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clockhere
31.12.2012 15:35
Christmasholiday
We spent our vacation with my family in Austria. After a good trip via Salzburg we had a very good time in Vienna. As we had promised Hjördís to go to the Christmasmarkets and allow her to make a candle, we spent most of Sunday, 23rd of December, walking over different markets in heavy rain. Hjördís made a beautiful candle, which she proudly wrapped in a lot of paper to make sure it would survive the trip home. On 24th we got a few last minute presents and spent the evening at my brother's place. Under the Christmastree there waited a huge pile of presents to be opened. The kids of course loved doing that and it was so nice to watch them and be happy for them. 25th was another familymeeting. We went out to have delicious lunch together, but in the end my brother was so unlucky that Philip punched his eye accidentally and he had to go to hospital to let it check. In the meantime we went to my grandma's place and enjoyed some sparkling wine and good talks. After lunch on 26th we went to one more Christmasmarket, that was still open. We were accompanied by Kristina, Philip and Anna. First we took a walk through the Emperor's park in Schönbrunn, had a look at beautiful ducks and then strolled over the market. Soooo many things to see and discover. Think the toys were Hjördís' favourites as you were allowed to try them out. Afterwards we took the underground to the centre of Vienna and had a very good walk over Kärtnerstraße, Stephansplatz, Graben and Kohlmarkt. We enjoyed the wonderful lights and the good weather. 27th we spent mostly in shops and on 28th my family decided to celebrate my upcoming birthday. 29th it was time to say Goodbye, which was hard as usual, but it is good to look forward to meeting again ;)
We thought our trip would be all the way to Húsavík that day, but we were definitely wrong... First difficulties arose at the airport in Salzburg, when we went through the security control. I forgot to remove my keys from my pocket and of course the machine detected them. So I was the "criminal" in the family, at least I thought so. But then Hjördís' handluggage was sent front and back through the scanner, and the guards not so sure what to think about the stuff in there. We removed her NintendoDS, but that was not the problem. There was something looking like a blade, which made the guards uneasy. After having a better look, we realized, it was the candle!!! So after produceing a very long queue we finally got through. The flight was nice, nothing special happening, enough time to read.
But when we arrived to Keflavík, it was soon clear, that we wouldn't take the drive back to Húsavík that day. So we organised a place to stay overnight and decided to leave early the other morning. Early it was, around 7 o'clock, when we started the drive. The first part was ok, sometimes a bit windy, but nothing to be seriously worried about. Right after Blönduos the view changed to nearly 0, strong windes and a lot of snowdrifting. We had to stop as the Rescueteam was moving a car from the road, somebody else had just left there. After that we "crawled" forward, going really slow as visibility was very poor. What a change when we drove down to Skagafjörður! Very good weather, free roads and we were getting the news, that the road we'd have to drive was cleaned the very moment. So our hopes stood high to finish the trip that day. Around 12.30 we arrived at Akureyri and were told that Víkurskarð was closed, but it was not sure if they would clean it that day. We had just missed a group going over after a cleaning vehicle and after listening to the workers, we didn't dare to try and get stuck. 2 hours later we decided to have a look and were very disappointed that we had listened to these guys as it wouldn't have been a problem then, but now there was of course already too much snow again. After several phonecalls and waiting for about 2 hours at the bottom of the road, we got to know for sure, that nobody would clean the road that day. You can probably imagine, how disappointed we were. So close, but still so far from our goal. At least we were lucky and could stay overnight with Sævar and Regina. We had a nice evening, chatting, eating, drinking.
Today we started early again, arrived at Víkurskarð at 8.30 and were told, that we could pass behind the snowplough as it would go all the way to Kross, which is halfway to Húsavík. This was great news and we were so much looking forward to having a fast trip, to come home finally. Well, we were mistaken again. The plough turned around when we came down the pass and we were left alone, trying to make our way. The visibility was rather poor and the snow started to make big piles on the road. First everything went well, but then we got stuck close to a bridge and Ingólfur was busy digging the car out off the pile. Luckily the lorry collecting milk from the farmers was on it's way to Akureyri and dragged us through this pile. Our drive continued, but when we came to the next big pile, we just decided to wait for the next plough to come and not risk to get stuck again. After around 1 hour another car arrived, the driver on his way to Egilsstaðir. I didn't envy him trying to get there. 30 minutes later, the plough arrived and cleared the way to Kross. From there we thought it would be short, the road hopefully just cleaned and easy to drive. Well, it went quite ok (if you like hopping over snowpiles...) to short after the car museum, where we saw a pile we were sure we wouldn't manage to get through. So we turned and were thinking about using the other possible way via Góðafoss. We met a car on our road, stopped and talked to the driver, who wanted to go to Húsavík with his family, too. All of us tried to get more information about roadcleaning and if the other road would be free. We were just told, that we were more or less stuck, no more roadcleaning today and we should just call the Rescueteam to get us home. In fact we already had been in contact with Bensi, who is member of the Rescueteam in Aðaldalur, and he was ready to help us. We decided to drive as far as we could and then wait for help. Not long after stopping and starting to wait suddenly a snowplough and a queue of cars appeared and we finally had the chance to finish our trip. You can't imagine, how happy we were after nearly 3 days on the way from Vienna to Húsavík. What was worst in our opinion is the fact, that Vegagerðin, who is taking care of cleaning the roads, is not working very organised. Yesterday they cleaned all around Húsavík and to Kross, but the team in Akureyri did not clean the roads to there. Today it seemed to be the other way round and nobody could give us any information about if and when they would clean the roads.
