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28.03.2013 09:36

Stallionshow

After getting our stable ready and putting the horses outside, we started our trip to Skagafjörður, where the annual stallionshow in the big ridinghall was planned for the evening. We decided to make a bit more out of this trip and visit 2 breeders/trainers on our way.
First stop was Kiddi's stallionfence, where we had a quick look at Sigtýr and took a few pics of him. Hard to believe, he's just going to be 3 in June. Then we picked Kiddi up and after one more stop in Akureyri, we continued to Skagafjörður.
We were lucky and met Magnús Bragi (Íbishóll) at home. He showed us around his stable, we clapped Óskasteinn and chatted about horsetraining and breeding. Just before we went, he showed us his young stallions, which are growing up in a huge field. There's a younger brother of Óskasteinn, the last offspring of Ósk out of Vafi frá Ýsta-Mói. His name is Snillingur and Magnús hopes he stands with that big name. We really liked him and are thinking about how to get him here in summer.
Afterwards we met Þorarinn Eymundsson in Sauðárkrókur and had a look at Þórálfur, Þeyr, Hlekkur and Narri. It's a pitty Vordís is not in foal with Þórálfur as he definitely has improved his looks since last summer. Hard to believe, that Álfur frá Selfossi is his father. I was very much interested in Hlekkur as he is one of the oldest offspring of Þeyr and was not disappointed by his looks. He's lightbuilt with very good neck and a good back. Maybe I get a mare like this out of Þeyr and Vordís. 
In the evening we watched 35 stallions, younger and older, judged and unjudged, fourgaiters and fivegaiters, some better trained than others. I really liked Kalmar frá Efri-Rauðalæk. One of the highlights was the honoray horse of the evening, which in this case was Andvari frá Ey, father of our Vordís. He was shown under the saddle, but you could see, that he more or less just came from the winterpasture. 
I'd say, eventhough it was a stallionshow, the mares, that were shown, topped them! Especially the mare Fura frá Stóru-Ásgeirsá, who accompanied her fullbrother Eldfari, was amazing. Maybe one day we manage to breed a horse like her.
On our way back, the sky was full of northernlights, but I was too tired and the moon was too bright to take proper pictures. So I just enjoyed the show.

I attach some pics of Sigtýr and Snillingur.










Snillingur frá Íbishóli


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27.03.2013 08:37

Mares...

...or better said chestnut mares was what we got to see when we went to Erlingur checking out Kiddi's young mares that are in training there.

They are:

Perla frá Hellulandi, born 2008, chestnut with flaxen mane and tail and a star, fivegaited, daughter of Hágangur frá Narfastöðum and Lukka frá Hellulandi

Vá frá Hellulandi, born 2008, chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, probably fourgaited, daughter of Hágangur and Slaufa frá Hellulandi 

Sól frá Hellulandi, born 2007, chestnut with a star and really much mane and tail, maybe fivegaited, daughter of Tigull frá Gígjarhóli and Súla frá Hellulandi

Sóla frá Hellulandi, born 2008, chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, a star and a snip, probably fivegaited, fullsister of Sól

The mares were doing fine, but got a bit disturbed by us standing in the field, watching them. Perla, Sól and Sóla already have a good speedrange in tölt, Vá, who shows tölt without a rider, just started to tölt with rider and is therefore not as fluent as the others yet. It was nice to meet all of them again and see how they are developing into good ridinghorses and maybe more.

When you have a look at the pics, you'll see that the mares are very alike. This is due to them being very close related, all of them being bred out of Slaufa. Slaufa is the mother of Vá, grandmother of Perla and greatgrandmother of Sól and Sóla, whose mother Súla is a sister of Perla.




Perla (Hágangur - Lukka)



Sóla (Tigull - Súla)



Sól (Tigull - Súla)



Vá (Hágangur - Slaufa)



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26.03.2013 09:32

Easterholiday

Finally we have a few days off from work and good weather. Saturday we started early in the stable and went to the big riding hall with Hjördís. The horses were allowed to the big field afterwards and celebrated their freedom with rolling themselves like crazy in the snow, bucking and running allover.
In the afternoon we went to Akureyri, celebrating the birthday of Jói, Ingólfur's nephew. Good food, very nice people - what can you ask more?
Sunday we went to get Mieke's Jódís from training in Bergsstaðir. She was there for 2 months of training and we really liked what we saw. She's trying to please her rider, strong and all gaits open. Very nice ridinghorse for nearly everybody I'd say. Jódís joined Kátína and the others in the field and of course tried to take over the herd the moment she entered the field. Some things never change.
The weather was so good, we spent some time with the foalmares. No idea where Þyrnirós wants to grow, but she's very big for her age, rather looking like some coldblood foal than an Icelandic foal... Looking very much forward to seeing her in her summerfur.
Her big brother Sigtýr is doing well too, big and beautiful, have to try and picture him soon.
Yesterday we went early to the stable and trained our horses (they are still wondering why on earth we are always so early now) and allowed them to the big field afterwards. They really like that.
Today will be busy with taking pics and videos of Kiddi's mares that are in training at Erlingur's place. I'm really looking forward to seeing them, especially Perla, sister of List.



