Ragnar Tómasson - article

Dancing Tölters.
 
Why not chat about horses at this juncture!  As summer nears its end, the mind is filled with pleasant memories as well as disputes from the equestrian scene.  Memories are treasures which never end.  Fun days amongst great friends and great horses. The World Championship stands out, where I had a wonderful time.  On such occasions contentment is certainly within reach.
 
 Matters of dispute are of a different nature.  Many consist of the usual grumbles I try to ignore.  Others are at the heart of equestrian world.  A case in point is the classic discussion of Icelandic horses’ versatile talents.  When it comes to breeding, should a distinction be made between five-gaited horses, and four-gaited horses with tölt?  In my mind, Gýmir from Vindheimar represents the ideal.  An elegant “four-gaited horse with tölt,” flaunting flying pace as well.
 
 But I still await a superior stallion – with exceptional neck and shoulders – and exceptional tölt.  I have a few potentials in mind but won’t venture to tally.  I’m not fond of excessive speed on the track, where a tempered performance is rarely displayed.  For years now I’ve hoped for a stallion with just one talent exceeding others: that his offspring are natural tölters.  Horses which naturally shift the weight to their hind legs preventing the need to continually pull their neck up on tölt.
 
 A stunning example of a natural, dancing tölter is the champion from the last World Championship, Snarpur from Kjartansstaðir.  Everybody remembers Töfri from the same breeding farm as well as Laufi from Kollaleira, not to mention Hrímnir from Hrafnagil.  As for us of the older generation, we won’t forget Hlynur from Bringa, on which Eyjólfur Ísólfsson scored over 100 points in tölt, and Magnús Leopoldsson's Tígull from Holt.
 
 In breeding competitions, and even in sport competitions, we have witnessed master riders "flying" their horses into elevated scores, so to speak.  Twenty years ago, one of our more senior riders advised another that he should “ride like an American Indian” during a breeding competition.  In other words, he should ride swiftly and liberally through the program.  Even if riding has now become more sophisticated, velocity is still the name of the game.
 
 It’s great to be able to ride quickly from one place to another.  But when a horse simply flies by its destination, we do not desire award-winning velocity, where the mount plunges forward with its nose in the air.  We prefer a horse with a natural spring in its gaits, bouncing its mane as it dances on tölt.
 
 Ágúst, please assist us in finding a stallion whose offspring boast beautiful neck and shoulders, as well as the dancing tölt (with pace!!!).