I attach a few pics, so you can maybe imagine, what kind of trip it was.
We thought our trip would be all the way to Húsavík that day, but we were definitely wrong... First difficulties arose at the airport in Salzburg, when we went through the security control. I forgot to remove my keys from my pocket and of course the machine detected them. So I was the "criminal" in the family, at least I thought so. But then Hjördís' handluggage was sent front and back through the scanner, and the guards not so sure what to think about the stuff in there. We removed her NintendoDS, but that was not the problem. There was something looking like a blade, which made the guards uneasy. After having a better look, we realized, it was the candle!!! So after produceing a very long queue we finally got through. The flight was nice, nothing special happening, enough time to read.
But when we arrived to Keflavík, it was soon clear, that we wouldn't take the drive back to Húsavík that day. So we organised a place to stay overnight and decided to leave early the other morning. Early it was, around 7 o'clock, when we started the drive. The first part was ok, sometimes a bit windy, but nothing to be seriously worried about. Right after Blönduos the view changed to nearly 0, strong windes and a lot of snowdrifting. We had to stop as the Rescueteam was moving a car from the road, somebody else had just left there. After that we "crawled" forward, going really slow as visibility was very poor. What a change when we drove down to Skagafjörður! Very good weather, free roads and we were getting the news, that the road we'd have to drive was cleaned the very moment. So our hopes stood high to finish the trip that day. Around 12.30 we arrived at Akureyri and were told that Víkurskarð was closed, but it was not sure if they would clean it that day. We had just missed a group going over after a cleaning vehicle and after listening to the workers, we didn't dare to try and get stuck. 2 hours later we decided to have a look and were very disappointed that we had listened to these guys as it wouldn't have been a problem then, but now there was of course already too much snow again. After several phonecalls and waiting for about 2 hours at the bottom of the road, we got to know for sure, that nobody would clean the road that day. You can probably imagine, how disappointed we were. So close, but still so far from our goal. At least we were lucky and could stay overnight with Sævar and Regina. We had a nice evening, chatting, eating, drinking.
Today we started early again, arrived at Víkurskarð at 8.30 and were told, that we could pass behind the snowplough as it would go all the way to Kross, which is halfway to Húsavík. This was great news and we were so much looking forward to having a fast trip, to come home finally. Well, we were mistaken again. The plough turned around when we came down the pass and we were left alone, trying to make our way. The visibility was rather poor and the snow started to make big piles on the road. First everything went well, but then we got stuck close to a bridge and Ingólfur was busy digging the car out off the pile. Luckily the lorry collecting milk from the farmers was on it's way to Akureyri and dragged us through this pile. Our drive continued, but when we came to the next big pile, we just decided to wait for the next plough to come and not risk to get stuck again. After around 1 hour another car arrived, the driver on his way to Egilsstaðir. I didn't envy him trying to get there. 30 minutes later, the plough arrived and cleared the way to Kross. From there we thought it would be short, the road hopefully just cleaned and easy to drive. Well, it went quite ok (if you like hopping over snowpiles...) to short after the car museum, where we saw a pile we were sure we wouldn't manage to get through. So we turned and were thinking about using the other possible way via Góðafoss. We met a car on our road, stopped and talked to the driver, who wanted to go to Húsavík with his family, too. All of us tried to get more information about roadcleaning and if the other road would be free. We were just told, that we were more or less stuck, no more roadcleaning today and we should just call the Rescueteam to get us home. In fact we already had been in contact with Bensi, who is member of the Rescueteam in Aðaldalur, and he was ready to help us. We decided to drive as far as we could and then wait for help. Not long after stopping and starting to wait suddenly a snowplough and a queue of cars appeared and we finally had the chance to finish our trip. You can't imagine, how happy we were after nearly 3 days on the way from Vienna to Húsavík. What was worst in our opinion is the fact, that Vegagerðin, who is taking care of cleaning the roads, is not working very organised. Yesterday they cleaned all around Húsavík and to Kross, but the team in Akureyri did not clean the roads to there. Today it seemed to be the other way round and nobody could give us any information about if and when they would clean the roads.