Jódís and Bensi



Þyrnirós has changed her look from Arab to Shirehorse...



Þokki, Maggi's foal

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13.03.2013 11:35

Pictures

After having a look at our picturepages I got a slight shock, realizing I haven't been very diligent recently setting in pics. Mea culpa! 
Now I'm busy adding pics so you have something to go through and have a look at. More albums coming soon!
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09.03.2013 22:29

Having a look in the sheepstable

In the afternoon we took a drive to Hólmavað and had a look at the sheep. My Snilld and her grey sister are there too, so I took a few pics of them. They are both "loosing" their grey colour, very much like their mum Mysa did, just to get dark over summer again. I very much hope that it'll be the same with these two and the colour in the markings will come back over summer.
I had a look at older pics I have, found one of Mysa as a lamb and compared it to her daughters. They are very much alike, eventhought the sisters seem to have a bit darker basecolour. I'll keep a kind of picturediary of these colourchanging sheep.



Snilld, 21.10.2012


Snilld, 9.3.2013



21.10.2012



9.3.2013



Mysa in February 2011



Happy chewing








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06.03.2013 20:06

Guess what...

... it's snowstorm again emoticon.
Last week almost all the ice melted, the outsidehorses could finally reach the grass underneath the snow again and the ridingtracks started to be rather good after first being frozen and then muddy like hell. 
We were invited to the baptism of Lára Soley's and Hjalti's little daughter who got the name Hulda Margrét after both her grandmothers. Of course we made the cake and I attach a pic. Hjördís and Ingólfur's father went with us and we had a great day together.
Sundayevening it got colder and Monday we had a wonderful snowstorm, the road to Akureyri was closed again and it was pure luck that the "Skálmöld"-concert was not delayed due to the weather. The band already arrived in Húsavík during the night from Sunday to Monday. The concert was great and I'm very much looking forward to have them here again in spring/early summer.
Yesterday the weather was quite ok, eventhough rather cold and the horses enjoyed themselves outside, playing and digging for more grass. During the night we got another storm and it was definitely no fun driving to Saltvík to feed the horses in the morning. Of course Vikurskarð was closed again and I just heard in the news, that they were fetching people from there that have been stuck in their cars up there since in the morning... This time the weather was so bad, that the local authorities decided to stop cleaning the snow off the roads as the roads were just closing right after the plough again. Good to own a jeep... Well, we were allowed to send the kids home earlier from school or rather let their parents pick them up. That has never happend since I work in this school...
We went right after school to check on our horses. The outsidehorses needed a new roundbale of hay and we were hoping to move it with our car like usual. But there was so much snow, that our car got stuck already at the gate. After getting it out again, we took a walk down to the bales and the two of us rolled it to our horses. Not so easy against the storm and uphill, but we managed. This time we just cut a few holes in the plasticcover so the storm wouldn't blow half of the hay away. The horses didn't mind, they were just happy to get more to eat.
In Saltvík we first had to dig ourselves in, just to dig ourselves out again, when we left 2 hours later. The horses were fine, having it nice and warm inside. We let them run a bit in the ridinghall and they really enjoyed that, bucking around and having fun. Afterwards they were happy to get their hay.
Please keep your fingers crossed, that this weather stops soon and we get our sun back!



Aldís having fun



Freyja showing her babybelly






On the way to the stable



Good to have a shovel in the car...
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24.02.2013 20:39

This and that

Our Þeysir arrived safe and sound in the Netherlands and already melted all the hearts there. We hope, he'll have a very good life there in the future.
His mum Aldís is doing well. She is very positive and it's fun to work with her. Looking forward to get to know her better. 
We got a dear guest this weekend and enjoyed the superb weather at Mývatn, watching the competition on ice. For a change neither Ingólfur nor I took part and so we were able to just relax and watch. The weather was perfect and we saw many good horses. It was nice to watch Seiður frá Flugumýri close and I would be ready to use him on one of our mares. 
In the evening we got delicious dinner, Ingólfur did some magic in the kitchen and conjured a fantastic meal out of haddock, shrimp, cheese, cornflakes and rice. After digesting a bit, we had a look at the Northernlights and I tried my Fisheyelens. 
Today we had an easy morning and went to the stable after lunch. First we checked the foalmares and foals and then Ingólfur and Hjördís went for a ride, while I was putting up our new stable plates.
At the moment we are enjoying the warm weather and keep our fingers crossed that all the ice melts from the meadows before it's getting cold again later this week. 



