It has been snowing the last days and the weather hasn't been too inviting, but today the sun was shining and the horses got a day off and access to the big field. Sigtýr arrived back home, too and so it was interesting to see how things would go when putting them all together. 
To make a long story short: they definitely had a lot of fun, rushing front and back in the deep snow. Enough exercise for one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wonderful sunny morning after the stormy  day yesterday. We decided to meet Friðbjörn at Ísólfsstaðir to check on the horses there, feed them and give them a special treat. We sometimes get leftover bread from the local bakery in big rubbish bags and our car was full of bread today.
I took a walk down to the meadow whilst Ingólfur and Friðbjörn attached haybags to the car and drove down to where we wanted to feed the horses. After lifting the bags over the fence the guys started to spread the hay around so all the horses would have access. Fönix decided to check out all the bags and see where the best bites were. After getting the hay they got a dessert of different kinds of bread which was very appreciated.
Back home of course our mares and foals got a breadtreat, too. It was fun watching them fighting the bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and time to feed the horses! They were rather tense due to the weather and ready to run at the slightest occasion. But that gave me the chance to take some nice pics. When going through them I realized that Pandóra is just a little lookalike of her mum Vordís.

 

 

Hrund at Hólmavað got herself a Border Collie pub named Perla. It was time to get to know her and pay a visit to Snilld.
When arriving Lukka and Perla were playing in the snow and it was fun watching and photographing them even though the latter was rather difficult as they were so fast.
Inside the sheepstable Snilld was waiting for me and especially for getting some treats. She's pregnant with twins after Elín's beautiful darkmoorit ram. Will be interesting what colours I get, as this mating could reveal if Snilld bears moorit, too. I'm hoping for getting ewes now as Snilld is getting older and I have no idea how long she'll be in good shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last autumn our friend Hanni Heiler contacted us and asked if we'd still be interested in a mare she got from Marietta and Pétur a few years ago. In fact she was talking about Flugsvinn frá Höskuldsstöðum, daughter of Geisli frá Sælukoti (our favourite) and Hrönn frá Höskuldsstöðum, first prize daughter of Hrannar frá Höskuldsstöðum, mother to very good horses, mostly situated in Swiss.
After thinking about it, we said YES, and today she finally arrived. We are very much looking forward to getting to know her and choosing a stallion to match her. You can get a bit more information about Flugsvinn here.

 

 

 

 

We came back home from our Christmas/New Years Holiday in Austria. First part we spent with my family in Vienna, where we had a fun time meeting the whole bunch. Lots of great food and nice people, did some shopping, too. Second part was planned to be spent in Bad Gastein skiing.
Well, we spent the second part in Bad Gastein, but just 1/3 of us actually went skiing nearly all days. I managed to injure myself straight away the first day in our first trip, which lead to us going to the Hospital in Schwarzach, taking x-rays, getting a bandage and crutches and the advise to check my knee out better when we are back home in Iceland. So I prepared myself for a quiet time, watching a lot of TV whilst Ingólfur and Hjördís were on the slopes. But things never turn out the way you expect and just the day after my accident Hjördís broke her right arm. Luckily she's lefthanded, so it wasn't that bad. So we orderer a taxi and went back to the hospital, where they made x-rays of Hjördís head (thanks to her helmet no damage there) and hand, she got plaster on the hand and then we went to the pharmacy and got the prescribed meds for her. Luckily we already had orderer a table for that evening as it was New Year's Eve and no way to get a free table without ordering. 
For us it was the first time we actually had to use the travelinsurance provided by Mastercard. They did a great job, checking daily on us, rebooking my flight with 2 seats for me and my knee, even arranging a transport from the hotel to the airport and so on. We made the best of the last days on our holiday, me and Hjördís went for walks whilst Ingólfur was skiing. 
Yesterday it was time to go back home and the transport was scheduled the way we'd be at the airport with good time to look around and do some shopping. Unfortunately it had started snowing heavily and a lot of roads were closed due to avalanche risk and everybody was trying to get back home that day. Our driver tried his best to drive not so much used roads and get away from the motorway and traffic jams. In the end I was already quite stressed about not being able to check in at all as there were barely 45 minutes left when we finally arrived at the airport. The counter was still open and a stressed family from Iceland trying to check in when we arrived. Our driver had to "pass us over" to the check in assistant but the family wouldn't let him do his job, started taking pics of us and just behaved really embarassing. In the end the lady at the counter had to rise from her seat and more or less shout at them. We of course let them check in before us and then went to the security line, where we were stopped because the ham in my suitcase looked like explosives in the scan (so if you travel with bacon or ham in your handluggage, be prepared to open it as it has the same colour in the x-ray as plasticexplosives) and I was checked for explosives, too.  Think we just managed to get onto the bus to the plane. I was soooo relieved when I sat in my seat and was finally able to tell my family in Vienna that we managed to get the flight.
The drive back north was peanuts after that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the last years we made a lot of experiments with how to smoke muttonfillet. This year we of course made another batch with a bit improved recipe. And what should I tell you? After a lot of work and patience we got the final results today. And it is delicious!
Small fact on the side: 100g of the final product are made of 200g of fresh meat.

