The Mane Talk

1.8 Guðmundur Viðarsson

Today’s guest is Guðmundur Viðarsson – the owner of the farm Skálakot and a leading figure in Icelandic horse breeding. He is currently building an insemination station at the farm Efra-Holt. There he offers freezing of horse semen for use within Iceland as well as for export. Guðmundur is the breeder and owner of the stallion Skýr frá Skálakoti, who is now part of the Stallion Station of Iceland. Skýr is one of the first stallions from the station whose semen will be exported to Europe.

1.7 Konráð Valur Sveinsson

Today’s guest is Konráð Valur Sveinsson – a four-time World Champion as a young rider in all pace disciplines and has gotten three world records in pace disciplines. He holds the world record in 150m pace and 250m pace. This year in 2025 he was chosen the rider of the year and pace rider of the year in Iceland. He has been chosen pace rider of the year seven times and won eight Landsmót titles. Konráð and Kjarkur frá Árbæjarhjáleigu II have won over 180 competitions together and are considered one of the most successful pace pairs in history.

1.6 Kristján Árni Birgisson & Þórgunnur Þórarinsdóttir

Today’s guests are Kristján Árni Birgisson and Þórgunnur Þórarinsdóttir — two riders based at the farm Nautabú in Skagafjörður, Iceland. Both are students at Hólar University and represented Iceland at the World Championships in Switzerland this year with great results. Kristján became a two-time World Champion, winning both the 100-meter pace and the 250-meter pace, while Þórgunnur finished second place in five-gait, fourth in the five-gait combination, and placed fifth in T1. In this episode, we talk about the horses that have had the biggest impact on them, their experience at the World Championships, and what they look forward to in the future.

1.5 Daníel Gunnarsson

Today’s guest is Daníel Gunnarsson — a professional trainer based at the farm Miðsitja in Skagafjörður, Iceland. He is a member of the Icelandic national team and has represented Iceland in pace disciplines at the World Championships in both 2023 and 2025. In this episode we talk about Dannis journey, the horses that shaped his career, the world championships and his training.

1.4 Atli Guðmundsson

Today’s guest is Atli Guðmundsson — a professional trainer and breeder from Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. With decades of experience in Iceland and abroad, Atli has trained many successful horses, including Ormur frá Dallandi, with whom he won A-flokkur at Landsmót in 2000. He has been competing a lot, everything from galopp races to the world championships. We talk about his journey with horses, how training philosophies have evolved, what he might have done differently today and what he misses from the old days.