The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2007, Blaðsíða 26

24
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #1
became friends almost immediately. We
were the same age, both of us came from
small Icelandic communities, both of us
had recently lost fathers, and most of all we
both loved horses. Joe played polo and I
rode for pleasure. It wasn't long before we
figured out a way to get horses to
Manitoba, put on a demonstration and
establish horses in Manitoba permanently.
During the winter of 1987 - 1988 we
contacted as many of the business associ-
ates and friends as we could and tried to
raise enthusiasm for our plan. Manitoba is
home to more citizens of Icelandic descent
that any other place in the world. Our sales
pitch was simple. With so many “Western
Icelanders” in Manitoba we explained that
there should be Icelandic Horses and with
their help we would see to it that the situa-
tion would be corrected. We formed a syn-
dicate of 20 members requiring an invest-
ment of $2,500.00 per investor. In return
for the investment we would purchase a
number of mares in foal and a young stal-
lion.
We would bring them to Manitoba and
for the next few years we would raise foals.
Annually, after weaning, we would draw
names out a hat and for each share in the
syndicate one weanling foal would be
delivered. We collected $50,000.00 in short
order and received requests from a number
of individuals that wanted horses of their
own. Momentum really picked up and we
were starting to have some fun. The mares
and stallion would establish a permanent
legacy and the individually owned horses
could provide us with the talent for the
horse show at the Icelandic Festival. Joe
and I made arrangements to travel to
Iceland in August of 1988 to look for hors-
es and somehow complete the project. We
received great support with our travel plans
from the corporate community with our
travel plans. Air Canada gave us passes to
New York and Icelandair looked after the
air fare from New York to Keflavik. Viking
Travel of Gimli, Manitoba provided us
with seats on the return portion direct from
Keflavik to Winnipeg.
Four of us took the trip and it proved
to be an exciting time. Joe took along his
mother Helga and I took along my mother
Marie. At this stage of the game Joe and I
were enjoying the adventure but neither
one of us were convinced that Icelandic
Horses could replace what we already had.
Joe plays polo and had four polo ponies.
He is fairly tall and was concerned that
they would be too small for him and I was
still doubtful about their ability to handle a
grown man.
On the way from Winnipeg to New
York we ended up on the same plane as
Ron Sigurdson. Ron became involved
immediately and now owns over 20
Icelandics.
We had no itinerary planned so we
rented a Subaru and headed out in search of
horses and horse owners who could get us
on the right track. For the next ten days we
listened and learned and rode a few horses.
Every day we tried something new and met
an assortment of horse owners and breed-
ers. We really didn't know what we were
looking for. One of our first contacts in
Reykavik was Sigurbjorn Bardarson -
Diddi. He was very helpful.
Day 5 brought us to Akureyi where we
would stay with friends that had visited us
in Canada a few years earlier. We respond-