 

 

 

The last 6 weeks our gelding Svipur frá Hellulandi got his basic education at Erlingur Ingvarson's stable. Svipur already knew the saddle and work in hands from last autumn, but as he is rather quick and not trusting the humans too much, we decided it would be better for him to get a training on a nearly daily base to get him a routine he can rely on.
Today we went to fetch him and of course to have a look on what he learned and how he's doing with a rider. Erlingur showed us the program he usually went through each day, starting inside and then going for a ride outside. It was a pleasure to see that the young gelding definitely trusted it's rider/trainer and willingly did what was asked from him. Now he'll get a break and will be back inside in January.

 

 

Beautiful winterweather today so we took a drive to Lake Mývatn and enjoyed magic views at some very scenic spots. Unfortunately the road up to Krafla was closed due to snow.
On our way back we came across two short-eared owls, which are usually migrating birds, hunting close to the road. Being a very experienced driver of a bird watcher Ingólfur made it possible for me to get some very nice shots.

 

 

 

 

After a strong storm the last days it was time to go and feed the mares and foals. Unfortunately a huge snowdrift blocked the way for our car and we had to call help on a special equiped car with huge tires to get down to the hay and horses. Think Ingólfur enjoyed the short trip and the horses were happy to get a new haybale. 
In the afternoon we went with Fönix and Snerpa to Ísólfsstaðir, where they are supposed to loose a bit of weight and learn a bit more about being in a big herd. The welcome wasn't too warm, especially not from Fönix' big brother Sigtýr. But as there's enough room they'll be able to avoid each other if necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago the idea for a trip with our riding club popped up and we started planning and contacting breeders and riders close to Akureyri.
First stop was Syðra-Garðshorn, where we got a very warm welcome before showing us the traininghorses and facilities. Afterwards we were invited for coffee, cake and dried fish and Birna and her husband showed us a video about their breeding and told us a lot about their approach to breeding and working with horses.
Next stop was lunch at Akureyri before we went to Litli-Garður, where Stefán Birgir and his wife welcomed us. There we got an insight in their philosophy and a lot of delicious pancakes.
I think everybody was happy with the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I lost this friend of mine, List frá Hellulandi, who had an accident, propably late last evening. 
List was the first horse I trained on my own (and I made a lot of mistakes doing that), she taught me a lot e.g. how much fun it is to be on flying pace, which was her favourite gait and that size doesn't matter.
I'm gonna miss my little energy bomb, but Snerpa, her daughter, is inside now for her first steps in training. She's hopefully going to be a bit like her mum and ends as a solid riding horse as List was.
List was in foal with Bósi frá Húsavík.
I'd like to thank everybody who came and helped as fast as possible. It made that difficult day a bit easier for me.

Finally the flooring for our small kitchen/warming up room in the stable had arrived and our personal expert had time to help us.
Great to have the floor ready and the room except for water and electricity ready to move in. Hope the rest won't that long now!

 

 

All the snow we got earlier this autumn had been melting away during the last days, but you never know when it will be back. Therefore it was time to open the second part of the big meadow, which had been closed. 
The weather and light were just wonderful, a bit windy, but rather warm, golden light and golden straws. 
Our horses raced over the new area, exploring and having fun. And I was happy to have my cam around.

 

 

 

 

Our friend Sigga at Laxamýri asked me a few weeks ago if I'd be available to take a few pics of her mare Elding.
Elding was getting old and had trouble being lame and having pain, so Sigga had decided to let her friend go before the situation would be unbearable for the mare.
Today we used the wonderful weather and the newfallen snow to have a short shooting and I hope Sigga likes the pics. For me it was special as I tried to catch the special character of Elding and the friendship between her and her owner. A very touching enquiry to be true!