19. October.
The Icelandic krona continues to have a low exchange rate, as it has for several months now. Which means that you get more Kronas for your Euros, Dollars or other currencies. But the price of the horses is set in the Icelandic Krona. WHICH MEANS THAT NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY A HORSE IN ICELAND, you get more for your money than you’ve done for years and even decades.
18. October.
Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir járnar 1 hross á dag þessa dagana… vá hvað maður fær flottan maga rass og læri 🙂 (shoes 1 horse per day these days… with good results for belly butt and thighs 🙂
18. October.
Haust… það er kalt, blautt, stöku snjóflyksur, ef maður er í kuldagalla, ullarsokkum, lambhúshettu og gæruvettlingum þá hefur maður það bara fínt, svo kemur maður inn allur forugur… samt er þetta fínt útreiðarveður. (Autumn… it’s cold, we…t, some snowing, if you’re in snow suit, wool socks, with hat and sheepskin mittens then you feel good, the overall gets all muddy… still, it’s good weather for riding).
18. October.
Hlið helvítis opnast. Verið velkomin til okkar. Viltu nammi? (Come to the dark side, we have cookies).
18. October.
Hvar kaupir maður sér rafbíl (nýjan eða notaðan) á Íslandi? (I want to aquire an eletricity car but it seems they are not easily available, at least not used cars)
17. October.
Var á afar skemmtilegum fundi hjá skeiðfélaginu Kjarval. Frábær fyrirlestur og kvikmynd. (was on a very fun and educational meeting at the Flying Pace Club Kjarval. A super lecture and a movie made by club members).
16. October.
Nú er sumarauki (hlýtt tímabil að hausti) og ég nýt sumaraukans í botn 🙂 (there’s an indan summer here now, and I enjoy it tremendosly).
16. October.
Allt er gott kjötkyns, sagði karlinn, og át kapalhildirnar.
14. October.
Sjaldan er ein báran stök.
10. October.
Var í frábærri veislu hjá 95 ára tengdaafa 🙂
(Am just home from a great party that my 95 year old father in law was holding.
10. October.
Okkur er boðið í afmæli þriggja dýrðlinga í dag (4ra, 9 og 95 ef ég hef tölurnar klárar) og einhverjir fjölskyldumeðlimir komast í þau öll. (We are invited to the birthday of 3 saints today, (4, 9 and 95 yo), and some members of the family can join all of them.
9. október
Ætlaði að lóga lömbum í dag, en við hefðum fokið út í veður og vind. Ég og Láki lágum yfir spennumynd (12 monkeys) í staðinn… svalt 🙂
It was meant to be the day to cull the lambs, but we’d have blown in the wind out into the next ditch. So, me and Laki watched a good action movie instead (12 monkeys), that was very cool : )
7. October.
Arnþrúður velur sér ásetningsgimbrar – 2 mórauðgoltóttar vöðvastæltar gimbrar (is picking out the young ewes (from the lambs) that we’re going to keep live, two with muscles and white bodies and brown legs/bellies/faces, the color is torddu if you know sheep colors ; )
7. October.
Arnþrúður hjálpar Heimi við heimalærdóminn (helps Heimir with the homework).
4. October.
Þetta reddast 😉 An Icelandic saying: We will overcome (it will all be all right).
4. October.
Átti Stóra planið ekki að vera íslenskur þáttur? Annað hvert orð var enska, eða enskusletta *Hrollur*…
4. October.
Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir fer í reiðbuxurnar (puts on her riding pants)
3. October.
Fór í seinni göngur í dag (kinda), og að smala hrossum úr afréttinni. Það var snjór og kalt, en gullfallegt veður, og gaman. Gott að vita af tryppunum heima, og nokkuð síðan féð var kollheimt. (went to the 2. roundups this fall in our area, to fetch the rest of the sheep and all the horses. There was snow and cold, but wonderful weather, and fun. Good to know about the young horses being at home)
