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29.11.2013 10:46

Aldís, Flugar, Hringur & Kátína

have finished their basics. All of them have been trained under the saddle and ridden inside free. Flugar just once, but that was enough at the moment and we think it is good for him, to have a break now and think about everything he has learned.
The other 3 already went for outsiderides. Hringur once as a handhorse with rider, which went quite well. He was well behaved and gained more and more confidence during the ride. Kátína went twice and Aldís three times. Both mares are selfconfident, both going in front and back and not scared about new things. Nice to have such easygoing horses! 
Now all of them get a good break before we take them inside again for further training.

17.11.2013 10:20

Icelandic trafficjam

Today we went to visit our friend Halldór at Bjarnastaðir. On the way we had an unexpected stop and had to wait a bit. A farmer tried to herd his sheep back home, but they refused to follow the track he made with his tractor and preferred to stay on the road, where it was easy to walk. Finally they managed to get the sheep the right way and the road was free again.
We had a good and interesting chat with Halldór and Elín, his wife. Afterwards we had a look at his sheep and horses. The sheep are still roaming free around his place and he has placed big haybales for them all around. In the evening he just calls and they come running to the stable. 
At the moment there are a few interesting young horses inside, mostly horses with non-fashion pedigrees. There were 3 kids of Geisli, which are very promising, and I'm looking forward to seeing them under the rider.









09.11.2013 10:10

Sunny but cold

That's maybe the best way to describe the weather here at the moment. In the morning we had about -11°C but bright sunshine. Magnús joined us when we went to Ísólfsstaðir to remove the fence. When we arrived, we saw, that the horses already did that job... At least they opened into the big area on their own and were just seen in the very distance on the run. Magnús and Ingólfur moved the fence to the edge of the ditch, so the horses wouldn't go there when roaming around and looking for the best places to eat. Now they have around 60 ha on their disposal, which they'll definitely enjoy.
I took some pics and will put them in an album later today.
In the afternoon we took a drive to Lake Mývatn to visit our friend Ditta and her newborn babydaughter and to relax a bit in The Mývatn Naturebath. On the way the temperature dropped to -22°C and I was already cold when I thought about going outside just in my bathingsuit. Well, wasn't that bad at all and the hot water compensates for the short discomfort. Hjördís joined us and I think, she had a good time at the bath, too. On the way home we saw some Northernlights, unfortunately not as powerful as I'd have liked to see, but strong enough to take some pics. The only disappointment was the closed restaurant on our way home, but that wasn't big trouble.



Difficult being the new guy around



Autumncolours



-22°C at Lake Mývatn



Beautiful view on the way home


08.11.2013 09:35

Embla & Nökkvi...

...are having a holiday! They did so well, that we decided to give them a good break and be free in the herd again. Maybe we get them inside in spring again and take them as handhorses during summer to build up muscels and stamina. Embla showed herself as a very independent horse, showing both tölt and trott equally. Think it will be really nice to ride her in the future on long trails just for fun. She's very smooth and supple.
Nökkvi showed mostly trott but seems to be bombproof already at his young age. He's interested in everything and very playful, but not scared with new things. If he goes on like that, he'll be a lifeensurance in the future.
Today these two joined Magnús and the others in Ísólfsstaðir and tomorrow we'll take the fence away and allow them to use the whole area.



The newcomers check out the area



Ísólfsstaðir


04.11.2013 20:51

Progress

Just a few lines about what is going on at the moment. We still have a few horses inside for training. Aldís and I went out for our first outsideride yesterday and it went well. She goes alone away from the stable, thinking forward, but easy to control. When I wanted her to walk the snowcovered ridingtrack next to the road, she wasn't sure about not sinking, so she stopped after the first step. I tried again when the cars and the lorry had passed, but she didn't trust the ground enough. So I dismounted and led her over, which was no problem at all. Did it the same way with a small rill and the pipe, which still has to be covered. She stood always still, when I mounted again and then went fresh forward. Think she was happy to get praised so much for everything she did right. Hope I can do that again soon, but first Ingólfur has to shoe her again for me as she stepped on one of the frontshoes today and ripped it off.
Today we worked most of our horses. Kátína was longed, Aldís was used as a leadinghorse for Hringur, who is learning to be a ridinghorse. Bjössi was riding him today, following us mostly, but working independently, too. Afterwards it was Nökkvi's turn. He wasn't too willing being completely alone, but did well. Would have been easier for him, to have another horse to follow. Last but not least, it was Flugar's turn and he did well, too. I was happy to see, how well he's taking the rider and how much he's trying to do everything right. Looking forward to see him grow into a ridinghorse. 



