First, we have to orient ourselves to the very north of Iceland, in the fishing port of Dalvik.

 

It really is way up there, only 40 miles from the Arctic Circle!

And that is where the saga of Dagur begins.

First, Dagur is a horse. 

We have now met two of the guys and the horse — Stefán Friðgeirsson and the current owner of Dagur frá Strandarhöfði.  Stefán, by the way, goes by his nickname, Stebbi, (pronounced Steppy) and we will go along with that. 

But before we meet the third guy, let’s find out a little more about the horse, Dagur, from Gudny Gisladottir, a horse farmer.  

Elisa Klose has been working as a horse trainer in Iceland and has actually ridden Dagur.  

We have to go to the Hringur Riding Club on the outskirts of Dalvik, in the middle of nowhere, to meet the third guy in our saga.

And here we find Fridgeir Jonsson — with his horse, of course!  They are both tacked up, waiting for his son, Stebbi, to show up with Dagur so they can all go for a ride together. 

He takes a break in his cubby in the club’s stable.

 

Stebbi shows up with Dagur for the ride with Fridgeir on the club track.  By now, you will probably recognize the tolt, the signature gait of the Icelandic horse.  But if you are in doubt, try my trick: listen to the hoofs and if they beat out “Black and Decker Black and Decker” that’s a clean tolt.  

But you are in for a special treat.  Dagur is a five-gaited horse, famous for his Flying Pace.  I just knew that, without telling me, Stebbi would show it off for me.  Sure enough, Fridgeir heads back to the stable alone, but Stebbi stays out and turns into the track.  At exactly 6:00 minutes in, he puts Dagur into a gallop and then into a beautiful, relaxed, Flying Pace!  

I got a private show here!  He will soon show it off to the rest of the world…

Dagur and Stebbi have qualified for Landsmot, where the best horses and riders from all over Iceland compete every two years. It’s a big deal.  Bear in mind that there are a bit over 300,000 people in Iceland living among about 70,000 horses, so that makes the Landsmot a very big deal! 

The local clubs assemble for the grand procession.  In Iceland, even the Minister of Agriculture and the current Miss Universe (who happened to be Icelandic that year) demonstrate that they can ride horses.  

 

But something that caught my eye (or camera).  In with one of the horse clubs was a man carrying something on his back….

It was Fridgeir, zipping along with his club! But he was not carrying his lunch in the pack…

…it was his life, an oxygen tank to carry him through the two-hour trip over the mountains from Dalvik to Varmalhid in Skagafjordur.

This is the route.

He will do that every day that Stebbi and Dagur compete.  From Dalvik on the upper right to Varmalhid on the lower left. Through mountain passes on narrow roads.  Scenic but rugged.

And back!

 

 

 

Steppi and Dagur came in second place in the Pace Class finals. Not shabby at all when you consider that they were competing against the best horses and riders as well from the largest clubs in Iceland.  

As we know, Fridgeir can’t hang around; he has a long drive through the mountains. He says goodbye and straps on his oxygen.

 

Dagur’s performance becme the talk of the Icelandic horse world, but it took an American, Sarah to ask the question none of the native experts could answer. (Hint: it just might have something to do with silk underwear…  test your search skills!)

I had some issues with Iceland Air and could not attend the Islandsmot in person; I managed to download this video of Stebbi and Dagur in their final pace where they won first place. The rules for the landsmot and the Islandsmot are quite different. In the event that you are wonder how they are different, rather than send you off to Google for yourself, I am quoting from my from my friendly AI bit, Claude:

In Iceland, you can’t rest on your laurels for long.  You’ve got to get back to work.  

And here we see what Stebbi does for a living. And why I preserved the Dagur Saga.