I attach a few pics, so you can maybe imagine, what kind of trip it was.
21.12.2012 09:17
Merry Christmas!
We wish all of our friends and their families a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2013.
This blogg is going to take a small vacation as we'll be on holiday and are not sure if we have any possibility to write here. Maybe you are lucky .
This blogg is going to take a small vacation as we'll be on holiday and are not sure if we have any possibility to write here. Maybe you are lucky .
Otherwise we'll be back online soon and are in fact (at least me) very much looking forward to taking the riding horses inside and start their training. Will be good for Farsæll do work again and List needs a diet, I'm afraid.
See you soon and enjoy Christmas!
See you soon and enjoy Christmas!
17.12.2012 23:57
Horseholiday...
...is not what you probably think. Yes, we are taking a holiday from our riding/traininghorses, but no, we are not just lazy, doing nothing except drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies. In fact we are rather busy catching horses that walked over fences, chasing horses away from our hay, driving around checking out hay, cleaning our stable, painting and finishing one wall before we take the horses in again.
Sunday we took a good drive to check out our horses in Helluland. Of course I took my camera to get one or another nice pic. The herd in Þegjandadalur was showing a rather strange behaviour, which we are not used to from Kiddi's horses. We left the car at the cartrack and took a walk towards them. When we were close, they suddenly rushed past us and to the far northern edge of the fence. We suspect one of the neighbours, which is not fond of having horses at this area, to chase them from time to time on his snowscooter. Well, in the end we managed to get close and when they realised we meant no harm, they came towards us, checking out if we had something to eat. Freyja was rather nosy, even allowed us to pet her. Nökkvi decided to follow me around, trying to get more treats from my pocket. I like the way he is developing very much. He's getting taller, his neck is very well raised and he's got a lot of mane. Looking forward to see him run on good ground and take some pics.
Sunday we took a good drive to check out our horses in Helluland. Of course I took my camera to get one or another nice pic. The herd in Þegjandadalur was showing a rather strange behaviour, which we are not used to from Kiddi's horses. We left the car at the cartrack and took a walk towards them. When we were close, they suddenly rushed past us and to the far northern edge of the fence. We suspect one of the neighbours, which is not fond of having horses at this area, to chase them from time to time on his snowscooter. Well, in the end we managed to get close and when they realised we meant no harm, they came towards us, checking out if we had something to eat. Freyja was rather nosy, even allowed us to pet her. Nökkvi decided to follow me around, trying to get more treats from my pocket. I like the way he is developing very much. He's getting taller, his neck is very well raised and he's got a lot of mane. Looking forward to see him run on good ground and take some pics.
Afterwards we had a look at Sigtýr, who's with 6 other guys in a big fence where they have enough space to run and play. We took some dry bread with us, but the guys were not so sure if it was possible to eat that stuff. Sigtýr is fine, with his thick winterfur, his mane regrowing and him growing in all directions. I was happy to see that he hasn't forgotten us and came right away when he saw us (and heard the breadbag). I put some pics in a new album.
09.12.2012 21:01
Our foals...
... are growing like crazy. They are enjoying their life outside with their mothers and other horses near Húsavík. Today we used the nice weather and took some pics of them. Þyrirós is clearly the biggest of them and the boss. She starts to be very curious about us, Ingólfur even managed to give her some bread today. Þeysir and Þokki, Maggi's foal, stick together like glued and are often up to no good. Þeysir showed us today all his gaits and it's very nice to see how easy it is for him to switch between trott, soft tölt and flying pace. Þyrnirós had to show off a bit and was flying around on elastic trott with big steps. Just have a look at the pics in the album.
Þyrnirós, our wannabe-arab
Þeysir on the run
08.12.2012 00:22
Icelandic Santas
As many of you probably know, the Icelanders don't have just one Santa but 13, brothers and children of the trolls Grýla and Leppalúði. Their pet is Jólakötturinn, the Christmascat, which eats people that don't get any clothes for Christmas. So watch out!
During December these brothers open their home and people can visit them in the fascinating scenery of Dimmuborgir in Mývatnarea. Once a year they take their bath, which is usually in early December, so they are nice, dry and clean before they start visiting the Icelandic children. Well, infact not all of them will be nice and clean as Stúfur, the smallest one, is so afraid of water, he doesn't dare to come close and therefore is already quite dirty. Others have to be tricked to bath by telling them that they are all going for a fishing trip and then just pushing them into the water.
