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20.01.2012 22:10

Short horseoverview

Just to give you a short update who is where ;)

Perla and Embla are finished in their basictraining and waiting to go home to Helluland.
Glæta, Kátína and Ösp are waiting to start their further training, still having a break at the moment.
Farsæll, List and Magnús are in endurance training to lose weight (especially List...) and build up muscels. 
They are all doing well and it is a huge step forward for us to be able to use the new riding hall. We use the ride down there to warm up and can just start working with the horses when we arrive there.

The other horses are outside and enjoy the beautiful view over Skjálfandafljót and the mountains on the other side of the bay (and their hay..).

 
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15.01.2012 21:39

Farsæll

Well, today it is exactly 4 years since Farsæll arrived at Húsavík. 
He developed so much better than we dared to expect, becoming a really beautiful but gentle stallion, who is doing very well in training.

At the moment we try to build up his strength and endurance and therefore I work with him as often as possible. We neglect the tölt and just work at the basic gaits. Farsæll loves to work and tries to please his rider. It is no problem to go for a ride with others, no matter if the other horses are geldings or mares. I'm really happy how well he is doing and I think it tells much about a horse when you dismount with a smile on your lips emoticon




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01.01.2012 12:36

Happy New Year...

... and thanks for the old one!
We wish you all the best for 2012 and may your wishes come true.

Our horses had a quiet night, they are not bothered about the fireworks, hardly having a look around midnight when everybody is greeting the new year with colourful explosions. We are very grateful, that they take it so well and don't panic.

We had a nice and calm evening, watching the big fire and fireworks at 16.30. The firework was not as impressive as the last years as it was a bit foggy and you couldn't see them as well as the year before. Afterwards we celebrated the 75th birthday of Ingólfur's dad, had fantastic lamb for dinner, played with the kids, watched TV until we finally went to greet the new year with a tiny lightshow. The kids loved it ;)

What are the news of our trainingshorses? 
Katla,Freyja and Jódís already got their well deserved holiday and are enjoying themselves outside in a big field.
Glæta, Perla and Embla had a short Christmasbreak, but are still inside to finish their basiceducation.
The sisters Ösp and Kátína are inside now to fresh up the basics and start their training as ridinghorses.
List is inside to start her diet and fitnessprogramm to get her in shape soon.
Magnús and Farsæll are very good friends, playing very much when we set them out together. They enjoy going for refreshing outsiderides. Ingólfur trained Farsæll a bit outside while I was visiting my family in Austria. I'm very happy in how fine shape I got him back, going forward and fun to ride. 

Well, there is enough to do for us, we won't get bored!






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09.12.2011 14:16

Farsæll´s foals

As you know Farsæll covered some mares in summer 2010 and while surfing on the internet I found a very pretty daughter of him named Eldey.
I contacted her owner and breeder Sirrý (www.soldalhestar.com) and she was so kind to send me a short description and a picture of the little lady. I´m very happy to see such a nice daughter of our Farsæll and hope she´ll fulfill all the expectations of her owners.

Here´s a pic of little Eldey:


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07.12.2011 12:58

Next steps

Well, the next step was taken by Jódís and Glæta! They are on the best way to become ridinghorses. Yesterday they walked their first rounds with me on their back in the ridinghall. Both did their job very well, eventhough they were not so sure about the thing on their back in the beginning. As I know them they'll get used to that soon and it will take just a short time till we can skip the safety line.
Freyja is doing fine too, getting used to all kinds of scary noises behind the walls as our neighbours in Saltvík are getting their stable ready, using a lot of different tools making scary noises. Freyja already trusts me that much, that she doesn't try to escape but stands by my side and has a closer look.
Magnús and Ösp came inside too and are waiting for their turn in training.
Farsæll of course is very happy to have "his" Magnús back as he finally got someone to play.
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03.12.2011 21:32

Icelanders in Austria - Part 2


Do you remember the little Icelandic chicks in Austria? If not, you find them in our Blogg in September.
Well, as you know, little chicks grow and that´s exactly what these 4 fellows did and still do. They are growing and growing and getting more and more beautiful. Their new owner thinks the biggest difference from his other chicken is, how fast they are. At the last photosession it was not possible to let them loose otherwise they would have been gone.
I attach a few pics and am looking forward to get more news of them.
















