Now it was time to think about the horses at Ísólfsstaðir. Ingólfur and Óli Sam had a look at them at Thursday and Elín checked on them on Friday. They were at a good spot and all 20 of them alive, which wasn't taken for granted after the storm over Iceland on Tuesday and Wednesday and the news we got from Skagafjörður and Húnavatnssýsla where horses were covered by snow and burried alive.
We met Friðbjörn around 10 o'clock and decided to open the gate to the meadows and feed some big roundbales there. Then we had to check on the fences and move the horses to their new place.
The weather wasn't too good, wind and snow showers whilst we were opening the gate, checked the fences and finally moved the roundbales with a car and per hand to the right place. The horses were still at the same place and didn't dare to move from there as it was really difficult to walk in the snow. Whilst Ingólfur and Friðbjörn fetched the horses and I moved the car back to the right spot, Óli removed the plastic from the bales and spread bread for the horses. Then we just had to wait for the herd. After a few moments a beautiful line of horses appeared following Friðbjörn leading Ösp. What a relieve to watch them approaching and then just rushing to feast on bread and hay. All of them in good shape and healthy. Alltogether this took about 4 hours.
There's still no electricity at Tjörnes, where the horses are staying and most of the farmers left their homes as their heating is solely electric and the houses were getting pretty cold.
Tomorrow we'll keep on deicing the fence here at Húsavík and we hope to get a machine with a concrete breaker to get through the frozen ground and put down new fenceposts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may believe me that it was a rather difficult night, lots of really ugly thoughts about what could probably have happened to the horses.
Starting around 8 this morning, we went to fix the fence close to the mainroad. We had to get sledge hammers to get the ice off the wire. Managed to clean the upper most of 3 wires. When it started to get bright we decided to start looking for the horses. We hadn't moved that far when I had a look down to our meadow and the windshelter there. First I thought I was victim of a Fata Morgana, but then I realized that there were horses in the shelter for sure! Don't know who was happier: us or the horses. They started to run towards us, but then stopped and waited for us to arrive. Obviously old Vordís found a better place to stay overnight during the storm and then brought the group back when the weather got a bit better. We haltered Vordís and Magnús and the rest of the bunch just followed. Now the horses are in the fence close to the road with enough hay and water.  We hope to be able to fix it as soon as possible, but the ground is frozen, so it will be difficult to put poles down. At the moment we use platicpoles where the wooden ones are broken and put orange fencing tape as a second string to increase visibility for the horses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weatherforecast has been pretty bad for today and for the first time there was issued a red weatherwarning in Iceland. There was no school today and people were asked to stay inside as it was definitely no weather to travel. It was a combination of very strong winds, a lot of precipitation and rather mild temperatures. Thus it was sleeting with the snow being rather wet and heavy and not the usual snowdrift with powdersnow in such strong winds. 
We went to check on horses and fences the moment we trusted ourselves to go. Just very few people outside, but the snow clearance had already started, the visibility was poor, but good enough to drive slowly out of town. We first checked on the fence close to the road and it was in rather bad shape, the cornerpole most likely broken and the fence down on some parts. The wire is completely covered with ice, the icicles up to 20 cm in diameter, a few sticks broken and still that much wind, that it's hardly possible to clean the wire... We decided to check again a little bit later today when the storm would have calmed down a bit.
When we went to check on our fences and the horses down by the sea in the afternoon we had to realize that the horses were missing. Even though Ingólfur took a walk along the coast line to Litla Saltvík he couldn't get a glimpse of them. We even got 2 young men and a huge car from the local Search and Rescue Team to help us, but all in vain. No horses nowhere to see and the weather that bad you couldn't see inbetween the sticks on the road. We took another drive later in the evening, just to try to locate them. But to no result. So we just have to hope the best and try to find them tomorrow when it starts to get bright again. Keep your fingers crossed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a well deserved night inside Snerpa and Magnús were supposed to join Vordís and her herd in the big field. But before releasing them we had to have a look at the horses at Ísólfsstaðir. We go there once a week to make sure everything is ok and the horses aren't a burden for Jóel the farmer, who counts them on a daily base.
There's barely any snow in the fields and no need yet to open to the meadows. The horses were in good shape and happy to get some big bags of bread. 
When arriving back at the stable Magnús and Snerpa were already waiting for us. They were happy to get a few weeks off and get the chance to relax with the other horses, just eating, sleeping and playing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These two have been away for breaking in and training since the middle of September in Eyjafjörður at Ásdís Helga's place. Today we went to have a look at the results and take them home to take a well deserved break. 
The aim with Magnus' training was to make him more supple and use his back better and thus improve his tölt. Ásdís showed him inside and outside and we were happy to see his progress.
Snerpa was more or less green when she went to training so we were quite eager to see how she did. Ásdís  has been training her both inside and outside, alone and in a group, which all went well. She'll need a bit more selfconfidence, but that's just something to work on. I was rather pleased with what I saw, especially after rather short time. Ásdís was already able to ask Snerpa for all gaits (of course not pace yet) and I was amazed how fast and determinded she was in gallop. So happy horseowner here! 
After Christmas we'll decide what the next steps are for her. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally all my Thanksgivingcacti are in bloom and I was able to get pics of each and every of them. I like the diversity in colours and am quite proud that the light pink one eventually blossomed again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vordís and Skuggi already had a great time at the big field, loads to eat and nobody pestering them. That was about to change today. First we caught them, trimmed their hooves/removed the shoes and then dewormed both. Then we unloaded Fönix and Kóngur from the trailer and released them into the field. The four of them went off like crazy, running, jumping and bucking around. So much fun to see these grown up horses behaving like youngsters again.
Next stop was Hagi, where we first fetched Fjördís and moved her to the fence close to the road, where she'll stay with Gisli's mare and foal.  Of course her hooves were trimmed and she was dewormed, too. Then it was time to fetch the last 2 mares to come back home today. Pandóra and Þrá were waiting for us with their halters already on at Hagi. So we just had to put them on the rope and load them, which was easier than thought (was just the 2nd time Pandóra was loaded without her mum). After checking the hooves and deworming we turned them loose in the big field. When the other spotted them they came rushing towards us then the whole bunch took off. Vordís didn't seem to be too pleased to get her daughter back and made clear who's in charge. We watched them running around and I was quite happy and proud when I saw how Pandóra was moving around. I think there's a very promising filly in our ownership. Looking forward to follow her the next years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but our blogg and homepage are under construction or to be precise being overhauled. It was time to do that as I've been really lazy the last months due to so many things to do and little time left to cherish this site. 
So for the time being I attach a few pics and hope to finish my work here soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