It was bathingday today so we made a nice excursion with Hjördís, Kristján and Hrund. First we went to Dimmuborgir to meet the Santas at their home. We met Stekkjastaur with his stiff legs, Giljagaur and one of their brothers. The kids got candles, which they should take care of very well, so Kertjasníkir, the Santa coming on 24th, doesn't steal them. It was so nice to see how the Santas tried to interact with the kids, with more or less success. In the end they even got involved in a snowballfight with our bunch of kids and had a lot of fun. Stekkjastaur saw that Hjördís was a bit shy, grabbed her and took her to his stonethrone, where they had a very nice chat. Rather funny for us to watch it.
Afterwards we went to Vogafjós, the cow-shed café, at lake Mývatn. We were the only guests and got delicious food there. If you are in the area, try it! We recommend the raw smoked lamb and the dish with various specialities.
Afterwards we went to Vogafjós, the cow-shed café, at lake Mývatn. We were the only guests and got delicious food there. If you are in the area, try it! We recommend the raw smoked lamb and the dish with various specialities.
Last but not least we went to Jarðböðin, where the Christmasbath took place. In no time Ingólfur and the kids were in the pool, closely followed by 10 of 13 Santas. Looks like 3 escaped from bathing again...
They brought a lot of strange things along, Kjetkrókur (Meathook) trying to teach his hook to swim, others washing themselves and others with huge brushes and in the end singing Christmassongs with the kids and grown-ups.
It was a very, very nice afternoon, we had a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy the pics I took!
03.12.2012 22:07
Time's flying...
... already December, where did November vanish to?
Hm, think we just had so much to do! The horsetraining went very well, Sigga's Hringur was the first one to get our OK to go home, he learned to be longed, walk with his trainer by his side and bear a rider on his back. When he had achieved all this, it was time for him to get a good break and think about all he has learned.
The others stayed a bit longer, we are planning to send them home on Wednesday. Our own horses will get a break too and enjoy their Christmasholiday with the others in the herd. Svartur, Sleipnir, Drotting and the black mare have learned to be longed, got a basic training on the bit, know how to go forward, stop and turn, go faster and slower. That's quite enough for them at the moment and I think they're going to enjoy their break, too. I especially like Drottning, she looks very promising, having all the points to get a good riding- and breedinghorse. Hope she's gonna get as good as her brother Kyndill was!
Kátína was doing very well. She seems to be a very secure and trustworthy horse, not impressed by other youngsters behaving stupid while we are working together. She's equally tölting and trotting with the rider and I'm looking forward to train her more later this winter. Think I'll have to work a bit on her upperline, build up a bit more muscels there, but we are on a good way.
Flugar and Blöndal, the horses that came from the East, are doing well, Bjössi riding his Blöndal already free inside, Flugar behaving a bit like a huge dog, following me everywhere.
Well, think a break will all of us do some good, so we'll be fresh again, when we take the ridinghorses inside around New Year.
18.11.2012 18:50
Guess what!
We are just having snowstorm number 3 in 3 weeks... During last week the snow was melting quite much and we had big hopes for it disappearing completely and not having to start feeding our outsidehorses. Well, it didn't work out like we wished and the weather turned again stormy and snowy... I've never seen our paddock packed with that amount of snow before, the fence around it (approximately 2m high) is hardly visible in some parts and we were forced to put extra strings on top, so the horses wouldn't just walk over the fence. Today we started to feed the outsidehorses, about 2 months before we usually have to do that. The ground is covered with snow and ice and they don't reach the grass below anymore, eventhough they are digging for it. Think they were quite happy to see us with the hay today. While they were waiting for us to dig our way through to the roundbale, they played a bit with the big haynet, which is put over the bale to keep the horses from dragging too much hay out. Good to see that they are interested in things they don't know!
The foalmares and foals were too rather happy to see us bringing more food. Hope the storm won't blow away too much...
I took some pics today, just have a look at the album!
Our horses digging for grass yesterday.
Hm, it's green, smells like hay... must be something to eat!
Svartur, Hringur, Drottning and Kátína
The huge snowpile in our paddock. See the fence?
Stormy
15.11.2012 19:55
Horsetraining
Just a few lines about the traininghorses. Our stable is full, 8 horses we are looking after, 2 for Bjössi and Gisli is using the last place the next few days as it is impossible to train in the stablevillage due to too much snow.
Bjössi and Ingólfur already went on back on Blöndal, Svartur, Drottning, Sleipnir and the black mare out of Gígjar. We started mounting Hringur, which went quite well. Kátína and Flugar are in longeing and free work at the moment, but I have to start riding Kátína a bit more often.
