Icelandic Horses Are Pastime, Passion For Valley Family

Jim Hood walks fast. He talks fast. He thinks fast.

One minute, he’s explaining that a new set of snaffle bits in his family’s tack shop came from a dealer in Texas.

A split-second change of subject later, he’s gone on to a video about the family’s herd of Icelandic horses.

He spews information about the breed: In Iceland, horses that aren’t good riding mounts sometimes become someone’s supper. No horses can be imported to Iceland, so once a horse leaves the country, it can never return. The horses are calm, surefooted and fast - Hood says he clocked one stallion in the “flying pace” at 35 mph from his Suburban.

Twenty minutes into this flood of information, Hood pauses. “What newspaper did you say you’re from?” he asks.

Hood, 44, and his wife, Karen, 43, do most everything a bit larger than life.

On their 50 acres in the rolling hills of the southeast Valley, they are raising nine children. Some are adopted.

The three oldest girls, Brianne, 15, Marissa, 14, and Janelle, 12, really have the horse bug. All three are expert riders and trainers.

“I would love to be a kid in this family,” Jim says.

Without their kids, Jim says, he and Karen wouldn’t have gone so head-over-heels into the Icelandic horses. They have about 75 head - the second largest herd in the United States.

But head-over-heels is the Hood way.

Jim loves his profession, dentistry, with nearly the same passion he has for his family and horses.

“I’ll die before I give up dentistry.” Why does he like it? “It’s fun. I always liked working with my hands.”

After working all day “in an area the size of an apple,” being around the fuzzy, affable horses is a good break for Jim.

He and Karen are pursuing spin-off businesses with characteristic fervor.

They have an Icelandic horse magazine, trekking service, equestrian school, non-profit national association and a growing mail-order business. They’ve sold four horses to boxer George Foreman and another horse over the Internet to a buyer in Pennsylvania - sight unseen. They sponsor horse shows to promote the breed, and bring in top trainers all the way from Iceland.

Their first visit to Spokane was in 1974 for Expo; they fell in love with the area. They returned after Jim graduated from dentistry school. They plunged into the Icelandic horses in 1989, smitten by the breed’s consistently good temperament.

Jim and Karen reminisce while sitting on folding chairs in the three-car garage, converted into tack and gift shop.

They wrestle with the everyday cares of all parents - times nine. Karen wonders when the doctor will call; three of the kids are sick. Other children come and go, for soccer practice and other errands.

“Seatbelts, honey,” Karen calls to Brianne, on her way out the door.

When Jim and Karen talk about their high-energy life, they acknowledge that others wonder about their wisdom.

Even now, Jim’s mother, at 78, isn’t used to her son’s enthusiasms, he says.

Karen is, though. And he, to hers. “It’s right for us,” says Karen.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: Saturday’s People is a regular Valley Voice feature profiling remarkable individuals in the Valley. If you know someone who would be a good profile subject, please call editor Mike Schmeltzer at 927-2170.