Valkyrie Icelandic

01/21/2025

01/08/2025

Our next team member feature is Carrie Hill. Carrie first rode with the Knights of Iceland as a teenager and these performances have been special to her ever since. She oversees the organization and bookings of the Knights of Iceland shows as well as coordinating the practices. Carrie owns and operates in Kentucky - alongside her partner Terral. At Taktur, Carrie’s passion is training and education through workshops and clinics. She loves exploring new training philosophies and integrating them with Icelandic traditions. In the past several years she has focused on exploring liberty and bridleless riding and that has become a big part of her training philosophy. Carrie loves collaborating with other trainers especially the fellow Knights of Iceland rider Lala on their initiative. When not training horses Carrie enjoys spending time with her son Erik, our viking in training. ⚔️

01/07/2025

Knights of Iceland is a collaboration of working, professional Icelandic trainers and instructors that have designed, choreographed and presented theatrical shows since its origination with the Gudmar Petursson family in 1996. The sole purpose is to promote the Icelandic Horse and its rich heritage and culture, which is intertwined in Norse Mythology and Icelandic folklore. We do this through performances, demonstrations, lectures and appearances at large expos, gatherings and events. It is truly a labour of love and requires all of us to take unpaid time away from our busy schedules of daily training, teaching and managing our separate equestrian entities. So why do we do this? This week, our co-owners of Knights of Iceland, Lala Boosh of Valkyrie Icelandic and Carrie Lyons Brandt of Taktur Icelandic Horses, LLC will share with you exactly why these events are so important to devote their time to.

First up we have Lala of Valkyrie Icelandic. She is the Knights of Iceland Team Leader. Here is what she has to say about why The Knights of Iceland is so important to her;

“I saw the first version of Knights of Iceland in 1997 at Equitana USA in 1997. As a young girl I was absolutely mesmerised and little did I know this performance would change the course of my life forever. After the performance I went straight to Gudmar Peturssons family, begged them to let me try an Icelandic Horse and from that moment on, I became an Icelander. I helped Gudmar and his family start their business and run their farm in La Grange, Kentucky in 1999 and ended up moving to Iceland in 2000 and becoming the first American to attend and graduate from Hólar Agricultural University as an Icelandic trainer and riding instructor. I moved back to The USA in 2004 and started my own business, Valkyrie Icelandic in Nothern California where I built a thriving Icelandic community until 2022 when I moved to Duvall, Washington in the Pacific Northwest, where I reside now.

“These shows are so very important to me because I believe it’s a different way of connecting with and inspiring people. If I can influence one person in the audience and maybe plant that magic seed to learn about Icelandic culture, Norse Mythology and the Icelandic Horse, I know I have done my job. Seeing kids eyes light up when we meet them after our performances always makes me tear up because I see myself in them, all those years ago. It’s that honest, childlike wonder and curiosity that I think humanity really needs more of these days as well as connection and feeling you found something you really want to be a part of. It’s strange and wonderful magic! Of course, my other favourite aspect of these performances is gathering together with my colleagues from around the USA and Iceland. We get to spend an intense week together, practicing and preparing but also in that time, we discuss training ideas, help each other out in the stables and with each others horses and just get a heavy infusion of community, inspiration and collaboration when we all come together. It’s definitely my most favourite facet of my business and I wish we had the financial means to do it more often. “

01/03/2025

So excited for this show! 💥

It’s time to start introducing our team of horses and riders for the upcoming performance at the Ft. Worth Stock Show, January 24th!
Since I run the Knights social media, I’ll go ahead and start. My name is Laura Benson but everyone calls me Lala! I am the team leader and am responsible for music, costumes and choreography as well as handling all of our media and outreach.
I work in the greater Seattle area of the Pacific Northwest with my business where I specialize in education, promotion, breeding and sales with Icelandic horses.
When I am not training horses I perform, write and record music! I am so thrilled to be part of this super event and look forward to bringing Icelandic culture to Texas for the first time.