27. September.
Var veik í gær, svo ég sýndi þá dásamlegu sjálfsstjórn að sleppa Laufskálarétt og Laufskálaréttarballi. Er launað með því að vera rólfær í dag : ) Líður eins og alkóhólista í endurbata, þetta tekur á en borgar sig með betri heilsu LOL 🙂
(I was sick yesterday, so I had the unbelievable self control of not going to the Laufskalarett corral and Laufskalarett dance. Am rewarded by being almost healthy today : ) I feel like a dried up alcoholic, this was hard to deny oneself of doing this, but I am rewarded with a lot better heatlt LOL : )
21. September.
Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir borðar kökur – dagurinn eftir afmælisveislur er ósköp krúttlegur 🙂 Orri Sigurbjörn leikur sér að nýju leikföngunum, ég borða kökur 🙂
(we celebrated Orri´s birthday yesterday, with the usual 40 guests, a mix of relatives, our whole school of children (11), and the whole kindergarten (5 children), and the parents of the children. With lots of cakes and desserts for everybody : ) I love the birthdays, and I love the day after birthdays. Orri sits and plays with his new toys, I eat cakes : )
18. September.
Áfram stelpur!!!!!!!!!!!! (the Icelandic girl soccer team is winning Estonia big time… go girls!!!!!!!!) 🙂
15. September.
Ég sé að það sem ég skrifaði í gær hefur ekki náð inn, en litla krúttið mitt hann Orri Sigurbjörn varð 4ra ára í gær : ) Húrra húrra húrra : ) (My little Orri Sigurbjörn is 4 years old, horay horay horay : )
14. september.
Sat sjálf á skólabekk í dag (9-5)… ó hvað það reynir á skrokkinn, þótt efnið sé spennandi (was on a course for teachers today from 9-5… interesting subject but oh how hard it is on the body to sit for such a long time).
13. September.
Fór á stórskemmtilegt réttarball á Ketilásnum í gær 🙂 Stúlli og Dúi rokka sko 🙂 Fór svo út með strákana í gær að vaða berfætt í læknum, og sulla í sandkassanum, þá sótti ég risabala til að skola af okkur sandinn í mjólkurhúsinu, og þetta endaði í… allsherjarvatnsslag 🙂 Yndislegur dagur 🙂 (In the last 24 hours I’ve gone dancing, waded with the kids in the creek, then in sand, then I fetched a giant through and filled it with water to wash everybody.. which ended in a good water fight:)
12. September.
Komst í tvennar réttir í dag, Holtsrétt (Þorlákur kom með mér og komst í fyrsta sinn um ævina í Holtsrétt, því Norbert gekk fyrir okkur, frábær hátíð :), og auðvitað Minni-Reykjarétt, þar sem flestar kindurnar sem okkur vantaði komu : ) Heimir, 9 ára, er orðinn mjög seigur að draga lömb (went with the family to two sheep-corrals today, and now most of our sheep are at home).
11. September.
Sótti litríkar, hyrndar, kindur í réttir í dag : ) 8 ær af 13 komnar heim, og flest lömbin þeirra. Svo drógum við fyrir nágrannana líka. Góð tilfinning 🙂 (got her colorful, horned, sheep down from the mountains today, to the sheep corral. 8 she…ep out of 13 are home now, and most of their lambes. Then we helped the neighbours in the corral too. It was a good day).
10. September.
Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir eldaði brauðsúpu, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (made breadsoup/öllebröd, mmmmmmmmmmm).
8. September.
Já, þetta er eins og talað út úr mínu hjarta 🙂
Vísir – Það er gott að búa í Skagafirði
Uppruni: www.visir.is
Níu af hverjum tíu Skagfirðingum eru ánægðir með að búa í Skagafirði og næstum 8 af hverjum 10 segjast ánægðir með lífsgæði í sveitarfélaginu. …
(In the news at visir.is there is a newsline today, that 9 out of 10 people living in Skagafjordur are happy with living here… I can believe that, I love the community : )
6. September.
Húrra fyrir barnasjónvarp, þá kemst ég að í tölvunnni…krakkarnir eru með kvóta (1 klst. í tölvum á dag) en furðulegt að það skal alltaf hittast á að þegar ég hef tíma til að komast í tölvu þá eru krakkarnir sitjandi í tölvunum (hooray for the weekend morning children’s tv, then I can get on the computer. The kids have a quota on the computers (1 hour per day) but it is weird that usually when I have time they’re sitting there).
6. September.
Takk kæru vinir sem hafið sent mér kveðjur á afmælisdaginn minn : ) Hún á ammælídag, hún á ammælídag… (It’s my birthday : ) Thank you, all my friends that have been sending me birthday wishes : )
4 September.
Heyjaði í dag (há)… mikið væri nú þægilegt að vera jafn fljótur að uppskera á búinu eins og í Farmville leiknum (harvested hay today, 2. cutting… oh how sweet it would be to be as quick to harvest in real life as in the Farmville online game 🙂
3. September. Fékk dásamlega heimsókn, frænkur mínar Iðunni og Kristínu Steinsdóttur. Tærir snillingar 🙂 (Got my wonderful relatives, Idunn Steinsdottir and Kristin Steinsdottir, on visit, they’re great writers : )
31. August
FjarlægjaArnþrúður Heimisdóttir er á internethraðbrautinni (komin með adsl)… (is on the internet highway, adsl has arrived to my house : )
25. August.
Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir gekk á 509 metra fjall í dag með 11 krökkum (7-12 ára) og góðum vinnufélögum. Góður dagur (climbed a 509 m mountain today with 11 kids (7-12 yo) and a couple of great colleagues. That is a good day).
17. August.
Heimisdóttir Fór í hringferð um Ísland, aðallega um norðvesturland og austurland. Þó þetta hafi verið vikuferð var þetta bara kynnisferð, frábært, þarna er fullt að sjá í mörgum ferðum næstu árin (went on a trip around Iceland , mostly in the NW and east. Wonderful, took a week but there is SO much left to see, I look forward to more trips in the next years).
8. August.
Var í mjög svo skemmtilegu 88-ræðisafmæli í dag, 8.8. Addi langafi strákanna okkar er á báðum áttum, og það var sko gaman að halda upp á það með honum : ) (was with the family on a 88 year birthday on the 8.8., now that was a lot of fun and good desserts : )
6. August.
Sumarið er tíminn… (the summer is the time to…)
5. August.
“In love is how I was concieved and in love is how I hope to die” 🙂 (Paolo Nutini).
4. August.
Arnþrúður heyjar… eða þannig, er að binda rýgresi 🙂 (Am harvesting ryegrass).
4. August.
Arnþrúður gerir hásumar-hreingerningu í fiskabúrunum (gullfiskabúrið 400 l, gotfiskabúrið 100 l, ræktunarbúrin 20 og 10 l, koitjörnin 600 l…)… svolítið sull en skyggni víðast hvar ágætt núna – nema úti, þar er þoka (- does summer cleaning in the fish tanks, the 400 liter gold fish tank, the 100 l livebearer tank, the 20 l and 10 l breeding tanks, and the 600 l koi pond… it’s a bit splashy, but the visibility is good everywhere now exept outdoors, where there’s fog).
3. August.
Við fengum góða vini í heimsókn í gær, svo: fór á útihátíð í gær, landsmót umfí, hlustuðum á Von og sáum flugeldasýningu, og tættum um allt svæðið, við Þorlákur, Heimir og Orri. Verslunarmannahelgin er yndisleg.
This is a big celebration weekend in Iceland , with lots of town festivals. Yesterday we got good friends on visit, then we went on a town festival, heard a super rock group, saw fireworks, and had a super time, the whole family. This is a wonderful weekend.
29. July.
Arnþrúður nýtur sumarsins (enjoys the summer).
26. Júlí.
Arnþrúður gaf svíninu ost, silung og hrísgrjón (fed the pig some cheese, trout and rice).
25. Júlí.
Arnþrúður rekur hross í afrétt á morgunn (is driving (on horseback) a group of horses to the highlands tomorrow).
22. July.
Nútíminn hélt innreið sína í Langhús í dag : ) Við erum komin í háhraðasamband (2 MB/s) 🙂 Modern times came to Langhus today. We’ve got fast internet connection now (2 mb/s). Húrra húrra horay horay 🙂
22. July.
Guð er rokk (God is rock).
20. July.
Arnþrúður heyjar (is haymaking).
12. July.
Fór í Knappstaðareið í dag, yndisleg hópreið : ) (went on a lovely fast groupride today).
