Zachow – home of real Gæðingar
A love for Icelandic horses can quickly turn into a life for Icelandic horses, as Günther Weber has experienced very intensively. The dynamic growth of the Schloßberg stud - especially on the Zachow estate and forestry estate just outside Neubrandenburg in the heart of the Mecklenburg Lake District - also provides eloquent information about this. There is also our beautiful farm Kvistir in Iceland. There are around 150 horses on these two farms, including multiple world champions and Landsmót winners.
In Zachow, the young horses from Schloßberg in particular can feel almost like they are in Iceland: the pastures stretch to the horizon, are surrounded by almost untouched nature, and even the sky is almost as wide and blue here as on the island in the North Atlantic. Ideal conditions for raising Icelandic horses in a natural herd. In recent years, Zachow has also caused a sensation as an event location: Günther Weber has passionately revived the International Pass Championship here, making Zachow the annual meeting place for some of the world's best gæðingakeppni, sport and pass riders in late summer. The 350-meter-long pass track and a 250-meter category A oval track meet the highest international standards, and to our great delight, the supporting program and the gastronomic offerings for participants and spectators continue to generate positive reactions.
Zachow can be reached very quickly via the Baltic Sea ferries, especially for riders from Scandinavia. For those from northern Germany and Berlin, the journey has now also been made much easier thanks to excellent transport connections. We are very happy and proud to regularly welcome riders from Iceland, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland to the Pass Championships.
His claim to always set the highest quality standards in his daily work as an entrepreneur, but also as a host and breeder, has brought Günther Weber great success: there are many outstanding elite horses with high gait potential and brilliant charisma on Schloßberg and Kvistir presence and excellent character. But the best thing: When you talk to the owner today, even after 30 years of professional breeding, you can still feel one thing - his unconditional love for the Icelandic horse.
Our team
Kvistir – our jewel in the land of fire and ice
We are convinced that Iceland still has the highest concentration of excellent breeding horses. The gene pool in the motherland of the Icelandic horse is larger than anywhere else, but traditionally it is not easy to export excellent sires from Iceland “just like that”.
For the systematic development of high-quality breeding in Europe, it is therefore very advantageous to have a foothold in Iceland. Our mainstay is the Kvistir farm in Hella. Here, in the southwest of Iceland, we breed with a number of selected mares and stallions.
Many of the foals born on Kvistir later come to us in Germany, others stay in Iceland. Sigvaldi Guðmundsson's team is also looking for talented horses across the country that can enrich both Kvistir and Schloßberg breeding. In this way we can ensure that our local breeding as actively as possible keeps up with the developments at the top in the mother country. And of course we are happy to be able to pass this advantage on to other breeders on the continent.
We would like to invite you to visit our Kvistir farm - please contact us beforehand so that the Kvistir team can devote enough time to you during your stay.