Nökkvi



Nökkvi content with the weight on his back



Ingólfur and Flugar warming up



Everybody concentrated



Finished!


29.10.2013 20:31

Big, bigger, Flugar

At least he's the biggest horse at the stable right now. Today was his big day and Bjössi went for the first time on back in the riding hall. Think he could have used some schnaps before to calm him down, but it worked without, too. First they trained to mount him in his box and then in the bigger space of the arena in Saltvík. Everything went fine and Flugar was relaxed when they walked a few rounds. That's a very good start and Bjössi really earned himself the beer he got afterwards. 
Before mounting Flugar he had to solve another not so easy task: ride Hringur without the securityline in the arena. I was on Aldís and they followed me around, even overtaking once. Hringur is on the right way and it's nice to see him make steps forward in his training. It's just fun riding Aldís and I'm looking forward to trying her outside. 
After all this training we decided to measure our horses and not everything that looks small is small and the other way round.
So here are the results:
Flugar - 145,5 cm
Kátína - 141 cm
Embla - 138 cm
Aldís - 137 cm
Nökkvi - 134 cm

28.10.2013 22:35

Visitors from the south

Two journalists from Eiðfaxi, one of the Icelandic Horsemagazines, are driving a circle around Iceland, stopping at different places and talking to horsepeople around the country. Óðinn Örn Jóhannsson and Daníel Smárason started their trip on an old Landrover 24th of October, going first East to Hornafjörður, then the Eastfjörds and Egilsstaðir, where their car finally broke down. After changing their car they were able to continue their trip.
Today they visited horsepeople around Húsavík and met Gísli in Saltvík after talking to Einar Viðir, Vignir and Berglind at the new stables. We were in Saltvík, too, when they came, so Óðinn and Daníel had a look at our place, took some pics and an interview with us. I was trying to slip away and let Ingólfur do the interview, but had no chance to do so. At least, I managed to take a pic of our visitors.
Afterwards they were headding to Helluland and Norðurhlið before going to Akureyri. Kiddi didn't believe us, when we called and told him to prepare for their visit. He thought, we were just kidding and was taken by surprise when they showed up at his place. Hope, they asked Miriam some questions, too.
The rest of the day was spent with moving horses, shoeing and training. We moved Ösp and Magnús to Ísólfsstaðir, where they met Ögn, Glói, Isaak and Þokkadís. Magnús had to show off a bit and I was luckily ready with the camera when he rised very slowly on his hindlegs, reminding me of the stallions in the Spanish Ridingschool. Was wondering who showed him a video...



Ingólfur, Óðinn and Daníel getting ready for the interview



Magnús trying to become an exchange student at the Spanish Ridingschool




24.10.2013 22:28

Youngsters at Helluland

We recently paid a visit to our friend Kiddi in Helluland and Miriam, his horsetrainer from Swiss. Miriam came in early September and stays until Christmas. She is doing very well and seems to like her job (she helps with the cows, too) and the traininghorses. At least, there's enough to do.
It was time to clip the hooves of the young geldings and take some pics of them afterwards. The gelding, which was wildest last time, was a bit tense, but with giving him time to get accustomed with everything, it was no problem at all and we were finished faster than expected.
I attach some pics of the geldings and the young stallions, hope you like them.




Dimmir, stallion, born 2010 (Kappi-Röst)



Gelding, born 2011 (Þristur-Slaufa)



Gelding, born 2011 (Ómur-Súla)



Mjölnir, stallion, born 2011 (Hófur-Röst)



Roði, gelding, born 2010 (Djákni-Glæta)



Straumur, gelding, born 2011 (Þristur-Lukka)


21.10.2013 21:48

Snilld

Remember when I blogged about Hraunsrétt in August? Then I just found my grey ewe, but not Snilld, her spotted sister. She didn't come with the herd at the second roundup either, nor did she show up at any other roundup in the area. So I had very low hopes to get her back alive. 
In fact Snill just didn't want to come home early and enjoyed her freedom in the highlands as long as possible together with a few other sheep. She was found in the last search and captured together with 15 others. I was really happy to hear that, couldn't believe it in the beginning. When I saw her so after the long summer, she for sure remembered me and the treats I usually carry with me and started to beg rightaway. Of course she got some emoticon
I have to admit, she perfectly fits into my group of animals: she's fat, greedy and misbehaved...