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01.12.2011 21:18

Training

Well, it has been quite some time since I wrote last, but our days were so filled, it was hardly time to be at the computer.
The training is going fine, all young horses are behaving well and are making steps forward. Some smaller than others but all in the right direction.
We already put the saddle on all youngsters, which took it quite well. Just Embla made a small hop when she was supposed to walk with this strange thing on her back out of the box. None of them was trying to get the saddle off so it was rather unspectacular for the watchers.
The next step was of course mounting them. As I already said before, these mares are all A-students and taking new things so well and therefore it was no problem to mount for the first time. Think the candy they got as reward helped a bit.
Ingólfur and Katla are already walking their rounds without help in the ridinghall, whilst the others are still on their way there. I think Embla will be the next one "let loose". At the moment I still have her on the safetyline while Ingólfur is on back. But in fact he is telling her where to go and how fast. 

Farsæll is doing very well too, I´ve started riding him inside and am waiting for a partner to go for outsiderides. Think he´ll like that better than being ridden inside all the time. 
As you can see, there is enough to do for us every single day ;)

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09.11.2011 21:09

Shoes, shoes and more shoes....

... in this case horseshoes!
We have been preparing the young mares for being shoed for quite some time and not so long ago their big time had come. We were well prepared, as it is not always so easy to convince the horse to be shoed for the first time, especially if it has quite some temper...
Well, these mares were A-students, behaving really well while Ingólfur was clipping and rasping their fronthooves. Then he shoed all of them in front (they´ll get their backshoes later) and gave them good time in between to rest their legs. They were happily nibbling their hay and not stressed at all. That´s the way it should be!
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06.11.2011 21:07

Horseholiday

List, Magnús and Ögn are enjoying their well deserved autumnholiday at a huge field at the seaside. They already have put on some weight for the wintertime and are in good mood, always ready to get some visitors, especially if the visitors bring some bread.
We used the good weather and took some pics of them. You find them in the new album "Autumnholiday". As you can see, they are feeling well and it looks like Magnús and List are training to be at the same pace emoticon




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02.11.2011 20:09

Trainingshorses

Now all the young horses that are supposed to start training, are inside and things are going their way. We are getting them used to be handled daily, put a halter on, lift the feet, clap them, touch them allover and of course showing them the ridinghall, leading them there, taking a good look at all the scary things.
They have calmed already quite much and it is always fun to work with such unspoiled horses.

Now, here they are:

Glæta frá Hellulandi, born 2006, chestnut, most likely fivegaited. She is a daughter of Galsi frá Sauðárkróki and Dvöl frá Syðri-Brekkum (Vidarsdaughter) and therefore sister to Kyndill, Garri and Otri and fullsister of Embla and Áli. 




Jódís frá Keldulandi, born 2007, yellow dun with lots of natural tölt. She is a daughter of Þrifótur frá Sólheimum (son of Aron) and Orka frá Kýrholti (Kolgrímsdaughter). Jódís is cooperative towards us, but a bit bossy with the other horses. She belongs to our friend Mieke and is sister of her gelding Mímir.




Freyja frá Krossanesi, born 2007, chestnutpinto, probably fivegaited. She is a daugther of Sindri frá Vallanesi and Fiðla frá Stóru-Ökrum (Þengillsdaughter) and we think she´ll have quite some pace with that pedigree. Freyja already had her basictraining last year and is now starting in 2nd grade. She belongs to Aurelia and her family in Austria.




Katla frá Hólmavaði, born 2008, black, most likely fivegaited. She is a daughter of Geisli frá Sælukoti (Doublelandsmótwinner) and Perla frá Höskuldsstöðum (Dagursdaughter) and is therefore the fullsister of Ingólfur's gelding Magnús. She surprised us by being really polite and not pushy at all like we feared a bit. Katla belongs to Ingólfur's cousin Bensi and his family.




Embla frá Hellulandi, born 2008, blue dun, most likely fivegaited. She is the fullsister to Embla (Galsi - Dvöl) and is very interested in people and everything going on around. We are looking forward to see the similarities and differences between the sisters during training. Embla belongs to Kiddi, the breeder in Helluland.




