These two have been away for breaking in and training since the middle of September in Eyjafjörður at Ásdís Helga's place. Today we went to have a look at the results and take them home to take a well deserved break. 
The aim with Magnus' training was to make him more supple and use his back better and thus improve his tölt. Ásdís showed him inside and outside and we were happy to see his progress.
Snerpa was more or less green when she went to training so we were quite eager to see how she did. Ásdís  has been training her both inside and outside, alone and in a group, which all went well. She'll need a bit more selfconfidence, but that's just something to work on. I was rather pleased with what I saw, especially after rather short time. Ásdís was already able to ask Snerpa for all gaits (of course not pace yet) and I was amazed how fast and determinded she was in gallop. So happy horseowner here! 
After Christmas we'll decide what the next steps are for her. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally all my Thanksgivingcacti are in bloom and I was able to get pics of each and every of them. I like the diversity in colours and am quite proud that the light pink one eventually blossomed again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vordís and Skuggi already had a great time at the big field, loads to eat and nobody pestering them. That was about to change today. First we caught them, trimmed their hooves/removed the shoes and then dewormed both. Then we unloaded Fönix and Kóngur from the trailer and released them into the field. The four of them went off like crazy, running, jumping and bucking around. So much fun to see these grown up horses behaving like youngsters again.
Next stop was Hagi, where we first fetched Fjördís and moved her to the fence close to the road, where she'll stay with Gisli's mare and foal.  Of course her hooves were trimmed and she was dewormed, too. Then it was time to fetch the last 2 mares to come back home today. Pandóra and Þrá were waiting for us with their halters already on at Hagi. So we just had to put them on the rope and load them, which was easier than thought (was just the 2nd time Pandóra was loaded without her mum). After checking the hooves and deworming we turned them loose in the big field. When the other spotted them they came rushing towards us then the whole bunch took off. Vordís didn't seem to be too pleased to get her daughter back and made clear who's in charge. We watched them running around and I was quite happy and proud when I saw how Pandóra was moving around. I think there's a very promising filly in our ownership. Looking forward to follow her the next years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but our blogg and homepage are under construction or to be precise being overhauled. It was time to do that as I've been really lazy the last months due to so many things to do and little time left to cherish this site. 
So for the time being I attach a few pics and hope to finish my work here soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

We finally managed to lure our friends from the east to the northeast! The bait was a great place to stay for fat horses over winter, where they'd actually have to do something for their food. Unfortunately Marietta wasn't fit enough to join, but Hlín took her place and accompanied her dad. It was nice to get to know her a bit better, too.
Yesterday evening they arrived with 3 horses, which stayed overnight in our stable. Afterwards we had nice dinner, went to Geosea and last but not least had a look at Húsavík Öl, where we got ourselves a beer before walking home and having a chat. 
Today we loaded their horses and Rögnir and went to Ísólfsstaðir, where they are going to spend their time off. The herd was at a new place today, close to the road, where they usually don't roam that much. Óli just had put a new horse into the fence when we arrived, so it was a perfect timing bringing the others more or less at the same time. Rögnir decided to follow his new friends instead of getting to know the rest of the bunch, but that will probably change the next days.
On their way back to the east we stopped at Hagi and Hlín said hi to her old mare Þrá. When back at Saltvík we released Fönix and Kóngur as things had gonne really well the last days and they had deserved a break until the new year. They had quite different techniques crossing the rivulet... Fönix jumped, but Kóngur walked over the snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And another one of my Phalaenopsis decided to flower. Didn't reckon this one would bloom at all this year as I just moved it from Austria to Iceland in summer, after removing all flowers and the planting substrate. I repotted it into a coconutshell and soon after it started to get new leaves and roots and in the end a new flowersprout. It's a so called Willd Orchid by Optiflor and is supposed to look more or less like the wild ones you can still find in Asia. The flowers are rather small and delicious, the plant often displaying more than one sprout at a time. Just managed to take a pic of both orchids with white flowers to compare the size and shape.

 

 

 

 

Ísólfsstaðir is a true paradise for our horses where they can roam wild and free on about 100ha of very different land. We paid them a visit today, but before taking that walk, we stopped at the sheepstable and had a chat with Jóel and Sigga. They were taking care of the sheep and had been shearing some before we arrived. I love how they herd with their sheep and the fact how calm and nosy the sheep are even though they don't know us that much. They come close and have a look and sneak a treat when possible. But they aren't just sneaking when interacting with their owners. You can see how much they trust them and what a wonderful bond they have. 
Afterwards we took a walk in the field all the way down to the cliffs. The horses followed us around first, but left us when we reached the old stables. Just like they didn't like being around there. We strolled alongside the cliffs and finally got a very good insight about the landscape and vegetation in different spots. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good to have a ridinghall closeby! And of course own a trailer. Fönix and Kóngur got a ride to the ridinghall today, to show them around and train there. Fönix did well in longeing, I didn't intend to ride him today, just let him have a look and get used to the new place. Vignir on his mare Marta was in the arena, too, which was quite handy as Ingólfur intended to try and ride Kóngur for the first time today. There has already been a lot of training from the ground so now it was time to add the rider to the horse. Kóngur did really well as you can see on the video.