Arnþrúður skoðar og skoðar myndir af kanínuhúsum og kanínugirðingum. Er búin að lofa strákunum upp í ermina á mér að smíða hlaupagarð fyrir kanínurnar, keypti efni, og nú er að standa sig 🙂 (looks and looks at pictures about rabbit hutches and rabbit fences. I have promised to the boys to make a run in house and fence for the rabbits, and now I’d better be good 😉
22. June.
Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir skilur ekki af hverju íslenskir tónlistarmenn syngja á ensku fyrir íslendinga. Það er út í hött. Ekkert mál að hafa bæði íslenska og enska útgáfu (ef fólk vill geta markaðssett sig í útlöndum líka). En að syngja á ensku fyrir Íslendinga er út í hött.
21. June.
Fór með Heimi (9 ára) í bátasiglingu niður Vestari-Jökulsá, það var firna gaman og spennandi : ) Einkum að hoppa fram af 3ja m. háum kletti út í jökulvatn : S Dvöldum svo í Víðimýrarkirkju og Glaumbæjarsafni á eftir (-went with Heimir (our 9 yo son) river rafting down the West-Glacier river in Skagafjordur, it was ultra fun and exiting. Especially jumping down a 3 m. high cliff into the glacial water.
20. June.
Járnaði 2 tryppi í dag, og sá um eitt kvennahlaup : ) (-shod 2 horses today and arranged for a wimen’s race).
18. June.
keyrði 300 km í dag til að setja hryssu undir stóðhest (drove 300 km today to take a mare to a stallion).
15. June.
Arnþrúður er að hugsa um að kalla bæinn Býli Dagfinns dýralæknis. Nú eru hér um 80 gúbbífiskar, 5 gullfiskar og nokkrir aðrir fiskar, og 3 koi-gullfiskar í tjörn úti í garði, líka 2 kanínur, grís, 13 kindur og afsprengi þeirra, hundur, 40 hestar, 32 mjólkurkýr, 20 geldneyti og hamstur.
Am thinking about naming the farm Doctor Doolittles farm. Now we have here about 80 guppies, 5 gold fish and a few other fish, and 3 koi-fish in a pond, also 2 rabbits, a pig, 13 sheep and their 20 babies, a dog, 40 horses, 32 dairy cows, 20 cattle and a hamster.
14. June.
Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir jarðsetti heilann poka af kartöfluútsæði í gær… nú er bara að sjá þær vaxa 🙂 (put down a whole bag of potatoes yesterday… now they’ll slowly change into many bags of potatoes).
11. June.
Samkvæmt biblíunni er manneskjan, bæði karl og kona, sköpuð í guðs mynd. Guð er því bæði karl og kona. Enda er Jésú jafnréttissinni.
According to the Bible, the human, both man and woman, are created in God’s image. God is thus both man and woman. No wonder, Jesus wants equal rights for both men and wimen.
8. June.
Njóttu augnabliksins, carpe diem (seize the day).
5. June.
Gaman að fara í göngutúra með hund, grís og barn (likes to take little hikes with dog, piglet and child).
4. June.
Arnþrúður hugsar um gælu-grísinn sinn (thinks about her cute little pet-piglet).
4. June.
Arnþrúður hugsar um hesta (thinks about horses).
1. June.
9 krakkar (3-10 ára) í kaffi (nei, í mjólk og köku og hlóðasteikta sykurpúða) í dag : ) Fjör í kotinu : ) (9 kids for milk, kake, grilled marchmallows and games today – fun on the farm 🙂
29. May.
Ég er í krummafót
24. May.
Margar hendur vinna létt verk.
21. May.
Arnþrúður (Lukka) knúsar synina sína (hugs her sons).
…Og Kristur reis upp til himins í dag. Gott að hugsa til þess 🙂
(And Christ went up to heaven today… that’s a cosy thought J
20. May.
Sá heila fiskeldisstöð loga – hroðalegt (saw a huge house on fire in the neighbourhood – horror).
18. May.
Fór um helgina í fljótasiglingar, klettasig, sjóstangveiði, Víðimýrarkirkju, Blönduvirkjun (230 m. niður í jörðina) og fleira. Í dag ræktaði ég garðinn minn í góða veðrinu.
