This is Skarpur, who joined our family in fall, 2014.

He's an interesting mix of calm dependability on the one hand, and a competitive desire to outrun every other horse on the other hand.

Riding him in a group of other horses can get lonely for his rider - he's always up in front, and getting him to tolerate another horse walking next to him can be a challenge.

Nonetheless, he's a lot of fun to ride, especially at a fast tölt over the endless trails through the fields and forests surrounding our hometown.

When Skarpur joined the family in 2014, Tandri enthusiastically welcomed him.

The two of them soon grew to be best friends, always together and presenting a united front to the rest of the herd when challenged.

Skarpur is mostly my husband's horse, just like Tandri was mostly mine.

Here are the two of them together, enjoying the springtime ritual of brushing the winter coat out.

Since Skarpur was born in Iceland, where most horses grow up half-wild, he did not enjoy being around humans at first - much less being groomed, or even touched.

As you can see here, that has changed over the past few years, and now he not only likes to have his face scratched when loose hair is tickling him, he even enjoys the occasional cuddle with his particular human.