We are teaching them now how to react to the reins and walk beside them holding the reins like when we are on back. Some are faster learners than others, but we are very happy about the steps forward all of these horses have done. Looking forward to see how they are after 2 more weeks!
We are teaching them now how to react to the reins and walk beside them holding the reins like when we are on back. Some are faster learners than others, but we are very happy about the steps forward all of these horses have done. Looking forward to see how they are after 2 more weeks!
11.11.2012 21:17
Between storms
As they predicted stormy weather for tomorrow, we used the beautiful day today for moving our horses. At 10 o'clock we started with getting some halters in Saltvík, fetching the trailer back in Húsavík and then catching Perla and moving her to the fence next to the road with Hrauna and Hrauney. Perla overtook the hay the moment she saw it, making very clear to the other 2 that it was her hay now.
Now it was time to fetch Farsæll and Ösp, which were supposed to go to the fence where the foalmares and Embla were. The difficulty was catching the mares before the horses mix. After walking from the main road to the fence (no way driving there, far too much snow for the trailer), Ingólfur closed the gate between the upper and lower field and I went to try and catch Aldís. She didn't like that idea at all and after hanging on her for a while I had to let go and the horses rushed away. Ingólfur came to help me, we put halters on Vordís and Þokkadís without big trouble and tied them in the shelter. Aldís followed them and we got her in the second try. Now we just had to pass the other 3 horses, taking care of them not following us, the mares and foals. Embla was not fond of that, ruined the lower gate and rushed after us. We managed to lead our group out of the fence and Ingólfur made shure Embla wouldn't follow. At least the foals were behaving and followed their mothers. No problem putting them into the fence next to the road. While the others started to run around, Vordís just knew one goal: the hay.
Next thing to do was getting Jódís, Mieke's mare, that was supposed to go to training at Bergstaðir. She was very cooperative, just came when she saw us, stood still when I put the halter on and walked up the trailer like she's doing it every day. I wish, Mánahringur would have done the same...
Vaka was not so happy to see us and tried to walk away, but in the end we got her. Next problem was that Mánahringur, her foal, thinks that he's already a big guy and doesn't need his mum at all. So he denied to follow her in the beginning, but in the end Bensi Bergsstaðir and Ingólfur made him go. The first few tries to get him into the trailer did not work at all, he just went away and tried to go back into the fence. So we moved the trailer up to the house, put it close to a wall and thought that would be enough to get him inside. Mánahringur thought different, Ingólfur and Bensi didn't manage to catch him properly and after a short fight in the snow, he disappeared with his tail high up in the air back down to the field, under the fence and straight into the herd. So Vaka and I walked back, Ingólfur called Bensi in Hólmavað for help, we made Mánahringur follow his mum up to the house an trailer again and waited for help. When help arrived, everything went rather fast (after following Mánahringur all the way up to the stable...), the guys managed to grab him and put him in the trailer, Vaka just followed. Back in Hólmavað we put them to their winterpasture. Bensi, Ingólfur and Kristján went to get the other horses, which were enclosed by water and waiting for their rescue. Think they were quite happy to be led to dry land and food.
Next stop was Helluland, where we helped Kiddi sorting his horses into 2 groups, one staying home, the other one going to a valley with lots of grass. Not so easy to sort horses that are not so willing to be caught or leave their friends... But in the end we managed.
Last thing to do was getting List and Ögn, which we did before delicious dinner at Hólmavað. After dinner and a quick coffee we drove to Húsavík, took a last long walk down to the winterpasture with the 2 mares and back, checked the horses in Saltvík (Thanks for taking care of them today, Bjössi!) and put the trailer back in its place. I think you can imagine how good it was to come home after a long day like this and take a long and hot shower! Being so busy I had unfortunately no time to take pics. That has to wait until later.
Next stop was Helluland, where we helped Kiddi sorting his horses into 2 groups, one staying home, the other one going to a valley with lots of grass. Not so easy to sort horses that are not so willing to be caught or leave their friends... But in the end we managed.
Last thing to do was getting List and Ögn, which we did before delicious dinner at Hólmavað. After dinner and a quick coffee we drove to Húsavík, took a last long walk down to the winterpasture with the 2 mares and back, checked the horses in Saltvík (Thanks for taking care of them today, Bjössi!) and put the trailer back in its place. I think you can imagine how good it was to come home after a long day like this and take a long and hot shower! Being so busy I had unfortunately no time to take pics. That has to wait until later.
10.11.2012 21:21
Snowstorm, take II
Snowstorm, again... Just one week after the last one. This time not as long and strong, but still bad enough for the horses and us. Friday the electricity kept going and coming the whole day, at school we even decided to unplug the computers and videobeamers, not to risk to damage them.