Went this weekend on river rafting, rock climbing, sea angling (fishing), visited an old turf church (sod house), visited a place where eletricity is made out of water energy (so I went in a tunnel 230 meters into the earth) and more. Today I tended to my garden in the good weather.
10. May.
I will survive, I will survive… Já, og svo eru komin 3 lömb hér : ) Frábært, þau eru svo knúsileg : )
3 lambs born here, it’s wonderful, they’re so cuddly… : )
6. May.
Don’t worry be happy.
5. May.
Merkilegt að ef einhver rekur rök gegn Evrópusambandinu þá flokka fjölmiðlar það sem áróður, en lepja upp hvern einasta stuðningsmann Evrópusambandsins sem þeir finna og tala helst vikulega við þá. Þetta er heilaþvottur af verra tagi.
There is a lot of discussion going around in Iceland about whether to join the European Union or not. Since a lot of people in Iceland live on farming in tough conditions here in the high north (where we don’t see higher temperatures than 10-14° C on a regular basis exept between 1. June and 15. August) and a lot of the economy and work comes from fishing on a self sustainable basis (whereas the European Union has just about emptied the sea around them from fish) I (and thankfully lots of Icelanders) see no reason to join the European Union. It can be great for many nations though, I’ve got nothing against EU per se : )
.
Lambing.
10. May.
The lambing season is starting here at Langhús. The 3 youngest ewes have lambed, 1 lamb each, and it’s all been successful, the lambs are healthy and bounce around joyfully. Our favorite hobby now is to hold the lambs…
Learning more about training.
23. April.
There was a horse event this weekend in Sauðárkrókur town, here in Skagafjordur. It took 3 days, with a breeding show, a whole day of demonstrations with teachers from the Holar academy, about training horses, with evening shows and open days at horse farms. I went to the main evening show, and to watch the lessons that the Holar teachers held. It was wonderful, fun to see great work done with horses, fun to see all the natural horsemanship, the good training, it was also a good feeling to see that there was not too much new, I am up to date with whats happening in my work *smile*. But, it´s also so great to come home with new inspiration, and start training horses again with double the energy and enthusiasm. There is more about the show at http://www.horse.is/index.php?pid=81
Akureyri, the capital of northern Iceland.
22. apríl.
I’m a school teacher, and we took the children to the town Akureyri today. It’s wonderful to have a job where you can joke around, act like a child, and more. Like this day, my job was to accompany the children (7-12 years old) to bowling, scating, swimming, and enjoy life. It’s fun to be a school teacher : ) http://www.visitakureyri.is/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akureyri
Easter.
9. apríl.
Easter… schools in Iceland close for 10 days for Easter… For me Easter is enjoying riding, having good times with the family, thinking a little bit about religion and culture, riding and training horses, eating chocolate eggs and smoked pork… life is good.
An inspiring guest.
7. april. I got a visitor from Denmark during Easter. Ann-Kristine came to Iceland to learn about the Hjalli kindergardens here, and lives with my brother and his family this winter. She wanted to see the countryside too and came on a visit to me for a week. She is horse interested and generally interested in animals, children and the countryside, so it was wonderful to have her. And I got to practice my danish, which was great too : ) For those that understand danish, you can see more about her week here at her blog on http://www.123hjemmeside.dk/ann-kristines-island/22577880 This week was lively here, there were 9 people in the house (me, my hubby, our two sons, our worker Norbert, his girlfriend, her little sister, her son and Ann-Kristine). Lots of laughter : )
A sleep-over.
31. march. We had a sleep-over at the school. The school has 14 students in the age 6-12 years old. When the school day was finished we all stayed at the school, went to the swimming pool, cooked hamburgers for dinner, the children prepared for a fun program on the scene the evening (with dancing, singing, a little theater, jokes, a game and more), then there was a cosy time with “cinema” (a good film) in the evening, where everybody wore pyjamas, and for this time only everybody could bring candy to the school to eat by the cinema. After that we read a good story and went to sleep. In the morning we started school again. A program for a perfect night : )
5. March.
Planning the breedings of the year
We’ll breed 6 mares this year.
