HELGAR THE HORRIBLE--One of the first Icelandics In California

Icelandic horse (not Helgar)--wikipedia

Maureen Hurley wrote an essay entitled "Helgar the Horrible" about an incorrigible, dun, Icelandic horse in California in the 1960s.  Nobody knew  his background or how he got to California--just that he was Icelandic.

She introduces Helgar as follows:
"Brenda’s dun-colored Icelandic pony, Helgar the Horrible, was unlike the other horses. He wasn't wily as the bandit Shetlands, dubbed the “Little Shytes” by irate neighbors, as there wasn’t a fence made that could contain the ponies. Nor was he prissy like the dainty Welsh ponies pretending to be grown-up horses at a gymkhana, their manes in need of imaginary smoothing. Helgar was more akin to the dour donkeys—but the similarities ended with the dorsal stripes. Helgar didn't carry a grudge the way they did."

You can read the rest of the article via the link below.

http://ayjw.org/print_articles.php?id=49489