Our new stable plates.



Seiður frá Flugumýri on ice



Northernlights over the bay



Þyrnirós



Happy after a good ride
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16.02.2013 08:58

Þeysir...

...is already a big boy and ready to explore the world. He hasn't been much around his mum recently, more or less just hanging around with the other youngsters, sometimes visiting her to take a drink.
We took him inside a few days ago to teach him to be led and brushed and everything he needs as he's going to start his big journey today. First to Akureyri, where he's going to stay overnight, from there to Reykjavík and on Wednesday he's going to leave Iceland forever and start his new life in... The Netherlands!
We wish his new owner all the best with this cute little guy.



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10.02.2013 23:42

Time for...

... some news. The weather has been wonderful the last days, the ice perfect, so what would have been better than taking one or two or more rides on ice? 
Last weekend we visited Kiddi in Helluland and enjoyed a good ride with him and this weekend there was a little clubcompetition at the frozen lake close to Húsavík. 
List and I took part in Gæðingakeppni and Pace. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I for instance learned, that my horse doesn't care about anything going on around as long as there's something to eat. And I learned that List must possess an eternal source of power otherwise it's difficult to explain why she was still eager to run after riding all the way to the lake, compete there and riding all the way back. I wonder what her secret is...













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27.01.2013 18:33

Lazy Sunday

... or not? It was a partly lazy Sunday, having an easy morning, Hjördís and her friend Sigrún playing, Ingólfur preparing lunch and me looking out of the window. Guess what I saw there! A gyrfalcon, the biggest falcon in the world. It was just sitting on the fence close to our flat, endangering some ducks in the harbour. I was lucky enough to have my camera ready and walked out with the girls to have a closer look. The falcon had a good look at us too, before it opened it's wings and took off. I'd guess it was a young female regarding size and blueish-grey colour on the upper beak around the nostrils.
After lunch we went to Saltvík to start the not-lazy part of the day. Hjördís asked to ride Farsæll and was happy to get a Yes from us. I thought it was time to teach them a bit and show Hjördís how to ride trott better. They did fine, especially after I took Farsæll on the longe and Hjördís was able to concentrate completely on what she should do. So nice to watch how much Farsæll is taking care of Hjördís.



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27.01.2013 10:43

Weekend...

... and stormy weather. At least it's not too cold so it was "just" rain and not snow pouring down and being blown horizontally over the road yesterday. The outsidehorses got their hay inside the windprotected area, so it wouldn't blow away straight away. The insidehorses were not too eager to go outside yesterday and happy when they were allowed back inside after rolling over and stretching themselves.
Saturdayafternoon 8 riders met on the ice at Kaldbakur and had a good time trying their horses. It was not as stormy there and we used the opportunity to take a few pics. There were 3 riders from Saltvík: Bjössi, Hrund and Jón Óli. Think it was Hrund's first time on ice.
In the evening the owners of the 2 new stablebuildings in Húsavík invited everybody to come and celebrate with them. We have been helping Berglind and Vignir a bit the last days finishing and of course stopped by to celebrate a bit with them. Think the last guests went home very late.
Today looks like an insideday. Too stormy to go for an outsideride, so maybe we just have a lazy day and go to the stables later in the afternoon.




Magnús and Farsæll
















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21.01.2013 00:08

Update

... no, not our homepage, just a small update on what we are doing and what is going on.
The foalmares and foals are well, eventhough their meadow looks more like a skatingarena than a place for horses. Now the motto is: move carefully and no running! That's a pitty as the foals really could use a good racetrack to get stronger and even more surefooted. Well, at the moment they are training there skills on ice. Same story at the place where our ridinghorses are. Think Kátína really is happy about having shoes with spikes at the moment. No slipping and sliding!
Our insidehorses are doing fine, List got a fancy haircut and isn't sweating as much as before, Farsæll is taking his first steps on tölt and the others are always looking forward to getting their haynets.
Yesterday we put up a huge heater, which is supposed to keep the stable frostfree, and it seems to work really fine, already increased the temperature from 5 to about 10 degrees.
After a very good ride on List (inside and outside) and a longer ride on Farsæll (yes, he has to work a bit inbetween) we went to Helluland to have a look at Nökkvi and shoe some horses. I had planned to video and photograph Nökkvi, but the conditions there are very much the same as here: ice, everywhere. So no use trying to film a young horse without shoes and spikes. And we are definitely not going to shoe a horse on it's 3rd winter to just take a video and some pics! Instead I had a look at Kiddi's herd and watched him a bit when he went for a ride with Askur, who had been at our place for his basic training. I liked a lot what I saw, Askur seems to be a really promising gelding, high and wide movements, enough power, but soft in his gaits.