⚡️🤘🏾🔥🐴🎶

12/10/2024

Loving these winter afternoons at the stable and so grateful for our Reiðsokkar keeping us warm. ✨🤎✨ 📸 :

11/02/2024

We did it! Another one for the books, Y’all!

All we can say is… WOW! 2024 Fall Gamankeppni showed out with over 40 horse & rider combinations 🤩 for many in our community, this weekend set personal records.

For many - this weekend was their first time competing!

For some - this weekend was a return to the track after some time off.

For all - this weekend was unforgettable,
filled with new & familiar faces,
and of course,
incredible horses. 🐴

THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered their time, energy and resources to make this event happen. The generosity and camaraderie of this community is truly special. Cheers to many more Gamankeppnis! 🍻

11/01/2024

✨🖤✨

Congratulations to Dynjandi frá Dalvík and his owners Will and Ásta Covert on the awarding of the first ever Diamond level Lifetime Achievement Medals in Four Gait and Tolt (T1). Dynjandi and his rider Ásta represented the United States beautifully in both national and international level competition, including but certainly not limited to, earning a silver medal in Four Gait Combination and a bronze in Tolt T1 at the 2009 World Championships and topping the World Ranking list in 2012 in T1.

In order to earn a Diamond level USIHC Lifetime Achievement Award, a rider or horse must have earned a score above 7.5 in a particular discipline at least 6 times. Dynjandi went far beyond this in his career, earning scores of up to 9.0 in T1.

A big congratulations to Dynjandi, Ásta and Will on this spectacular achievement.

Interested in learning more about the Lifetime Achievement Medal program and finding out if you or your horse may have earned one? Visit www.icelandics.org/lifetime-achievement-medals

10/18/2024

PRE-SHOW LESSONS + Virtual Show Filming with our team of trainers 💪🏻💥

On Monday & Tuesday:
➡️ Let us be apart of your warm up process, help you film, and help you publish your video for the virtual show! Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxwE10xu7pdh8k6-pQKfi5M13mOEQJJ-UTr3hV2g0hQjGQCQ/viewform

All week long, sign up for private pre-show lessons at the track or in the Taktur arena. Our goal is to support you through the entire process of competing. Whether you are a seasoned competitive rider or a newbie, we are here to help! Visit this page to contact the trainer you you’d like to work with: https://taktur.horse/fall-ranked-show

🐴🍻 7 DAYS TIL GAMANKEPPNI! 🍻🐴

10/13/2024

These two 🧡🏵️💛 Rósa & Liv in their lesson this weekend.

10/11/2024

After a very enlightening week of training with Team trainer, Olil Amble, we decided we needed to change up our goals for the show so that they aligned more with what we were building on during our lessons.

Since we were working on connection in walk and tölt, we decided that loose-rein tölt would be the best option to put to use what we had trained during the week and save Five-Gait for the upcoming Kentucky show.

Even though we didn’t get to practice the loose-rein test ahead of the competition, we got to put our new skills to task in the moment and explore them on the oval track. It was so much fun and Lykill really astonished me with his response and results.

I’m looking forward to cultivating this feeling more with him. Thank you to Carrie and Terral of Taktur Icelandic Horses as always, for helping me on my journey with my dragon. 🐉🧡

📸 :

10/09/2024

10/09/2024

We will see you there!

10/07/2024

We had such an incredible week of learning and competing with our national team. 🇺🇸 More photos and stories to come. Thank you, Lykill, for being my partner 🌟🐲🌟 📸:

10/07/2024

When your sister and your bestie have the best pace horses in all the land 🤩🚀

10/07/2024

Head Valkyrie, Lala explaining some of the special parts of training Icelandic horses.

09/27/2024

Who’s ready for the Week in Paradise at ? 🤩 Lala will be offering lessons and coaching throughout the week whether it’s for showing or just basic riding and horsemanship. if you are interested, contact us: [email protected] . We cannot wait to see you all there! 🌞🌾🐴🏆🎉 P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for Team Fourgait!! photo by: