The famous stallion Hrafn frá Holtsmúla is one of the most famous breeding horses in Icelandic Horse History and has left the world over 1000 of his offsprings. He has a sheer incredible number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Since he already died in the year 1994, which is now 27 years ago, not many of his direct offsprings are still alive. One of them, the mare Púma frá Àrmula, has found her home on the farm Tamangur in Colorado.

Ármúli is the neighbour farm of Holtsmúla and the breeders at the two farms were well aquainted, which is why the breeder at Ármúli got the chance to breed his mare to Hrafn, when he was already a bit older and not so much in demand as a breeding stallion. One year later, a beautiful little black filly was born. Her name originally was supposed to be Þota, but when her breeder saw her leap in a very cat-like fashion, he decided to call her Púma, since she reminded him of a mountain lion.

A few years later later, her breeder sold her and she found a new home in the United States in 2003. There she came to the breeding farm Winterhorse Park. At the farm, she had different riders until Deborah Cook, a breeder and experienced horsewoman from Minnesota, bought her. She was very fond of her.

Although she wasn’t tall, her willingness was incomparable, her tölt smooth and her pace fast. She made a name for herself as a good riding horse and showed many riders the secrets of the fifth gait. As a breeding mare, she gave her talents and her valuable genes to a few offsprings.

Later, Deborah Cook sold her and Púma returned to Winterhorse Park. Today, Deborah says that this was the only time that selling a horse brought tears to her eyes.

At Winterhorse Park, Púma again had a reputation as a very good horse, although she wasn`t always easy. She was one of those horses that can judge the capabilities of their riders very well. If a child sat on her, she was calm, friendly and followed all cues very well.
This character trait made her a good school horse. If she noticed that a rider was more experienced, she could be downright pedantic and demand very clear aids while not letting a single mistake slip. She was a real schoolmaster. With men that carried whips she was especially difficult and could sometimes even go off.

One day, this temperamented mare met someone, who that at the time wasn’t actually a rider yet: Abby Hickcox had never sat on a horse in her life and just visited the stable, but nevertheless thought that this little black mare had something special about her. When she walked up to Púma, the mare put the head on her chest and started sniffing her. This experience made Abby want to ride and get to know her . When she finally got the chance to, something happened that can only be described as the forming of an instant connection: The two had found each other.

Abby took a few lessons and Púma taught her a lot. At the time, Púma was already over the age of 20, so the question came up whether she shouldn’t be retired. But each time this was tried, Púma became depressed and so each time she was taken back into training. Retirement didn’t seem to be something for her. Abby bought her at the age of 22 and the two went on to form an incredible team. Together, they moved from Wisconsin to Colorado and Púma was stabled at Tamangur. Here, after all these years, she had found her true home.

Today, at the age of 28, Púma is the undisputed queen at Tamangur. Often she roams free over the pastures and has a lot to do with keeping her herd in order. It almost seems like nothing happens at Tamangur without her knowing about it. At her old age, she is a bit more fragile than she used to be, but she has lost nothing of her royal attitude.

This was very visible when Púma  injured herself in her paddock. The wound got infected and she had to stay in a stall for a while. She didn’t like that one bit. On the daily walks she had to go on, to further her recovery, she walked quickly towards her old paddock and almost had to be dragged back to her stall.

After two weeks she had enough: She opened the door of her locked stall, climbed over the tools and pieces of wood of a little workshop, opened a second locked door and walked off to the pasture. The boarders thought that the stable owner must have let her out, while the stable owner was also under the impression that everything was the way it should be. After a few hours on the pasture, Púma walked up to her paddock door and waited to be let in. It was only then when her little escape was discovered.

Although everything goes a bit more slowly nowadays, Púma and Abby still enjoy their rides around the fields of Tamangur. They are a wonderful example for a beautiful, almost wonderous connection between horse and rider.