Perla frá Hellulandi, born 2008, chestnut with a star, naturaltölter, probably fivegaited. She is a daughter of the Honoraryprizestallion Hágangur frá Narfastöðum and Lukka frá Hellulandi (Leisturdaughter) and halfsister of List. She is very lively and was a bit shy in the beginning, but she already trusts people and starts to be quite nosy. She too belongs to Kiddi.


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16.10.2011 23:13

Icelandic Islandsheep

Today I got to know a (for me) new way of keeping sheep over summer: have them on an island! Kiddi in Helluland uses one of the islands in Laxáriver to keep the lambless sheep over summer and in autumn. He brings them there with his tractor and a trailer and the are roaming free there the whole summer. Well, it was time to fetch them and so we helped him to get them back. When we arrived at the island it was hard to believe, that there have been animals the whole summer as the grass was so high, you couldn´t see a single sheep.
Sparði, Kiddi's sheepdog, was a big help in gathering them. Kiddi just had to walk in front of the little, colourful herd, Sparði was in the back and we just had to walk along and follow them to the trailer. The sheep entered it without fear, already being used to these means of transport. 
Back home, the sheep were put off the trailer and the 2 young sheepdogs used the oppurtunity to train themselves a bit.






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15.10.2011 22:58

Moving the horses

When somebody asks us what we have done the last weekends, the answer is: "Moving horses!"
If you have horses at different ages with different needs, you have to have different places to keep them. The foalmares and young horses, that are allowed to eat as much as they can, need a good place with lots to eat and good shelter in autumn, but the riding and traininghorses, that shouldn't get too fat need a different place. We collected Nökkvi, Pála, Embla and Jódís in Viðiholt, where they spent their summer and brought the 3 youngsters to Haga, but Jódís to Húsavík. Farsæll still was in Hraunkot, so we took him back to a good field and had Vordís as his company there too. Perla was in Helluland and went to Haga, too. 
This weekend we brought Vordís to Haga and took 2 horses from Kiddi back home for training. Katla, daughter of Perla and Geisli and fullsister of Magnús, came for training too.
So you see, a lot of driving and transporting different horses. We are happy to have the foalmares and youngsters in such a good field in Haga. We could see that they are enjoying themselves very much there. Farsæll, Perla (sister of List), Katla, Jódís and the sisters Glæta and Embla are inside for training and the ridinghorses are having an autumnbreak and enjoy their lives.
We are very much looking forward to start with the training.


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04.10.2011 22:48

Sláturgerð

Well, the sheep had been collected from the mountains, sorted and those determined to live taken away from the slaughterlambs. Now it was time to make "Slautur" - Icelandic Liver- and Bloodpudding. When you order "Slautur" from the slaughterhouse, you get a packet with blood, liver, heart, head and fat and then you and your family and friends make something nice out of it. In our case Liver- and Bloodpudding. For me it was the first time to do so and I documented all the steps with my camera (think I was not much of a help...). We took mostly Bloodpudding for us as we like it quite much after keeping it in whey for some time. Ingólfur's dad is taking care of this for us and we are looking forward to try. Just have a look at the pics in the album!


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18.09.2011 09:47

Göngur & Hraunsrétt 2011 - Sheeproundup, second try

This time the conditions were perfect, so we rode up to Þeistareykir on Wednesdayafternoon. We, that were Bjössi, Baldur, Guðny, Ditta, Ingólfur and me, alltogether with 17 horses. Ingólfur had 3 handhorses, quite a bunch to handle. Baldur led our small group and chose the way. We had fun teasing him a bit about his habbits in stopping (e.g.where to stop, where to eat and where to change horses), just stopped where it seemed good and smiling when Baldur said: "This has never been done like that before!" Well, we had a good ride through exceptional landscape over sands and lava to the mountain hut, where Kolli and Tora already waited for us.
After chosing beds for the next few nights and having light supper, we had a good time telling stories and chatting.
Next morning we got up around 8 o'clock, the first group leaving short after that, the rest an hour later. We rode to the meetingpoint from where we were going to drive the sheep south. Only very few sheep were visible, but we knew, they were somewhere around. Of course we had to wait a bit to get started. People were told where they were supposed to be in the line. We wore light yellow jackets so it would be easier to see the next person even over a big distance. Finally we got going, shouting and whistling, making a lot of noise to chase the sheep in the right direction. Some were not so willing to go, hiding behind small hills or rocks. But they didn't know we had phones and called to let know about those hiding...
This first day was a lot about waiting and walking, I was not much on horseback that day. I was happy I chose to take my hikingboots with me, they did a very good job.
After having dinner, people were talking, laughing and deciding, which songs to sing on Sunday.

