Your hosts are Anu and Riku Leppänen. We both guide the trips and take care of the horses. We realized our long dream and established an Icelandic horse stable in autumn 2001. We both have a long experience among horses and we wanted to offer for the travellers and riding devotees an opportunity to ride in the magnificent nature of Lapland. The first five years the stable was in Kurtakko, Riku’s home village, in rented premises. In August 2006, we started to build new premises near Äkäslompolo and in December 2006 we moved in. >More information and pictures Riku is a native of Kurtakko village, 35 km from Äkäslompolo. Kurtakko has long traditions in horsemanship and also Riku became interested in horses. After his studies, Riku worked in southern Finland at different stables and after that 10 years as a farrier. However, Lapland drew him back to his home district and in 1996 the family moved back to Lapland. Here Riku studied to become a wilderness guide. Anu is from Helsinki. She has been interested in horses since her childhood and horses have always been an essential part in her life. Anu studied interior and furniture design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, but she preferred working several years as a photographer in a horse magazine. Minna Vesivalo is a riding instructor, and she has been working with us since May 2010. She owns a bordercollie Ella and an Icelandic horse Móri.