Our traininghorses had to stay inside yesterday and were just outside for a short time today. We sent 10 horses in different colours out, but got 10 white ones back inside, so you can imagine how stormy it was. They were covered all over in snow. The outside horses are doing fine, having good shelter and enough food. Usually we'd start feeding them after New Year, but if the weather keeps being like that we have to start feeding soon.
At least the horsetraining is going well, all of the traininghorses already longed with the saddle, some of them hopping the first time(s), other just taking it as normal to carry something on their back. Bjössi is helping Ingólfur a lot, being our first rider on all of them. So far most of them behaved very well, just being a bit imbalanced, but ready to learn and please. We started to ride Kátína free, she's doing her best to understand why on Earth I'm not longer in the middle but on her back and trying to give her commands from there. Think we are gonna try it with Ingólfur in the middle and me on back next.
Monday we moved the foalmares, foals and Embla to Húsavík, which went very well, better than we hoped. Gonna move them to a different fence again except for Embla, which is rather fat. She'll be joined by Farsæll, Perla and Ösp. Then we are going to get Freyja home and check her, Vordís and Perla for pregnancy. Keep your fingers crossed with us!
04.11.2012 22:39
Snowstorm
The last days, precisely from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday late night, there was a very powerful storm going over all Iceland. Here in the North and in the East it was a snowstorm, which left Egilsstaðir with the biggest amount of snow in a very long time. In the Southeast and South it was "just" a very heavy storm, blowing huge containers from their storage place, lifting people and destroying quite a lot. Our friend Hanný Heiler near Höfn in Hornarfjörður had a very bad time, even the concrete from Road 1 blown away. You can find pictures on her page.
Our horses had good shelter, so we were not too worried about them. The traininghorses had to stay inside as it was not possible to put them in the paddock because of the huge snowpile there. The southdoor was hidden in snow, when you opened it from the inside, you just saw a white wall.
Today the weather was very good, so we started to tidy up after the bad weather. First we had a look at Maggi's horses, which were happily eating when we arrived, then we cleaned our fence, where our foalmares are going to be, from huge iceballs that had formed in the rather wet weather yesterday. Not so easy, but we managed. Next step was going to Saltvík and digging our way in at the southside of the house. Ingólfur and Jón Óli were digging while Hjördís had fun sliding down the huge snowpile again and again. Think the horses were really relieved to get a chance to go out after being inside for 2 days. They were running and rolling over and playing in the snow. Kátína however was very fast finding some plants under the snow and was very busy digging them up and eating them.
Today the weather was very good, so we started to tidy up after the bad weather. First we had a look at Maggi's horses, which were happily eating when we arrived, then we cleaned our fence, where our foalmares are going to be, from huge iceballs that had formed in the rather wet weather yesterday. Not so easy, but we managed. Next step was going to Saltvík and digging our way in at the southside of the house. Ingólfur and Jón Óli were digging while Hjördís had fun sliding down the huge snowpile again and again. Think the horses were really relieved to get a chance to go out after being inside for 2 days. They were running and rolling over and playing in the snow. Kátína however was very fast finding some plants under the snow and was very busy digging them up and eating them.
Tomorrow the weather is supposed to get rather warm, so we hope a lot of snow will melt.
Just have a look at the new pics.
Just have a look at the new pics.
01.11.2012 08:26
Finnsstaðaholt in October
As we got an autumnvacation from school, we decided to go east to visit Pétur and Marietta and take a horse for Bjössi back home. It ended a bit different than planned...
Bjössi and Berta went with the trailer and we went on our car as we wanted to stay til Tuesday. First thing to do after arriving was calling Guðjón to tell him we are coming to get Blöndal, the horse. Then Marietta asked a question and all the plans changed. We had to decide quickly if yes or no and as it is difficult to say no, our answer was yes. Well, we just filled the trailer with another horse! It's anyway better to have 2 horses in the trailer, isn't it?
When we arrived at Mýnes (yes, where the stallion Frakkur is from), Guðjón was putting the horses inside so we could catch Blöndal and get him into the trailer. It went better than we hoped, just taking a few minutes to get him inside.
Back at Finnsstaðaholt we had to wait a bit for Pétur, Marietta and their trailer. Then everything went rather fast, open both trailers, unload one and load a huge, dark horse into the trailer with Blöndal. Flugar frá Höskuldsstöðum had arrived, son of Ljóni frá Ketilsstöðum and Dögg frá Höskuldsstöðum. He's gonna stay with us for training and we are hoping he'll do very well. We are going to measure him one of the next days, just being nosy how big he really is.