This is an exiting time, the time where we make the last decisions on what stallions we want to breed to next summer. There are lots of stallions within ca. 2 hours driving with horsetrailer, maybe 40-50, maybe lots more. So, we have a lot to choose from, and it’s hard to choose. At the moment, this is the plan:
To take one mare, Birta, to Tígull frá Gýgjarhóli (evaluated with 8.60, I own a share in him and breed a mare to him every other year).
To take one mare, Elísa, to Hágangur frá Narfastöðum (evaluated with 8.31, several 9-scores, and 119 in blup).
To take one mare, Glaðning, to Álfur frá Selfossi (evaluated with 8,46 and 124 i blup).
To take two mares, Harpa and Feykivinda, to Kompás, a young unevaluated stallion after Hágangur and a super good mare, he’s born in 2006 with 117 in blup and I think he’s very interesting. Young unevaluated stallions are always a gamble, but this year I’ll participate ; )
To take one mare, Feykivinda, to Glymur frá Skeljabrekku (evaluated with 8,38 and 115 in blup).
In the end, we also have to see at what date the foals are born, exactly, in comparison to when the stallions are released to the mare-pastures (usually the mares are released on a certain day to a stallion, and then you can’t put a mare to the stallion after that for the next few weeks). Or, unexpectedly, one hears about another interesting stallion coming to the area. So, in the end some of the mares might go to different stallions. It’s also a big economical question, this plan costs a lot, including stud fees, pasture prices for the mare, ultrasound, and gas for driving, that means that these breedings cost not less than 600.000 isk (ca. 4000 euros), or the same as the price for a good trained grown up horse, so it’s better to plan that way that we’re happy with the result.
Best regards
Lukka.
The dark time is used well.
1. March 2009
We use the dark season to take care of the barn.
There is always a lot to do on a farm, also in wintertime. We feed the animals and take care of them, and train the horses. Some days are too windy to ride, so we have to use the good days well. But, the winter also gives us time to take care of the barns. Now we’re cleaning the stable and putting oil on the timber so everhting looks fresh again. It’s cosy : ) One day I want to scrape paint off the stable, outdoors, but this moment the snow is 20-90 cm. deep, so it has to wait for a while. We don’t have many trees in Iceland, and there isn’t much snow in the area now, but the wind moves the snow to any shelter that can be found, that is, the houses. We’re expecting a few days next week with above freezing temperatures, and look forward to scrape paint then.
Happy trails
Lukka.
23. February 2009
Feeding the horses
To get through the winter in Iceland, being a horse, one needs a lot of energy.
We fetched all the ”outdoor” horses the other day. It’s so in Iceland in the winter time, that the weather is unstable, and the day is short. So, if you ride/train some horses, they’re stabled. Young horses, broodmares and horses that are on a long vacation are usually outdoors in herds, where they get lots of hay. They need it to resist blizzards and weather with wind and cold rain. The young horses and broodmares are fed just about as much as they can eat of low-energy hay in December – May. They are growing, and it’s winter, and they need the energy from the food. Grown up horses without babies can often not take the same menu without getting too fat.
Being a foal
The mother usually weans her foal herself.
We have to take good care of the broodmares, so they don’t get too thin even though they have as much hay as they can eat. They are after all with foals that drink milk, and a foetus that takes more and more energy. At most farms the foals are with the mother untill she weans it herself, often when they’re about 10 months old, sometimes when it’s about time that the next foal is born. The tradition here is that you don’t ride on pregnant mares, they’ve got enough to cope with, when they have to cope with the winter, themselves, the foal and the foetus.
My favorite foals
They’re both pinto, and both with splash white gene.
Well, we fetched the ”outdoor” horses. 2 of the mares were getting thinner than we liked, so we weaned the foals and stabled them. The mares went out on pasture again with the herd and didn’t care. One of the foals was also calm, the other one neighed for mum for the first day, then it was over. These two foals are very special, it’s Óskadís and Fíton. Óskadís is a mare after Harpa, which is evaluated and a favorite mare of mine, and the father to Óskadís is Hróður frá Refsstöðum, which in my opinion is the best breeding stallion in Iceland today. Fíton is a colt after Glaðning, which is close to 1. prize, and the father is Hróður frá Refsstöðum. The foals are good looking and proud, and I was also so incomprehendibly lucky that they were both pinto and with splash gene. Soon we’ll train them a little bit.
