Doesn‘t everyone remember this one? Huginn frá Kjartansstöðum

A virile champion lives a good life at a beautiful ranch in the north part of Germany and as can be seen in the attacheced photos he is also a very kind horse…..

He still has many loving friends here who think fondly of him as he has made his mark in their lives during his successul carreer.   
It made no difference what tournament he competed in – he always had a go at the winning place. He competed in A and B class at gæðinga tournaments and he managed to win both. He was a multiple winner in tölt competitions. Then he took a flying pace sprint and won the gæðinga pace events. He became the Icelandic champion in five gaits – went to Switzerland in 1995 and became the world champion in the five gaits as well as becoming the aggregated world champion. His rider was Sigurður Vignir Matthíasson, and at that time Sigurður was only 19 years old and understandably he is very fond of Huginn frá Kjartansstöðum.
 
„Me and my dad were travelling around the south part of the country and made a stop at Kjartansstaðir in order to buy the horse Trostan. We also saw his brother, they had the same mother, in the stable and there was some discussion buying both of them together. And this is how I became the owner of Huginn, when he was 13 years old.

During these years, horses 10 years old or more, were considered too old to buy. Although people look at those things differently today, horses at that age have a good future if they are cared for in a proper manner. But people thought it was a little strange to buy an old horse like this – because they thought that Huginn‘s time to compete was over. I trained him that winter, following the advice from Þorvaldur on how he approached the horse and I added some of my ideas into the training.“  The victorious Huginn had yet to reach the peak of his carreer – because only a year later the two of them were on the front cover of Eiðfaxi, being double world champion winners.

Þorvaldur Sveinsson was the breeder of Huginn as well as his trainer for the first 12 years of his life:
„I led Terna my mare to Náttfari frá Ytra-Dalsgerði and their offspring was Stígur, born in 1980. I had such a good feeling about him that only one year later, I took Terna again to Náttfari.  Sigurbjörn Eiríksson the owner of Náttfari, liked the foal Stígur so much that he said that he would give me the stud fee, on the condition that this would in return attract more attention to Náttfari. This is when Huginn was conceived“ says Þorvaldur and undeniably it can be confirmed that these brothers are a great testimony to their father.
 
„To us, here at Kjartansstaðir, Huginn is very memorable, both his personality and of course his talents. He was an examplary horse.  For example a total of three times Huginn won the Grand South tournament: At first it was in the A-class which he won two times and then the B-class as well as the tölt competition of the same tournament. As a leisure riding horse he was extremely fun to ride, very roomy tölt horse as well as his trot and like most of Terna´s offspring his gaits were so soft that one was sitting softly without moving in the saddle.“
 
Sigurður agrees with the breeder:
„Huginn is an unbelieveble horse. He has an amazing character and I often think about him. Each  riding tour was wonderful and it was always fun to work with him. He was sometimes very proud and also very spirited but always very manageable. He was always ready to do his best to whatever he was asked to do. His gaits are fantastic and equlally good. Fantastic and good pace. It was magnificent for me to get to know a horse like this at such a young age and our time together is a valuable experience for me. Together we were winners of some Icelandic titles, gæðinga titles and of course the world champion titles.“

In the year 1995 Sigurður and Huginn were in the Icelandic national team as substitutes after a considerable long time. This was a great fortune for the team and fantastic experience for the young rider.
 
In 1995 Eiðfaxi reporter interviewed him before the finals in five gaits:
 
At the age of 19 he was a world champion in two events
Sigurður Matthíasson who was participating in his second world championship tournament, only nineteen years of age, reached the fantastic achievement of being the aggregated winner of the tournament. The aggregated winner, when points are added up, is normally considered the winner of the tournament, although for us Icelanders,  the popular tölt tropy is more dear to us, probably because of the fact that we have seldom been able to win it back to Iceland.
 
– Now that it is clear that you have won your first world championship title, how does it feel?

„The feeling is very good espacially as I have had enough time to prepare myself for the finals and the horse will be fresh and well prepared. These are the only finals I have to participate in today, Sunday, which is a great relief. “
– Doesn´t it disturbe you, knowing that you will be riding in front of ten thousand spectators and receive the main prize of the tournament later on today?
„No, I try not to think about that, and rather concentrate on the task of the day and hope that the stomac pain comes at that time.“

– Has this tournament been a more difficult one than the one in Holland?
„Yes, in many respects. It is different to be riding a five gated horse than it is a four gaited one and the conflict about the rider with the highest score was a part of that and had become quite futile, so it was a great feeling when I got the sufficient timing in the last sprint. At that time my buddies in the team assisted me to set the horse up in a correct manner and then I managed to complete the rest.

It will also be difficult to contend with Karly Zingsheim in the finals afterwards, because he has a very good horse, which both the spectators and the judges adore, but we will do our best and then we will see what the situation is like when it draws closer to the end. But he certainly is a worthy opponent,“

It became clear in the final sprint that Sigurður won his opponent with elegance by winning the five gaits.
 
Eiðfaxi got Sigurður to review this memorable experience:
 
„Of course we had heard about Karly Zingsheim and his unconquerable gæðingur, Feykir frá Rinscheid. This is a fantastic horse and Karly used such a technique when getting the horse to pace and slow down. I looked at him as a worthy opponent. I decided to have a go at the aggregated winning seat and therefore registered Huginn into the race, but at that time he had never competed in such a competition. He went into the starting stall for the first time and perhaps it did not come as a surprice when he ran off on a disunited canter for the first three attempts.“
 
The team members did not like the idea of tiring the horse out before the finals in five gaits but Siggi still did not want me to stop. „I was so sure of the fact that we could do this. In the fourth sprint I knew that he started off to the correct canter. He was so intensely technical and secure coming down to pace and therefore I let him run fast and at the first tug, exactly at the line, he goes down and charges on the track on a pace with great timing. This was suficcient and the gold was mine and this was like being injected with multiple dose of vitamins for the fight in the five gait finals. There had been so much talk about Karly and Feykir and they seemed to have all the tailwind. But I went boastful into the finals and as always, Huginn was quite self assured. This was great fun.“
 
Sigurður says that there is no doubht about the fact that Huginn would be among the foremost gæðingar of the country today, if he was at his best. „He would definately be among the leading ones, winning five gaits at tournaments and A-class in the gæðinga tournaments.“
 
After the victory at the World Championship many wanted to buy Huginn. „I was lucky enough to be able to choose a home for him, which was very important to me, as I was not ready to let him go just anywhere. I was quite relieved when August Beyer and his daughter bought him, I know him and also knew that he would be going to a great home. I could not think of a better home for the horse. I understand that a young girl has been giving him a lot of attention and indulgence. So he has always been taken well care of and pampered with. He really deserves that“ Siggi says calmly.
 
During the past years Huginn has cheered and tought the children in the Margot  Großfeld riding school and undoubtedly the childern are facinated to have the opportunity to learn from the world champion himself. „Huginn is one of the best horses we ever owned, in character and in gates. He is the only four-gated horse with real good pace. Simply a real Gaedingur.“
Says Susanne George, one of the owners of Huginn who also sent us these photos of Huginn which were taken last week.
 
On a regular basis, Susanne and August bring news of Huginn to his friends, although Sigurður has not visited him for a long time. When reading storys of his fantastic track record he got the great idea that the chief would be a great guest of honor at the WC in Berlin in 2013!

The world champions Huginn and Sigurður charge through the course in Switzerland in 1995. Photo
/Eiðfaxi