The Pur Cheval Team

I n love with the Icelandic horse, the owners and long-time riders, Ólafur Ólafsson and Ingibjörg Kristjánsdóttir, have selected a highly qualified professional team ready to assist you along your journey with the Icelandic Horse. Ólafur and Ingibjörg strive to promote the breed everywhere they go. They have chosen France to carry out their leading promotional project: Pur Cheval’s creation.

Ólafur Ólafsson et Ingibjörg Kristjánsdóttir  established their breeding in Iceland at the farm, Miðhraun in 2006. Since then, they strive to promote the breed everywhere they go, which is the reason for which they created Pur Cheval in France at the Huilerie and set up a promotional campaign throughout the country.
In their everyday life, Ólafur is Samskip Holding’s president, an international shipping company, whereas Ingibjörg is and landscape architect. Generous and philanthropic, the couple also created the Aurora.

ELÍAS ÞÓRHALLSSON

&

BERGLIND INGA ÁRNADÓTTIR

THE HORSES

Elías Þórhallsson is a member of Félag Tamningamanna (FT – Iceland’s national horse trainer’s association) since 1991. He then worked at Iceland’s state run breeding station for two years, training many of the best horses in the country. Since then, Elías has worked as a trainer and riding instructor in Sweden, Denmark and the United States and has been a very successful competition and breeding rider everywhere he went.

Berglind Inga Árnadóttir is educated as a Physical Education teacher but everyone in Iceland knows her as the owner, CEO and head instructor in her riding school for handicapped children and teenagers as this was her main occupation for 23 years. All of this without forgetting to train her own horses.

Elías and Berglind have successfully been breeding, breaking-in and training horses in Iceland for over 15 years. They still own a good number of first prize broodmares, most of which were bred by them. While they now live at the Huilerie, they will keep these special mares in breeding.

It is this extraordinarily kind and generous couple that will welcome you with open arms at Pur Cheval in order to discover the Icelandic horse and/or help you find the horse of your dreams.

EYJÓLFUR GÍSLI GARÐARSSON

MIÐHRAUN

Eyjólfur Gísli Garðarsson, also known more simply as Gísli is truly an outstanding man.

On top of managing a restaurant and guesthouse along with his wife Hrefna Birkisdóttir on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, he has taken care of our horses in Iceland for over 10 years.
Whether it be bringing broodmares to stallions, helping foals be born, taking care of and feeding the horses, lending a hand for breaking-in or participating in breeding selection: Gísli can do it all.

And on top of this, he knows how to fix any machine and never shies before hard work.

You might catch a glimpse at him in France as he does come and visit the Huilerie team from time to time. However friendly and amiable you might find him, we kindly ask you not to ask him to stay. We do indeed need him too much in the paradise that is Miðhraun to allow him to be tempted by moving to France.

OUR PARTNERS

Our team being composed of the best, we have chosen peerless partners to work with in order to carry out each Pur Cheval mission excellently. Here are our closest ones.

BERGLIND MARGO ÞORVALDSDÓTTIR

Berglind Margo  is half French, half Icelandic. She has a bachelor’s degree in Equine Sciences from the Agricultural University of Iceland and the University of Hólar but now works as a web project developper in Nantes.
Berglind started working for Pur Cheval as a trainer in 2014. Being fluent in French, English and Icelandic, part of the farm’s communication and administrative tasks were quickly added to her role.

Today, even though she does not work at the Huilerie anymore, she keeps on working with us and is in charge of the maintenance and development of our website as well as some of our administrative tasks.