New York. Jeannette and I had left Anchorage about a week earlier for the rendezvous. We had planned to pick up a new trailer in Winnipeg, but just before leaving we learned that it wasn’t ready but that a loaner had been arranged. On the trip East we visited a childhood friend of Jeannette in Saskatchewan. In Winnipeg we hooked up the loaner trailer and headed for the U.S. border an hour South. This 60 miles of road was the roughest road so far from Anchorage. The trailer bumped along and each tar repair jerked the truck back. I was beginning to wonder if the new goose neck hitch could take the strain. At one point I called the owner on the cell phone and asked for suggestions. He thought the tire pressure may have been to high. Lowering it 10 psi helped but not much.

Once across the border into the U.S., the road was better but the ride was still not good enough to make us comfortable. When the familiar orange sign of a Home Depot appeared along the road a solution came to mind. Forty-five minutes and a thousand pounds of sand heavier we were on our way with a smoother ride. The trailer had been designed to haul four large hunter jumper horses at 1200 - 1500 pounds each. Without the load the springs were not working. The whole trailer skipped the bumps in the road and jerked the truck back. With a partial load the springs began to compress against the bumps and everything smoothed out.

A little farther down into Wisconsin, we saw a Tractor Supply Store, the store advertised by John Lyons. We stopped to see what they carried. Another thousand pounds of rubber mats and we had a really good ride. It was still three more days to New York and we didn’t need any more back lashes.

There was a breeding evaluation scheduled for the 22nd and 23rd at Mill Farm a couple hours North of the city. We saw some great horses there and a lot of friends. Our horses could be picked up Monday the 24th We joined several other horse trailers at the Quarantine station at Newburg. Each of us had our paperwork in hand and waited patiently as each others’ horses were brought across the no man’s land to their ride. Many of the horses were young and needed a little assistance to get aboard their trailers. The U.S. Equestrian team transporter was there too. The team horses were arriving from Argentina. I was really happy to have Icelandics. They were much better travelers.

When we checked out we learned that since our horses were from Iceland they hadn’t been checked for Equine Infectious Anemia. It wasn’t required to do so since they were coming from a country free of the disease to the U.S. This was a problem to us because we were headed through Canada, which required the EIA negative paperwork. It took three days to get the blood drawn and the tests completed. A drive to Long Island with the help of Map Quest saved another day.

We were fortunate to have an assistant along. Palli’s son Siggi came with us for the trip across the U.S. and Canada. He had never been away from Iceland before and really wanted to see a new country. He was very helpful taking care of the horses and interested in everything along the way. To have such a wonderful teen age boy with us was delightful. He told us the history of their farm and of our horses. We enjoyed his stories of riding competitions and the details of his favorite horses.

Siggi was the subject of interest when we crossed into Canada. It was good we had a note from Iceland giving him permission for the trip. The customs official took our envelope with all the horse paperwork, EIA test, import papers, international health certificates and then gave it back to us unopened.

Over the years traveling long distances with horses we have developed a system that seems to work well. We recognize that they will eat while moving but would rather wait to drink when stopped. When given the chance, they like to face backwards and brace themselves against something solid when the road is bumpy. To allow the horses to find their own balance, it works best to have them loose in small areas, two to a “stall.” A stop every two hours gives them a chance to drink and us a change of drivers. Once a day we would stop, and if conditions were deemed safe, take the horses out and tie them to the trailer while we mucked out the inside. We purchased a small portable fence for the mare and foal because we didn’t want to risk tying him. The one and two year old tied fine.

It’s about 5000 miles from New York to Anchorage. It takes about 10 days with no delays. Our concern was the ability for the horses to drink. When it begins to freeze, the water may not be available from the various gas stations along the way. When the water in the buckets freezes, the horses can’t drink. If they can’t drink, then after awhile they stop eating. If they don’t eat and it’s cold, they loose core body temperature and it’s all down hill from there.

We feared prolonged freezing temperatures. Another fear was exposure to disease. While the horses were healthy they were not vaccinated against the typical diseases in our country. Before we left home for NY, we consulted with our veterinarian about what to do. She advised that either we could vaccinate when they were turned over to us or when they arrived at home. Either way came with risks. Vaccination temporarily compromises their resistance. Combining vaccination with the stress of travel could lead to disease. The effectiveness of the vaccine would begin about two weeks after the shots were given. We decided to not vaccinate until we were home.

To further protect the horses we decided to keep them in the trailer unless there was a place that had been free from other horses for several weeks. They were allowed out overnight at Mill Farm in NY, Winterhorse Park in Wisconsin and at Brett Arnassons in Winnipeg. One of the great things about long distance trailering with horses is the effect it has on them. After awhile they look at the trailer as a source of protection, a friend instead of a foe. When we stopped at a vacant camp ground for a driver change just out of Watson Lake. We let the 3 month old run loose. He discovered the nuisance of trees in his way. The older ones were walked and then tied to the trailer during the mucking. They were given long enough ropes to be able to eat hay off the ground. When they were finished they tried to get back in the trailer themselves.

Freezing temperatures didn’t catch up with us until we left Destruction Bay. It was snowing in the morning, the road was slippery. Were we to wait for better conditions or move on? We were all alone on the road and moving slowly not knowing if conditions would get worse or not. In a few miles the snow stopped and the road improved.

At the border the custom officials were concerned about a receipt for a hay cutter I had purchased in Wisconsin. They looked briefly at the horse paperwork and acknowledged that Siggi was with us.

The highway was mostly bare from the border to Wasilla with some snow along the edges. We were home at last after years in the planning and nearly a month on the road.
Initially the horses were put together in our training arena. This would keep them away from the others until their vaccinations took effect.

We left the “family” together for another two months, but moved them closer to the main herd separated by a double fence with a ten foot separation. Sheep provide entertainment between the horse paddocks. Now that the youngest foal, Farandi, is 6 months old, he and his sister Rauðetta, have been moved into the main herd. There was no separation anxiety. The new two are finding their positions in the herd. Their introduction piqued the personalities and movements of each horse, old and new.

Prinsessa and Njáll remain together for now. The arrangement provides mutual companionship and a safe place for an adolescent colt. Every day I make sure one feeding is during the day light so I can check each horse for condition, their fences and water. I’m starting to lift their feet in preparation for trimming later this Winter. Each day I note minor changes in their attitudes and physical characteristics. What will they turn out to be? For four years in a row, I’ll have a new horse to start. Clues are coming in but the puzzle is far from complete. The adventure continues. Return to Bernie's Photos