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Færslur: 2013 September

29.09.2013 06:32

Laufskálarétt 2013

We got very nice fellowriders from Skagafjörður enjoying our good ridingtracks and wonderful landscape during summer and were invited to join them during the Laufskálaréttweekend. Of course we took this opportunity and so we headed to Miðsitja on Friday. Ása, Biggi, Ingunn and Magnús gave us a warm welcome and after a snack we were more or less put into the cars and off we went to watch the horseshow in Sauðárkróki. I really liked it as there were not just hightuned horses running for their lives in tölt, but they tried to show different sides of the horse and put riders into tasks they usually don't do. There was a teamcompetition in tölt, Skagafjörður against Eyjafjörður, which the riders from Skagafjörður won. 3 young riders put together a comedy story about Laufskálarétt and acted so well, everybody was laughing. My personal highlight was the riderstest, where 2 pairs of riders had to step out of their comfortzone and perform new tasks on horseback. There was a parcour they had to go through, first slalom and then twice around the circle. One of the tasks was to do some beertölt, then they had to go without stirrups, so with as short as possible stirrups and the last round was with the rider sitting backwards. Not all the horses were patient enough for this and so one rider was bucked off, but didn't get hurt.
When we came home we had very good talks and a lot of fun before we finally went to bed.
Saturday we had to get up early, to get ourselves and the horses ready for the ride to fetch the herd in Kólbeinsdalur. I was a bit stressed as it isn't my favourite to try a new horse in new surroundings, but I got a really sweet mare called Hera. When everybody from our group was ready, everybody else was more or less gone, but that was just the way we liked it as we could stop and go as we wanted. Just the group from Saltvík was behind us and a few other late riders like ourselves. The scenery was very beautiful, freshfallen snow and sunshine as you can see on the pics. It was fun to watch the herd coming and following it down to Laufskálarétt. There our horses got a good break and a lot of grass while we got delicious sandwiches, hot chocolate and beer. After these refreshments we had a good look at the sorting and I took a few pics, but I think it's all more about meeting friends than actually watching the horses...

Soon we went home to take a shower and relax before dinner. The house was rather full, when we arrived, so many guests, but very interesting to get to know new people. I had a very good and long chat with Elisabeth about everything from horses to sheep and teaching.

After a good breakfast on Sunday we started our trip back home and had a passenger from Swiss with us. It was a very nice trip, good weather and so much to see.

Thanks for the great weekend and your hospitality in Miðsitja!

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24.09.2013 07:13

Fjördís

is the name, that Aurelia and her family chose for Freyja's foal. I think it really fits as she is very joyful and plays a lot, jumping like a goat and running like a racehorse over very bumpy ground. She is very selfconfident and is very seldom around her mum, as it is sooo much fun to play with the older brother and get to know the other young horses better.

Today we fetched all of them, dewormed and moved them to a new place, where they have more than 30 ha on their own on the banks of river Laxá. Enough to eat and very good shelter from bad weather. Alltogether, there are 11 horses there, including Farsæll and List.

I attach 2 pics of Fjördís so you can see how much her colour has changed from her birth to now.

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15.09.2013 13:25

Horses & sheep

Friday and Saturday the second sheeproundup took place. The farmers went again to Þeistereykir to collect those sheep that stayed behind during the first roundup. Most went on horseback and some by car. Fridayafternoon we got a call that one of the horses was injured and had to meet the vet. It was a strong reminder, that nature and this area are unpredictable and accidents can just happen out of the blue. This horse was so unlucky that the lava just broke under its right hindleg and it went down and got very bad scratches and cuts all the way to the bone. Luckily no joints were injured and the horse could use its leg. The vet rinsed the wound, but it was not possible to sew it. The horse has to stay at the hospital for some time to change the bandages and get penicilin regularly.

Yesterday we watched the farmers come down with the last group of sheep they had collected, together with those that already got a ride to Hraunsrétt it was around 300-400 sheep, a lot more than usually.
We stopped short to have a look at our youngsters and they all look very well, big and maybe a bit too fat. Embla is going to her basic training after a few weeks and we are very much looking forward to taking her inside.

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12.09.2013 12:32

Hikingtour

Yesterday we had a wonderful hikingday with our school, perfect weather and the most beautiful hiking area. We went from Hólmatungur to Vesturdalur along the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river in the Jökulsárgljúfur Nationalpark in Northeasticeland. The nature was presenting itself in lush autumncolours and there was so much to see (not sure all the kids did see it as some of them were just rushing from A to B) and photograph. I took a lot of pics and put some of them in an album. 4 boys videotaped the whole trip and made a really funny videoreport. So nice to have kids like that around! Hope they keep on doing stuff like that.