Back at Finnsstaðaholt we had to wait a bit for Pétur, Marietta and their trailer. Then everything went rather fast, open both trailers, unload one and load a huge, dark horse into the trailer with Blöndal. Flugar frá Höskuldsstöðum had arrived, son of Ljóni frá Ketilsstöðum and Dögg frá Höskuldsstöðum. He's gonna stay with us for training and we are hoping he'll do very well. We are going to measure him one of the next days, just being nosy how big he really is.
Bjössi started the journey back, planning to put both horses inside overnight. Blöndal thought different about it and neglected to walk into the stable, no matter which entrance Bjössi tried. Flugar made no trouble, just being nosy and interested in everything.
We had a delicious 3 courses dinner to celebrate that Pála, who was born and raised at our place, finally came home to start her training. Afterwards it was quite a long evening, talking about, how could it be different, horses, horsetraining and so on.
Monday we spent doing a lot of things outside. Pétur and Ingólfur started with repairing fences, moving the fence energizer and so on. Marietta and I started the day with the horses, Marietta putting them outside and mucking out, me trying to take pictures. That was a bit difficult as Pála thought she had to take care none of the other horses would come close to me.
Afterwards all of us went to get 4 horses that should go to another huge meadow. Marietta and I went to get the herd, which was quite a walk, but on the other hand it gave me good opportunity to take pics of their horses outside. Marietta then just went on back on one mare and rode her bareback back to the entrance, the others following. When I finally arrived there too, all the horses were in a big group obviously watching something. Getting closer I could determine what it was: Marietta clipping hooves on one of the geldings, him just standing free, no halter, nobody holding him. Such a touching moment of trust!
Afterwards all of us went to get 4 horses that should go to another huge meadow. Marietta and I went to get the herd, which was quite a walk, but on the other hand it gave me good opportunity to take pics of their horses outside. Marietta then just went on back on one mare and rode her bareback back to the entrance, the others following. When I finally arrived there too, all the horses were in a big group obviously watching something. Getting closer I could determine what it was: Marietta clipping hooves on one of the geldings, him just standing free, no halter, nobody holding him. Such a touching moment of trust!
Well, the day went fast, so many things to do! We packed our stuff before going to bed, as there was a bad weatherforecast for Tuesday and we wanted to leave rather early, having to pick up Ditta in Sólheimar. The trip back went really well, eventhough it was a bit stormy on parts.
Thanks Marietta and Pétur for having us (again) and we are very much looking forward to getting you for a visit (as soon as possible).
Thanks Marietta and Pétur for having us (again) and we are very much looking forward to getting you for a visit (as soon as possible).
28.10.2012 09:13
Birthday!!!
It's Hjördís Birthday today, already 10 years old, where is time going???
She had a Birthdayparty for her classmates and friends on Friday, of course with a Halloweentheme. Nearly all the kids came dressed up as vampires, creepy dolls, zombies, devils and so on. Some, like us, dressed up as psychopathic massmurderers, who, as everybody knows, just look like ordinary people.
Hjördís ordered a big halloweenstyle birthdaycake with a spiderweb, spider and last but not least a lot of bats. There was a lot more to eat like bat-muffins and homemade pizza.
Hjördís ordered a big halloweenstyle birthdaycake with a spiderweb, spider and last but not least a lot of bats. There was a lot more to eat like bat-muffins and homemade pizza.
The kids danced and played a lot and I think most of them were rather tired when they went home.
Yesterday we celebrated her birthday with the family at our place, having even more cakes and juicy fruits as a healthy snack. There were quite some presents, but I think the favourite one so far was the cuddly toydog she got. It's soooooooooooo soft.
Again and again: HAPPY BIRTHDAY HJÖRDíS!!!!
22.10.2012 14:55
Changes
A lot of changes here the last days/weeks. Weatherchanges, seasonchanges, windchanges and so on. Life is flowing, isn't it?
Sundaymorning we had a wonderful time with Magnús, Hóffý and their family, supervising the kids on horseback. Magnús finally went back on back again, tried both his horses Glói and Ísaak and had a smile on his face when he went off.
The kids a good time, the horses being very patient and polite with them. We are gonna do that again soon.
The kids a good time, the horses being very patient and polite with them. We are gonna do that again soon.
At lunchtime we went to Hólmavað to help a bit with the sheep. Bensi is still missing around 50 ewes and lambs, but nevertheless he had to go through his herd and decide who's gonna life and who not.
There are around 30 "smálömb", lambs under 30kg liveweight, which are far too small to go to the slaughterhouse and are going to stay until spring or autumn next year. Usually he has 4-6 lambs that size. My grey lamb is in that group too, weighting just 26kg.
