Hillary Clinton Owned Two Icelandic Horses ---Briefly

The children of Iceland gave Senator Hillary Clinton two Icelandic horses, one of which was named Spadi.  Einar Bollason, Managing Director of Íshestar Riding Tours, was selected to present the horses to Clinton.  As he explains, "It was a big media fuzz and the reporters followed me for days before she came, because the day was kept a secret for security reasons. The only way to escape the journalists was to saddle up my horses and ride into the mountains!" (Interview with, n.d.)

You can view a picture of the presentation of the horses here:

http://www.angelfire.com/az/testryder/images/clintonicelandics.jpg


Then Senator Clinton accepted them with the intent of donating them to the children of the United States.  Senator Clinton gave the horses to Green Chimneys, a non-profit therapeutic and educational center.  (Halberg, 2008, p. 53)  Currently Green Chimneys supports over 300 animals and birds--including horses, camels, llamas, goats, falcons, guinea pigs, hedgehog, rats, cat, and more--used in their therapy programs for emotionally troubled children. 

Spadi was a favorite therapy horse at Green Chimneys. (The second horse died of cancer and Spadi is no longer listed on the Green Chimneys web page.)  One of the young riders Devon  "likes Spadi for a couple of reasons. First, in addition to the usual gaits of walk, trot, canter and gallop, Spadi has a gait called the toelt that is something like the long trotting gait of a Missouri Fox Trotter; very smooth, fast and stable. Devon very much likes that toelt gait. Second, Spadi is the unquestioned herd leader of Green Chimneys' horses, even though compared to American horses like the quarter horse, Morgan, Standardbred or Thoroughbred, he looks no bigger than a tall pony. He has an attitude that says, "I will NOT be intimidated by you, and you WILL do what I tell you." He stands like a rock and stares them down. Finally, the two of them get along; there is a bond between them. Horse people will understand what I mean."  (Junior, 2013)   

You can view a picture of Spadi and his young rider Devon at:

https://www.gunandgame.com/threads/junior-on-horseback.156992/

Now that Hillary and Bill Clinton have their first grandchild, I wonder if they are thinking about getting the young one a pony--perhaps an Icelandic pony.  ;-)


Sources:
http://www.greenchimneys.org/farm/animals/

Halberg, L.  (2008) Walking the Way of the Horse, iUniverse.  

Interview with Einar Bollason at http://www.findaridingholiday.com/ishestar.php

Junior on Horseback (2013).  Found at https://www.gunandgame.com/threads/junior-on-horseback.156992/