Croeso i Tresais!
Solva
Icelandics are based at Tresais Farm, near the village of Solva in Pembrokeshire in the
South West of Wales. "We" are Mic Rushen, and her friend Maria Wright. Mic has
been involved with horses for over 30 years, until recently in the New Forest in Southern
England, while Maria is a relative newcomer to things equestrian. We breed, train and
import Icelandics, with our priorities being happy, sound, well-mannered horses with good
characters, clear comfortable gaits and a good attitude to life (and an interesting colour
isn´t a bad thing either!).
Tresais Farm is a little cottage
surrounded by around 40 acres of windy pasture bounded by stoney banks and hedges, only 2
miles from the sea on the St David's peninsula. We are surrounded by National Trust
moorland and part of the farm is classified an Environmentally Sensitive Area, with plenty
of rare plants, flowers and birds. "Tresais" mean "Saxon Settlement" -
a good name for the home of a couple of English ex-pats.
Mic riding Sölvi at the World Championships for Icelandic Horses in Switzerland, 1995.
Mic got her first
Icelandic, Árvakur from Rickarton, in 1988. Árvakur, or Sox as he was usually known, was
born in Scotland in 1976 (that's him in the centre of the photo on the left). When we
started with Icelandics they were very rare indeed in England (though there were some used
for trekking in Scotland), so we went to Iceland and bought a few horses to sell over
here, just so we would have some other Icelandic-nuts to join us on rides and courses. Now
there are nearly 600 Icelandics in Britain, and lots of things to do with them. Mic is a
past British Champion in 4-Gait, 5-Gait, Pace Race, Pace Test, and Tölt T2. She´s
qualified for the World Championships 5 times, and is an IHSGB judge.
Drift, a homebred filly, and Rósa, Maria´s imported mare
We have around 20 Icelandics at any one time, including riding horses, liveries, breeding horses and youngsters. We breed only two or three foals each year, aiming for horses with good character, easy tölt and good looks.
Right: Molda, her daughter Drift, and Dögun
Left: Mic riding Ísafold frá Gíli
Tel 01437 721910 or 07791 993238