The weather has been great the last days and we have been keeping our horses solely outside for more than a week now. They of course get their hay, as there's still not enough green grass. We try to feed them in different places as the stuff they leave and the seeds that are in the hay are great to improve the ground and change the flora in the field a bit. They are not always very fast when being fed, sometimes trying to make us feed where they are at that very moment, but in the end they always come and start looking for their food (even if there's some water in the way). Today Ingólfur had to persuade them and lure them to the hay with treats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...after a nice weekend in the south (got myself some lovely orchids) and my kneeoperation today. I got a new crossband in my left knee as I had ripped mine during our stay in Austria. Now my leg is still without any feeling and believe me, it's a really strange feeling when trying to put weight on your leg and the leg just gives away. So today I'll have to trust my right leg and the crutches. In case of emergency, Ingólfur has to assist. The leg is tightly wrapped in elastic bandage and I was advised to get rid off the stitches next Friday. My physiotherapist already booked me for a session tomorrow and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been operated yet (got me an appointment at the orthopaedist in Reykjavík). So now it will be a lot of training the next weeks, crutches at the moment, but not sure for how long and hope for the best in healing. Well, won't go on horseback during summer I think, but I'll find something else to do!

...here she comes! Perfect weather for a few foalpics and a ride afterwards.
The mares, youngsters and foals were lucky enough to get some bread and enjoyed every bite of it. Everybody looks fine and I start wondering how the foals will look like when they have gotten rid of their babyfur. But I'm afraid they'll look really shabby whilst changeing from duckling to svan. At least I hope they'll be a bit like beautiful svans (so not so sure about Pandóra...).
In the afternoon we met with a group of fellow riders and explored the path alongside the big meadow and down to the sea. The horses were rather agitated due to the first bigger groupride, the width of the place and the nice weather. In the end I decided to leave the group behind and let Embla get rid of some energy. She definitely needed that!
When arriving home I saw that my Iris reticulata had started flowering. I love those little beauties, they are always really early, even before the crocuses and daffodils.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, you read right Thanksgiving cacti. I have a whole bunch of these plants in different colours from white to pink, red and even yellow. And the worst thing is I just recently found out about all those other nice and interesting colours and flowershapes.... Now I'd love to get my hands on some of them. My cacti definitely like their place to be at the window as they are displaying their beautiful flowers right now, just before Easter. Actually they've been flowering in November, too. Looking forward to propagate them and make a whole bunch of new plants. 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

As I already mentioned before, we got a new breedingmare, Flugsvinn frá Höskuldsstöðum. Ingólfur tried her out the last weeks to get to know her character and gaits, find the weaker points and the good things about her. Now it was time to focus more on the other riding horses and Flugsvinn went outside to meet the other mares and youngsters. In fact I counted on quite some running around, squeeking and stuff like that, but nothing like that. Now we still have to make up our minds which stallion to use on her in summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...the snowstorm presented itself in the most beautiful way. Sunshine, no wind - what else could you ask for?
To make sure everybody was ok we went to Ísólfsstaðir, fed them a huge haybale and some bread whilst checking on each and everyone. All the way it was supposed to be there.
At home on the other hand we got a bit of a problem as there was a huge snowpile alongside the stable and the horses were somewhat lazy going over it and just stayed by the wall. Well, fortunately we managed to get them to the bigger pasture (from the other side of the stable) and there they really enjoyed their new freedom, running, jumping and bucking. So nice to see them being happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather today wasn't at all like it was the last weeks. We had a massive snowstorm, but the horses still had to go outside so we could muck out at make their stables nice again. Well, no trouble getting them out, but fetching them in was nearly impossible. They found a great place to stay and didn't want to move at all. In the end I had to go outside and drive them in...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bensi's sheep always get a haircut in autumn and then again before giving birth to their lambs. It was time for the second haircut today and when we stopped by, Snilld was already finished.
If you want to see a really spoiled sheep, just watch the video!

 

 

Our friend Gísli has been breeding and training horses for a very long time, his best horses out of Urð frá Hvassafelli. At the moment he's training her grandson out of Hella frá Húsavík and Vökull frá Efri-Brú. Hersir is very big for his age (he's just 4) and shows himself very well, getting stronger and more balanced in his gaits. 
Today he asked me if I could take a few pics of Hersir, which I of course did. Will be interesting to see how he'll do in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And enough to do! We like to train our horses in many different ways and one of them is taking them as a handhorse. Today it was Magnús' turn being a handhorse whilst Sigtýr was the riding horse. Think they both enjoyed it.
Our foals on the other hand really enjoyed other horses passing by their fence and did a lot to get their attention. Well, that didn't work out. 
Talking about the fence... it definitely was time to recharge the battery! Pandóra acted like a fence tester and after touching it and biting into it without getting a shock it was clear, there was no electricity on the wires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The annual Mývatn Open competition on frozen Lake Mývatn was just around the corner and as usual the local riding club Þjálfi and Sel-Hótel Mývatn offered riders from near and far to come for a ride on ice the day before the competition.
Unfortunately the weather had been rather warm the last days and the ice at the lake not at it's best. So the local riders decided to rather make a track on the frozen meadows and swamps on the other side of Sel-Hótel. As I wasn't taking part I took my cam with me and was lucky enough to get Raggi, the hotelowner, as a private driver. There was a team from "Horses of Iceland" too, videotaping the whole thing. I definitely enjoyed my stay and hope you like the pics.

 

 

 

 

Time to check on the older horses in their winterpasture at Ísólfsstaðir. We got 2 big bags with old bread as a treat for them in the car.
Upon arriving we noticed that 1 horse was laying and not getting up when the rest of the bunch started to move towards the gate to meet us and the big breadbags. Finally it stood up, but wasn't moving. So after destracting the other horses with bread we took a walk down to the horse, just to realize it was really lame on one hindleg. As it wasn't one of ours we called the owner, who was going to fetch it immediately. The vet checked it out later and recommended to have it inside and on antibiotics until it would get better. Lucky we went to check on them today!

 

 

 

 

Beautiful winterweather the last days with wonderful sunsets. The horses enjoyed their time outside despite the cold temperatures.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to overhaul our homepage! I've been very lazy the last months and now there's a lot to do. 
I'm trying to update the blogg and go through the other pages of this site. Will take some time to do so, but you'll hopefully stay tuned and be patient with me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... a welcome. We had to say goodbye to our stablecar a few days ago after more than 10 years of valuable services as a tractor, towing vehicle and a lot more. It would have been rather expensive to replace the head gasket and not sure if it would have done the trick. 
Now we had to look for a new best friend and were lucky to get one here in town. He'll hopefully be as faithful as the old one and serve us well. The horses liked him straightaway as there was a big bag of bread in the trunk.