17.10.2013 21:30

Þeysir

A few days ago we got news from Þeysir, who is in the Netherlands now. Lilian, his owner sent us a few lines and pics and we were really happy to see how well he's doing. As you can see, he gets the mane from his mum, but the conformation of his dad with strong legs and joints. 
Thank you for keeping us updated, Lilian!





14.10.2013 22:16

Flatey

Every autumn, the older classes of the local school are invited to a sailing trip by Northsailing. This year we went to Flatey, an island in Skjálfandibay, which was inhabited until 1967. 2 of the students power the keys of some houses there and invited us over to have a look. Their families have put a lot of money and effort in rebuilding the houses and it was fun to have a guided tour. Of course we had a look at the lighthouse and the church, too. On our way back we encountered a few humpbackwhales in the distance. The weather was very good, sunny with a light breeze. It was rather cold on sea, but we could get overalls on board. Think one of the highlights for the kids was to get hot chocolate and cinnamon buns, which disappeared in no time.



Náttfari with classes 8 & 9



Náttfari & Haukur








13.10.2013 16:08

Autumnpasture

As I mentioned before, some of our ridinghorses together with Bensi's horses enjoy a huge pasture at the moment. The landscape is so diverse, small hills and valleys, grass and heath, rocks and water, the horses have enough to do to find their food and seem to wander around quite a lot to find the best bits. So they are not always where we expect them to be when we come for a visit. Today we took a good walk around to find them, but it took us quite some time til we finally spotted a spotted horse in the distance. It was Farsæll and the others were just around him. They were nosy, but didn't want to come straight away, so Ingólfur went to greet them and they followed him back to where Hjördís and I were. I got a few really nice pics and a new favourite picture. The horses were all well, happy to see us and get a good clap.



Where could they be?



Best go and fetch them.



Here they come



My new favourite



Best friends

13.10.2013 14:21

Horseroundup in Eyjafjörður

It's always nice and interesting to take a look at horses, others breed and so the 2 horseroundups in Eyjafjörður yesterday were a good opportunity to do that. Farms like Höskuldsstaðir, Komma, Litla-Garður and Árgerði have their horses in the highlands and fetch them in October every year. 
At the first roundup there were many flashy colours, nearly all the fashioncolours like buckskin, palomino, splash and other spotted, a lot of grey horses and of course silverdapple. It was interesting to see the horses before they were driven into the arena to sort them. They were so calm and friendly, very relaxed and happy to get a good clap. In the arena some of them changed, didn't want to be taken and sorted. Some were very unfriendly with the other horses, bit and kicked, others just trying to hide in the mass. And then there are these horses, that just grab your attention and nearly force you to keep an eye on them. There was an older broodmare, "just" black, who had this special thing. She had a frostmark on her back so I could look her up in Worldfengur, but unfortunately I couldn't find any offspring of her in Worldfengur. I'm pretty sure, the 2 horses following her where her offspring.
At Melgerðismélarrétt there were not sooo many colours, but I liked the horses I saw more. It seems like the breeders there have not as many foals as the others but different ideas and thoughts for their breeding. The eyecatcher there was a black or darkbluedun horse with a star and a snip and a blue eye. Not exactly my taste, but that one was fabulous. I put some pics in an album for you, have fun!












10.10.2013 09:47

Horsetraining

Just some short news from our youngsters. We started riding Aldís inside 2 days ago and she's just fine with it, relaxed and doing what you ask her to do. At the moment she offers walk, tölt and trott, we just have to sort out how to get what we want.
We were wondering if somebody already secretly trained Nökkvi before we fetched him as he isn't afraid of anything, doing as he's asked to do and just in good mood, learning very fast. Neither was the saddle bothering him nor the fact that somebody mounted his back.
Embla is not always thinking about how big she in fact is, but she too learns fast and takes new things rather easy and relaxed. If things continue to go that well, these two are not going to stay inside very long but will get their break soon.
Sigtýr left us and went to Skagafjörður for his training. Looking forward to get news from him.

06.10.2013 09:17

Tungurétt

Yesterday we took a drive to Dalvík to meet our friends Gabi and Jutta, who joined a group of riders from Saltvík for the horseroundup in Svafardalur. Not so many horses, but if I translate their happy faces right, they had a great time with good horses. And they were lucky with the weather, too. A bit of snow, a bit cold, but not too bad. It was so nice to meet them and chat a bit since we don't meet so often. Hope they'll finally come to stay a bit with us.








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