Training the foals
It doesn’t take a lot of training for the foals to look at us as ”alpha horses”.
What we do with the foals when they’re weaned is to halter train them, teach them to lead, to go into trailer, be groomed, and lift feet so one can trim the hooves. They learn quickly in this age that one is the alpha horse, this takes maybe 20 minutes of training per day for 5-6 days. Then they know that people are good and they don’t need more training untill they’re becoming 4 years old. We don’t do more with them, one can easily overtrain foals. This winter these two foals will though be stabled, they can’t go out on pasture untill in June, because otherwise the shock will be too much regarding weather and feed. But, they can go out in paddock for many hours per day each day (when the weather is good) in the wintertime, and that is fun and healthy for them. The foals get lots of hay to eat, fish-meal (for quality protein), cod liver oil (for vitamins) and minerals. Then they’ll be healthy and strong horses.
Pictures of Fíton and Óskadís:
Fiton: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23347548@N02/sets/72157606336273779/
Oskadis: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23347548@N02/sets/72157606330353768/
Lukka.
21. February.
Plans can easily get disrupted.
The influenza turned out to be a burst appendix.
That’s life, one has a plan, and then it’s gone : ) I was doing well, training some young wonderful horses, after Gustur frá Hóli, Tígull frá Gýgjarhóli and Kraftur frá Bringu, and was enjoying life each day. Then I got, I thought, a fu, but after 4 days of being tough I couldn’t do it anymore and went to the doctor. Well, it turned out to be the appendix, that had been burst for a couple of days at least. So, I got a free flight with a hospital plane to the next hospital, and bed and board there for 3 weeks. Shoot, I couldn’t ride meanwhile. But, now I’m home again, and even though one is a bit low on energy at the moment, it’s nourishing for the soul to be at home again.
The vet came here
6 of the mares were in foal, hooray.
Yesterday we got the vet on a visit, to come and give all the horses shots against worms and lice, and to check if the mares were in foal. 6 mares that were ultrasounded in foal last summer are still in foal, hooray. One foal that we tried sending to a tempting stallion wasn’t ultrasounded there, and turned out now not to be in foal. But, we’ll simply stable her soon and start training her.
And, even though I’m not allowed to work yet, it’s wonderful to go on little walks, and hug and pet cows, horses and sheep, and what is best of all, smell them. I love the smell of the animals´ fur.
Lukka
15. January 2009.
The day is pretty short this time of the year, but I have though had customers coming to go with me to different farms to find their dream horse to buy. The main training season is starting here, trainers are stabling horses and taking them into heavier work, getting them ready for the competitions, and the evaluations in the spring and summer.
I have now several horses for sale that are prospects for being easy family horses, for the price of 350.000 isk. As the exchange rate is now, it’s a good price, according to Kaupthing.is it’s about 2100 euros, for an adult trained horse. So, this is a good chance if you are looking for horses for a trekking stable, for resale, or simply a future family horse. These horses are of various sizes and colors and both mares and geldings. Check on the saleslist or contact me for more info (there are more horses in this price range waiting to be put on the saleslist on the webpage).
30. December 2008.
We had a bit troubles updating the website in the fall, we also had a very good time, good weather and were enjoying working with our animals. I opened a facebook website for fun, those of you that enjoy facebook can find me there ( Arnþrúður Heimisdóttir aka Lukka) and my hubby too ; )
We are training 7 of our horses (little Heimir is training his mare, Láki is training 3 and I’m training 3) which fits superbly to our busy schedule. The horses are after our mares and f.ex. the champions Tígull Gýgjarhóli, Goði Auðsholtshjáleigu, Óður Brún, Kraftur from Bringu. Life is simply good.
19. December 2008.
The saleslist is being updated, check on it for interesting horses. There are also several more horses waiting to be put on the saleslist, feel free to contact me with your wishes, what kind of horse you are looking for. The exchange rate keeps on being very good, this is a good time for people in other countries to buy horses from Iceland, it is many years since the exchange rate has been so favourable.
We are training horses and enjoying the advent, this is a wonderful time of the year.