We finally managed to lure our friends from the east to the northeast! The bait was a great place to stay for fat horses over winter, where they'd actually have to do something for their food. Unfortunately Marietta wasn't fit enough to join, but Hlín took her place and accompanied her dad. It was nice to get to know her a bit better, too.
Yesterday evening they arrived with 3 horses, which stayed overnight in our stable. Afterwards we had nice dinner, went to Geosea and last but not least had a look at Húsavík Öl, where we got ourselves a beer before walking home and having a chat. 
Today we loaded their horses and Rögnir and went to Ísólfsstaðir, where they are going to spend their time off. The herd was at a new place today, close to the road, where they usually don't roam that much. Óli just had put a new horse into the fence when we arrived, so it was a perfect timing bringing the others more or less at the same time. Rögnir decided to follow his new friends instead of getting to know the rest of the bunch, but that will probably change the next days.
On their way back to the east we stopped at Hagi and Hlín said hi to her old mare Þrá. When back at Saltvík we released Fönix and Kóngur as things had gonne really well the last days and they had deserved a break until the new year. They had quite different techniques crossing the rivulet... Fönix jumped, but Kóngur walked over the snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And another one of my Phalaenopsis decided to flower. Didn't reckon this one would bloom at all this year as I just moved it from Austria to Iceland in summer, after removing all flowers and the planting substrate. I repotted it into a coconutshell and soon after it started to get new leaves and roots and in the end a new flowersprout. It's a so called Willd Orchid by Optiflor and is supposed to look more or less like the wild ones you can still find in Asia. The flowers are rather small and delicious, the plant often displaying more than one sprout at a time. Just managed to take a pic of both orchids with white flowers to compare the size and shape.

 

 

 

 

Ísólfsstaðir is a true paradise for our horses where they can roam wild and free on about 100ha of very different land. We paid them a visit today, but before taking that walk, we stopped at the sheepstable and had a chat with Jóel and Sigga. They were taking care of the sheep and had been shearing some before we arrived. I love how they herd with their sheep and the fact how calm and nosy the sheep are even though they don't know us that much. They come close and have a look and sneak a treat when possible. But they aren't just sneaking when interacting with their owners. You can see how much they trust them and what a wonderful bond they have. 
Afterwards we took a walk in the field all the way down to the cliffs. The horses followed us around first, but left us when we reached the old stables. Just like they didn't like being around there. We strolled alongside the cliffs and finally got a very good insight about the landscape and vegetation in different spots. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good to have a ridinghall closeby! And of course own a trailer. Fönix and Kóngur got a ride to the ridinghall today, to show them around and train there. Fönix did well in longeing, I didn't intend to ride him today, just let him have a look and get used to the new place. Vignir on his mare Marta was in the arena, too, which was quite handy as Ingólfur intended to try and ride Kóngur for the first time today. There has already been a lot of training from the ground so now it was time to add the rider to the horse. Kóngur did really well as you can see on the video.

 

Got a message in the early evening about some tourists being stuck at Saltvíkfarm with the enquiry if we could come and help. Luckily we had time and went straight away. Ingólfur started the tractor and found a leading rope in it, which he could use to drag the car. I was rather afraid that the driver would back into the tractor, which he fortunately did not. They were loose in no time. Good to be able to help.

 

 

The weather was great so we used the day to put up a fence around the old "springstable" at Ísólfsstaðir. The stable had suffered a bit during the last years and we wanted to protect it from horseteeth and being eaten. Now there's a fence in about 1m distance from the walls, which means the horses can't reach it that easily but still have shelter from the house. Our horses were happy to see us, especially because we took some minerallick with us and of course some bread. All of them are in great condition with shiny fur. Our horses staying there at the moment are: Sigtýr, Sæla, Flugsvinn, Ösp, Ögn and Embla. Later they'll probably be joined by a few more.

 

 

 

 

It's not uncommon that River Laxá jammes with ice at this time of the year and then the icedams break with a lot of noise and a small flood. Whilst jammed the water finds new ways and and floods different areas. This year the water made it's way on places we've never seen it before. Quite impressive!