My other lamb, you remember the one looking like a pirate, somehow managed to put on 5-6 kilos during the last weeks and had now 31kg. When we came it was in the group with the slaughterlambs that should be sought around 2 o'clock. Now it was my turn to decide who's gonna live and who's gonna die. Mysa or her daughter. Mysa had quite some trouble the last 2 years with her udder, just one part of it working the way it should and therefore not being able to produce enough milk for her lambs. It would have been possible to keep her maybe 1 more year, but no guaranty that she'd have female lambs again next spring. So I took the hard decision to let her go and keep her pirate daughter. María, the sheepsupervisor of our area, came later to have a look at the lambs Bensi wants to let live and really like our little one. I thought about a name for her and decided to call her "Snilld", which means ingenuity.
Mysa
Her grey lamb
Snilld
17.10.2012 08:50
Traininghorses
Our stable is filling with traininghorses. Kátína, Katla and Sigtýr were already inside a few days learning and refreshing the basics in daily care when Hringur joined them. Yesterday evening the other boxes filled with 4 youngsters from Helluland. Sigtýr is supposed to leave soon to the winterpasture, but the rest will stay inside for basic or further training.
We measured Sigtýr yesterday as we thought him rather big for his age and he's already 136cm on stick just 2 years old.
Here's a small overview of the horses inside:
Kátína frá Húsavík, blackpinto, born 2007
V: Valur frá Höskuldsstöðum
M: Hugsun frá Húsavík
fivegaited, started her basictraining last year, now inside for further training
Katla frá Hólmavaði, black, born 2008
V: Geisli frá Sælukoti
M: Perla frá Höskuldsstöðum
fivegaited, had her basictraining last autumn, inside for further training
NN frá Hellulandi, black mare, born 2008
V: Gígjar frá Auðholtshjáleigu
M: Hanna Valdís frá Grímshúsum
fivegaited, starting in basictraining
Sleipnir frá Hellulandi, grey, born 2009
V: Gandálfur frá Selfossi
M: Slaufa frá Hellulandi
most likely fivegaited, starting in basictraining
Svartur frá Hellulandi, black, born 2009
V: Kappi frá Kommu
M: Röst frá Hellulandi
probably fourgaited, starting in basictraining
Drottning frá Hellulandi, red, born 2009
V: Andvari frá Ey I
M: Dvöl frá Syðri-Brekkum
fourgaited, starting in basictraining
Hringur frá Laxamýri II, palomino, born 2009
V: Álfur frá Húsavík
M: Dögun frá Hjalla
fourgaited, starting in basictraining
Sigtýr frá Húsavík, black, born 2010
V: Geisli frá Sælukoti
M: Vordís frá Brekku
fivegaited, inside to teach him the very basics (haltertraining, leading,...)
will go outside very soon again
We measured Sigtýr yesterday as we thought him rather big for his age and he's already 136cm on stick just 2 years old.
Here's a small overview of the horses inside:
Kátína frá Húsavík, blackpinto, born 2007
V: Valur frá Höskuldsstöðum
M: Hugsun frá Húsavík
fivegaited, started her basictraining last year, now inside for further training
Katla frá Hólmavaði, black, born 2008
V: Geisli frá Sælukoti
M: Perla frá Höskuldsstöðum
fivegaited, had her basictraining last autumn, inside for further training
NN frá Hellulandi, black mare, born 2008
V: Gígjar frá Auðholtshjáleigu
M: Hanna Valdís frá Grímshúsum
fivegaited, starting in basictraining
Sleipnir frá Hellulandi, grey, born 2009
V: Gandálfur frá Selfossi
M: Slaufa frá Hellulandi
most likely fivegaited, starting in basictraining
Svartur frá Hellulandi, black, born 2009
V: Kappi frá Kommu
M: Röst frá Hellulandi
probably fourgaited, starting in basictraining
Drottning frá Hellulandi, red, born 2009
V: Andvari frá Ey I
M: Dvöl frá Syðri-Brekkum
fourgaited, starting in basictraining
Hringur frá Laxamýri II, palomino, born 2009
V: Álfur frá Húsavík
M: Dögun frá Hjalla
fourgaited, starting in basictraining
Sigtýr frá Húsavík, black, born 2010
V: Geisli frá Sælukoti
M: Vordís frá Brekku
fivegaited, inside to teach him the very basics (haltertraining, leading,...)
will go outside very soon again
Flettingar í dag: 173
Gestir í dag: 29
Flettingar í gær: 150
Gestir í gær: 26
Samtals flettingar: 657887
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Tölur uppfærðar: 22.12.2024 06:11:06
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