A story about a dream and entrepreneurship

Lapin Saaga began with Hannele, whose daughter Susanna started horse riding at a young age. Hannele found herself drawn to horses as she accompanied Susanna to the stables to watch her riding lessons. At first Hannele was intimidated by the sheer size of the former trot horses who were now working as lesson horses. Over time, the family started to talk about getting a horse of their own. So Hannele's family traveled to Rautalampi to buy a gentle and reliable Icelandic horse but the seller turned out to be such a good salesman that the family ended up coming back home with two Icelandic horse.

Once the kids in the village started asking if they could ride the family's horses, Hannele's entrepreneurial nature started to grow and the idea of running her own stable started to take shape. Slowly but surely, more horses arrived and the activity has grown to what it is today.

Nowadays, during the winter season, as many as 27 Icelandic horses roam the yard of Lapin Saaga along with the Finn horse Sisu and the Norwegian cold-blood Allu. Some of the Icelandic horses spend their summers working in Oulu, at the second stable run by Susanna, which offers treks and horse activities in the coastal landscapes of Oulu. In winter, Lapin Saaga runs at full capacity both in terms of horses and people, as it has become very popular among tourists. Still, the thought of endless expansion doesn't cross Hannele's mind. She wants to preserve the spirit and feeling of a small stable and, above all, ensure the well-being of both the horses and the staff.

Our stable's activities

Lapin Saaga organizes versatile activities throughout the whole year, both for those who do horse riding as a hobby and those who are ready to climb to the saddle for the very first time. Everyone is welcome in their own self and we would like to invite everyone to relax in the warm embrace of the fells and in the peace of Lapland.

Our stable and all the activities we organize are guided by gentle values, centered around the well-being of both our horses as well as our staff. For us, it is of utmost importance that everyone here feels good, and we want to ensure that our customers feel seen and heard. We aim to offer all of our customers unforgettable experiences and unique moments together with our horse friends, so our customers' satisfaction truly matters to us! Our whole team works hard to make sure that your adventure with us will be a memorable one!

Lapin Saaga is rooted in people who live and breathe the culture and history of Lapland. Through our work, we want to bring up and share the true history, culture, and traditions of Lapland with our customers. Our horse activities mainly focus on traveling through the beautiful nature of Lapland, and all of our activities are planned and carried out with respect for the local environment and traditions. We also aim to uphold green values in our everyday stable life to the best of our ability.

Staff

The staff of Lapland is truly a mix of all kinds of people, but all of us have at least one thing in common: we all respect, appreciate, and love horses. However, it is exactly that diversity that is the strength of the Saaga team. Each staff member brings their own unique skill sets and expertise to the daily life at the stable, and everyone who works here is free to make their work their own.

In the tourism and experience business, it's always good to have a dose of creativity and a good sense of humor. Our team is constantly coming up with new and fun ideas to improve the quality of our activities and additionally run, for example, the social media accounts of the stable. All kinds of ideas, even the crazier ones, are always welcome. Sometimes the team plans and imagines experiences in such detail that everything from the props in marketing photos to the captions is already thought out in advance.

However, everything we do ultimately comes down to horsemanship and understanding the needs of our horses. The well-being of our horses is extremely important to us, and that's why our team includes people who are professionally trained in the equine field, who are also able to share valuable knowledge about our four-legged friends with all of our team members. Thanks to this, we can handle things like reattaching lost horseshoes, giving medication, and massaging the horses ourselves. Of course, we can't do everything on our own and we know to turn to farriers and veterinarians, true professionals in their field, whenever needed.

Icelandic horses as a breed

The Icelandic horses are the original Viking horses. They are one of the purest and oldest horse breeds in the world. The breed has been kept isolated in the barren North Atlantic island of Iceland for over a 1000 years. Bringing horses to Iceland was strictly forbidden very early on. Nowadays, it is still completely forbidden to take any horses to Iceland.

Due to the geographically isolated nature of Iceland, only a few illnesses in horses occur, so vaccinations are not needed. For this reason, no horses are allowed to enter Iceland. Once a horse leaves Iceland, it may never return.

Icelandic horses can be found all over the world. Over 250 000 Icelandic horses have been registered across the globe, and around 40% of them are in Iceland. These horses are unbelievably adaptable, as they can live comfortably in Arctic climates as well as under the warm sunlight in Australia or Hawaii.

Icelandic horses have a thick and weatherproof fur and a long and thick mane and tail. The breed is one of the most colorful breeds in the world, as almost all of the common coat colors can be found in these horses. Over 40 different colors and almost 100 color variations!

The Icelandic horse is small in size, but a strong and versatile riding horse. The average height at the withers is around 135 centimeters. However, the size of the Icelandic horse can vary from 120 cm to over 150 cm tall.

Source: Horses of Iceland