Nökkvi, just looking better everytime we see him



Kiddi and Askur going for a ride
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14.01.2013 00:11

We proudly present...

...Farsæll and Hjördís! It looks like we got a new horse-rider pair in Saltvík. Hjördís has always been very fond of Farsæll, being proud to sit on his back, give him treats or just brush him. When we went to the stable on Saturday, I offered her a ride on him, knowing he'd take good care and wouldn't do anything stupid with his precious freight. It went very well, they tried walk and trott, stopp and go, left and right. Today it was easy to say "Yes, you can ride him again!" and I took a little video of this cute pair. Farsæll is only 5, but very secure and does his best to understand the signals, Hjördís is sending. She is not yet a very confident rider, her hands still shaky and unsteady and having difficulties to sit in the saddle on trott. But that's something to work on and I think, together with Farsæll we'll manage to teach and learn a lot. Hope she wants to keep going and comes more often with us to the stable.

The other horses are fine, Embla was taking a walk outside the fence, so we put her with the broodmares and foals to our "prisonfence". Hope she'll stay there. Our warmwaterpipe is obviously getting into the nerves of somebody in the new stablearea. We know it is not isolated too well, but tried our best to fix it. It is melting the ice off the way and there comes a small icefree part on the road, which wouldn't be a problem if the road was cleaned properly. Anyway we discovered on Saturday that somebody had turned off the water, which was the drinkingwater for our outsidehorses, without telling us. Now the whole pipe is frozen as we had no chance to empty it. Probably it is now broken somewhere on the way to our fence, which is unpleasant as it wasn't cheap to make it. We turned the water on, hoping it would maybe melt it's way through again, just to discover, it was turned off again when we checked in the morning. Now we opened and taped the tap. Hope whoever had his fingers on it understands that message!


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06.01.2013 17:21

What's new?

Enough to do here, so little time to write.
Þeysir is doing fine, when we got the vet to check him, he was already so much better, he could even run away. He's getting antibiotics now, 2 more days to go. He'll be really relieved when we stop catching him everyday. At least he's so well behaved, he's not doing anything stupid. Þyrnirós is always watching what we are doing and starts to come when she sees our car arrive. Today Ingólfur finally was allowed to clap her, too. We think she's going to be big and beautiful in spring when she has changed to her summercoat. At the moment she's more like a huge furball with her thick mane not being able to decide to which side to lay.
Their mothers are well, eating as much as they can, Vordís of course always cautious nobody is getting too close to her. Perla doesn't at all look like 22 and she's not behaving like that either. Always ready to show new horses their place in the herd...
The stable is filling, just room for one more horse in our part. 

Horses we are training at the moment:
Freyja frá Krossi: she's inside to refresh the things she learned last year and go on in her training.
Rökkvi frá Hellulandi: refreshing his skills and further training as a ridinghorse
Katla frá Hólmavaði: further training as a ridinghorse (think she's the secret favourite of Ingólfur)
Ösp frá Húsavík: further training as a ridinghorse
Farsæll frá Vatnahjáleigu: further training as a ridinghorse, more work on his tölt 
List frá Hellulandi: further training as a ridinghorse

The last free place is for Magnús, who is still in the countryside on holiday. Think you can imagine, that there's enough to do for us. But in fact it's better to have something to do than just hanging around and not having any hobbies!
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01.01.2013 17:28

Happy New Year

to all of you! Hope you had a safe travel from 2012 over to 2013. The weather here has been not too good, so there was no big bonfire and no big firework, I think people bought less firework, too. Short after midnight we took a drive to look at our horses, which were just calmly eating.
Today we decided to take our ridinghorses inside and move some other horses. Bjössi and Maggi came with us as they were taking inside, too. I was afraid it would be difficult to catch Flugar and Blöndal, but they just came and insisted on getting some treats. In no time we caught all the horses in the upper fence and then moved Flugar and Maggi's Glói to the lower fence, where we took Farsæll, List and Ösp and walked them back home. We had to walk on the mainroad, which was not sooo much fun as there were some drivers not taking much care about us walking there and passed rather fast. After climbing the last huge snowpiles we had to jump down on the already cleaned way up to Saltvík. I had the impression that the horses were rather happy to get inside and get something nice to eat. 
Afterwards we had a look at our mares and foals. Þeysir managed to injure himself and has a small wound on his left frontleg, which is rather swollen and he's limping. So it's vettime for him tomorrow. Þyrnirós starts to be very curious about people and came to have a look what we were doing with Þeysir. She even allowed me to clap her and got some treats instead. Amazing how big she is... Hope I can take some pics the next days.
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