This July, we are highlighting “Small But Mighty” breeds on YourDressage!
Riders who choose a pint-sized partner as their dressage mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as there are a number of pony breed organizations that are participating organizations.
By Liv DaCosta-Robinson
My name is Liv, and this is my Icelandic pony Odin (aka Gustur Fra Steinsholti, which is definitely a mouthful!), and we are from Rhode Island. My journey with Odin began in 2021, but before 2021, my family and I vacationed at a farm in Vermont for a weekend, and rode Icelandic ponies After my first ride on an Icelandic pony, I was dead set on having one; their demeanor is fabulous, and they’re just adorable. Now, to be fair, I was 11 years old, so I thought everything was adorable.
After that trip, we contacted another woman in Vermont, who imports Icelandic ponies in groups and finds them families in America. We purchased Odin from her, based on a video of him in Iceland. In this video, a flag was being flown off his back, and he was in a neck rope at just four years old, so he seemed an excellent, safe choice.
When he came off the trailer to my farm, everyone thought we were crazy. What the heck were we gonna do with a gaited Icelandic pony, who was four years old, and whose rider was 12? Well, we said, “We’re gonna train him to do whatever we want.”
Fun fact about the Icelandic pony: they have five gaits, and some, like Odin, even have six. Their gaits are: walk, tölt, trot, canter, flying pace, and gallop. Because he has extra gaits, with his main gait being the tölt, his canter was not his strong suit. Honestly, he couldn’t really truly canter, so we had to teach him. After almost five years, he now has a clear three-beat canter! (Ironically, flying changes are his absolute favorite.)
Originally, I had no intent of seriously pursuing dressage with Odin. But, once he settled into his home in America and we got to know him, it was clear he had the talent for the discipline. After the first couple of months, my trainer, Pam Maloof, suggested we take him to Lendon Gray’s Dressage 4 Kids (D4K) Youth Dressage Festival in Saugerties, New York. I thought that was a great idea.
So, we took him, and we jumped out of the arena boundary not once, but twice. After that, I kind of doubted our abilities and had a lot of laughs. By the next season though, we were riding confidently at Training Level, and spent our season at recognized shows. We went back to the D4K Festival and unfortunately jumped out of the arena again…That didn’t deter me though, and we continued competing for the rest of the 2022 season.
With nothing but perseverance (and the guidance of my coaches, Pam Maloof and Tyla Cummiskey), I have now taken Odin from Intro to Third Level by myself. In June this year, at the Mystic Valley Hunt Club Spring Dressage Show, we earned my USDF Bronze Medal together. I have taken Odin all over New England and been to the Great American/USDF Regional Championships three different times, placing sixth in the 2025 Junior/Young Rider Second Level Championship last September.
My journey with Odin has not been easy, and it took a lot of time, patience, and energy to bring him to where he is. I am extremely grateful that he has a wonderful brain in his head, and for how talented he is. Talent aside, he is so extremely safe; we could put anyone on him, and he would take care of them. He is just that type of guy.
Outside of dressage and horse showing, I can do anything with him. He happily jumps around anything I point him at, we’ve gone swimming and hack bareback all the time through the fields, and we’ve gone on many hunter paces. Odin is truly game for anything I throw at him, and that is what makes him so special (and he has incredible hair)!!
