Our friend Sigga at Laxamýri asked me a few weeks ago if I'd be available to take a few pics of her mare Elding.
Elding was getting old and had trouble being lame and having pain, so Sigga had decided to let her friend go before the situation would be unbearable for the mare.
Today we used the wonderful weather and the newfallen snow to have a short shooting and I hope Sigga likes the pics. For me it was special as I tried to catch the special character of Elding and the friendship between her and her owner. A very touching enquiry to be true!

 

 

 

 

Autumn is herding time and today we helped fetching the lambs back home. Nice to watch all these woollen balls hopping and running (not always in the right direction, but on the move) and thinking about all the wonderful stuff one can make out of it. The Icelandic sheep is one of a few breeds worldwide which is still changeing their fur each year, so in early spring it would be possible to just take the old coat off. In fact most farmers shear their lambs and sheep when taking them inside the stable to not spill the wool with letting it get dirty.
As the farmers don't get paid a lot for the wool nowadays and the pricedifference between white and coloured wool isn't that big, more and more farmers keep coloured sheep instead of just having white ones. Nice to see the different shades in the colours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The windshelter close to our stable was getting quite worn and ugly and there has been the plan to overhaul it. When taking a closer look we decided it would be better to tear it down and just build a new one. Now it was time to get that going and put up the new posts before the ground freezes. The middlepost was left to be, but we put down 6 new ones around. Next step will be mounting the joists before deciding what to put on them (planks or corrugated iron).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to fetch Rögnir, the mares and foals from their summerpasture and move them back home to the big meadow down by the sea. There was enough grass and Þrá shouldn't get thinner. 
First step was to catch the mares and Rögnir. He was supposed to load into the trailer straight away whilst we planned to walk the mares and foals over to Hólmavað and load them there with more secure fences around. Rögnir just walked into the trailer like a pro and the foals followed their mums without trouble over the bridge over River Laxá. At Hólmavað we wanted to load Þrá and her foal, but the foal had other plans. First it broke a fencepart and refused to follow Þrá into the trailer. So in the end we had to catch it, put a halter on it and get it into the trailer like that. Well, now the little guy is halterbroken.
After moving the first batch we came back to fetch Vordís and Pandóra. That was rather easy, the little lady more or less followed her mum into the trailer.
Back home the five inspected their new/old home and started grazing after a few rounds running wild. Good to have them so close again!

 

 

 

 

Our ridinghorses already started their autumnbreak and today we removed their horseshoes, clipped their hooves and dewormed the whole bunch. Then it was time for them to go to Ísólfsstaðir, where they'll spend their holiday together with other horses, most of them already know.
Ögn and List were the first ones to go and were welcomed by Friðbjörn's 3 horses. When we came back with the next load of horses, the mares had already found the way to the best part of the pasture, the haymeadow, and were happily grazing there, not spending any attention to the other horses. Well, that wasn't exactly the way we had planned things to go, especially as List is really fat and has to loose some weight, which she won't being on the sweetest and richest part of the grazing area.  We decided to have a closer look at that after transfering all the horses. 
Embla and Sæla where the last ones to arrive, joining Magnús, Sigtýr, Ösp and Skuggi and Friðbjörn's horses. After releasing them we walked Ögn and List over to where they should be and closed the gate so they won't be back straight away. The meadow will be opened, when they have little left at the other place. Hopefully not before December, but we'll see about that. 
Next thing on the To-Do-List is getting the foalmares, foals and Rögnir home.