Next morning we had to get up at 6 o'clock, which was in fact no problem after sleeping quite little.  The westerngroup had to leave early, we had more time to eat breakfast, get the horses ready, going to the toilet, ...
Ingólfur was the one next to the mountains, Baldur was on top, trying to chase the sheep down. Bensi, who was first closest to the road, went to help at the mountainside together with Björgvin. Ditta and me were close to the road, Gunni and his dog in the car, helping us a lot.
Between us and Bensi were 2 more  men, so we were alltogether 8 and 3 dogs east of the mountains. Right away in the start, Ingólfur had to go up the mountain and was there all the time, just walking and chasing the sheep down. Quite some work! One of the first sheep with lambs that came down was not so willing to run in the right direction, so we had to chase it quite much with our horses. In the end we managed to get it the right way.
The rest of the day was again a lot of waiting and walking and everybody was happy, when we drove the last sheep into the fence, where they would wait till the next morning. Móra, the old leadersheep of Bensi, came back home again, which nobody counted on. Móra is already 14 years old, a bit deaf and blind on one eye, but she definitely wanted to go home.
In the evening everybody had delicious grilled food, most of us far too much, everybody tasting from others, just having a good time. Then we had to sing the songs for Sunday a few times (I still don't know the text of most of them...) and there were a lot of stories told.
I fell asleep quite early just to be woken by the sound of a broken pipe. In fact, it wasn't a broken pipe, but somebody from the upper floor not reaching the toilet... Little sleep after that and waking up at 3.30 to have breakfast and pack everything.
We rode from the hut at 6 o'clock and started driving the sheep down to the valley at 7, because the weatherforecast promised a rather warm day. Not so easy for the fat sheep to walk in warm weather as they wear a double woolensweater and can't sweat.
Around lunchtime we arrived in Geitafell, where a lot of people waited for us to come along for the last bit of the way. Everything went well and we were at Hraunsrétt just around 7 in the evening.
We had a fast ride home, good dinner, a quick shower and went straight to bed.
Sundaymorning we put on white shirts and red ties, the outfit of the "Gagnamenn", those who did the whole sheeproundup. Then we rode to Hraunsrétt, where to sorting started at 10 o'clock. People were delighted to see their sheep come home after the summer, big and beautiful lambs with their proud mothers.
Sorting went well, the performance of the 4 songs too and even the way home with all the sheep was not much a problem, eventhough it would have been easier with a few more people walking besides the herd to drive them forward. We drove the whole herd home, unnecessary to say that Móra was of course first, a long time in front of the others. After sorting, the sheep went to the southern field and the lambs to the fertile fields with sweet grass.
We are happy everything went well without injuries or other accidents. I'll put in some pics later today!

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10.09.2011 09:14

Sheeproundup 2011

Autumn is the time to go to the mountains and gather the free roaming sheep and bring them back to the valley and home. 

Well, usually tomorrow would be Hraunsrétt and we would be in the mountains right now, on the way down to Geitafjall togehter with a bunch of fellow riders and a herd of approximately 5000 sheep. 
Only the weather made it not possible. The weatherforecast for Wednesday and Thursday was really bad, so the "Mission Sheeproundup" was delayed one day and after heavy rain and storm on Wednesday with a lot of snowfall up in the mountains delayed for an uncertain time. It would be far too dangerous for men and horses to walk the treacherous Þeistareykirarea covered with snow. No chance to see the cracks and difficult for the sheep to plough their way in the right direction.

Monday the head of the board will have another close look at the area and decide then, when we can go and gather the sheep. Everybody is hoping for Thursday to Saturday and Hraunsrétt next Sunday. So send us warm thoughts to melt the snow and keep your fingers crossed that we can go and get the sheep!
I attach some pics from last year.








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