5. September 2008.
My cremello broodmare (evaluated daughter of Oddur from Selfossi) is back home from being bred, with her palomino foal, Gullfoss : ) Lots of new pictures of our horses in the GALLERY. Click f. ex. on the sets to the right : )
4. September 2008.
Our Icelandic cows have lots of gorgeous colors. Check on the new COW GALLERY.
3. September 2008.
New pictures of our BLUE DUN SILVER DAPPLE (GALLERY OF FEYKIVINDA) mare FOR SALE, and our SILVER DAPPLE trained mare FOR SALE (GALLERY OF HERVÖR).
23. August 2008.
The broodmares page was updated today. You can check there on our broodmare band, and see the current group of youngsters on our farm. All our broodmares (with their foals) went to other farms this summer, to be bred to various stallions. All but one broodmare are back home : )
I visited the broodmares yesterday and took pictures, check on new pictures here.
15. August 2008.
Elísa from Langhúsum was evaluated today, with 7.68. As she was unsure of herself, and is 4-gaited, we are quite content with her evaluation. She is a very sweet mare, calm but flashy, and we welcome her to our band og broodmares. It is though too late in the year, in our opinion, to breed her, she can settle in with the mares this winter and be bred in the summer of 2008. Check on new pictures here.
23. July 2008.
What’s new in our breeding this summer…? CHECK ON OUR ALBUMS HERE : )
Harpa from Neðri-Hrepp had a splash white chestnut pinto mare foal, Óskadís from Langhúsum, after Hróður from Refsstöðum (which is evaluated with 8.39). Hróður got 1. prize for offspring at Landsmót this summer, and certainly deserves it. Óskadís means goddess of wishes… she was a wish come true : ) Harpa was then bred to Gammur from Steinnesi (evaluated with 8.03 as a 5 year old). Check on more pictures of Óskadís here.
Glaðning from Stangarholti had a splash white chestnut pinto colt foal, Fíton from Langhúsum, after Hróður from Refsstöðum. Fíton will be raised as a stallion. Glaðning was then bred to Kjarni from Auðsholtshjáleigu (evaluated with 8,34 as a 5 year old). Check on pictures of Fíton here.
Dúkka from Sauðárkróki had a black colt foal after Aðall from Nýjabæ (evaluated with 8.64).
Birta from Steinnesi had a palomino colt foal, Gullfoss from Langhúsum, after Hnokki from Þúfum (evaluated with 8.39). She was then bred to Sólon from Skáney (evaluated with 8.48). Check on pictures of Gullfoss here.
Yrpa from Enni had a bay mare foal after Gammur from Steinnesi (evaluated with 8,03).
Drífa from Keldulandi was bred to Gammur from Steinnesi.
Our 2 year old (or young) stallion, Árvakur, is also developing well. He is in a stallion pasture with many other young stallions, has many hectares to play in, and has a good life. I visited him an evening recently and took pictures, check on pictures of Árvakur here.
28. June 2008.
What a wonderful summer we have had. We are rebuilding our farm house in many ways, putting up a new kitchen, floor materials and covering on the outside walls of the house. There has also been a student here for 3 months, from the agricultural school of Hvanneyri. She is working at the farm, training a couple of horses, helps with milking, and does a lot of homework for the studies. We were lucky, Arna Dögg is a sweet and fun and devoted girl, and the kids here also love her to pieces : )
We were expecting 5 foals this summer, 4 are born and the 5th can be born any day now. All are healthy, happy foals, and stunningly beautiful. It’s a bit funny that our mares seem to have decided on photocopying their own color this year: The bay mare had a bay foal, the pinto mare had a pinto foal, the cremello had a white palomino foal… the only exeption was the grey pinto mare, she had a pinto foal (with no grey color ; )
June 2008.
Would you believe it… the Icelandic krona dropped more, is 30% lower than it was a few months ago. Congratulations, this is a good time for people in other countries to buy a horse from Iceland : )
17. March 2008.
There has been a huge drop in the Icelandic Krona, it’s currency has fallen a lot through the last weeks and months. Which means that you get more Kronas for your Euros, Dollars or other currencies. But the price of the horses is set in the Icelandic Krona. WHICH MEANS THAT NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY A HORSE IN ICELAND, you get more for your money than you’ve done for years.
