Best Icelandic Horse Video from Horses of Iceland

The Icelandic horse marketing group just put out the most fantastic video. I really think they captured all the best points of this breed--personality, color, amazing gaits.  And the music and scenery just enhance the messaging.  Do you think this captures the soul of the Icelandic horse?

 

Icelandic Horse Pendant from Hugrun

 




Pat, who is a fellow boarder at Blessi's stable, just returned from a riding holiday in Iceland.  She gave me an Icelandic horse decoration.  Although it is meant as a Christmas tree decoration, it looks lovely as a pendent. 

I wear it frequently and get a lot of notice.  Once the comment had more to do with the soup I had spilled on it.  Sigh!  No wonder Blessi always checks out my shirt or jacket.  It must smell of such interesting food possibilities.

How an Invisible Rabbit Helped me see the pony in the Elevator

My latest posting on my blog "Writings to A Muse" is how techniques used in writing plays can help you write better fiction--or in my case non-fiction about the pony Algonquin owned by President Theodore Roosevelt's children.  Here's a link to the essay explaining how I wrote a mini play about Quentin Roosevelt taking Algonquin into the White House elevator to visit his sick brother.   Hum, I wonder if Blessi would like to play Algonquin in a Broadway musical?

https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/11/how-invisible-rabbit-can-help-you-write.html

And for your viewing enjoyment here is Jimmy Stewart taking his six foot eight inch invisible rabbit Harvey out to the bar for martinis.

The Romance is Over--Jake and Bless

Blessi lost his bond with Jake, the mule. I took Blessi over to graze next to Jake. The mule saw Blessi coming and gave the cutest little mule nicker. The two of them immediately put their heads together and started grazing. Unfortunately, Jake zapped his head on the electric fence...poor thing...and took off at a canter. Now Blessi is "that bad horse who shoots lazers out of his eyes to hurt poor, unsuspecting mules." Jake would not come within 20 feet of Mr. Blessi. Photo is from when they were friends.

Icelandic Gypsy Vanner Cross

I don't recommend crossing Icelandics with other breeds.   But in the what if category, here is a Gypsy Vanner and Icelandic cross named Loki.  The horse is in Hawaii, hence the sweat marks. 

Blessi Meets Jake the Mule

Jake the mule has joined Lone Eagle. Jake is a sweetie pie and very handsome. Here is a video showing Blessi and Jake's reaction to each other.  Here's a short video of Jake and Blessi. I just think Jake is so cute and polite. Jake is sharing his pasture with Dan the horse and a steer. It is fascinating to watch the three species get along so well.

Painting Horse Portraits for KARE

My friend Judy and I attended a Kitsap Animal Rescue (KARE) workshop in which we had lessons
http://nwkare. org If you are in a different part of the country, please remember your local pet rescue.

on painting horse portraits from a local artist. Wine and snacks were served. What a fun way to expand one's artistic skills and benefit local animal rescues. Here's my painting. It's a bay Icelandic, not Blessi. We're going to more of these. Here's a link if you want to make a donation.

Blessi Versus Cowboy the Pony

My grandniece MacKenzie, age 9, has never met Blessi.  But she has heard enough Blessi stories to create the following chart compare Cowboy the pony, whom she has met, and Blessi.

Icelandic Horses Help with Making Stepping Stones

My friend Judy and I were experimenting with mixing cement to make patio blocks with Celtic designs. We learned that men and women may have different definitions of the "consistency of pancake batter." We also learned that Icelandic horses are eternal optimists about the possibility of human activities leading to food.

Judy turned her mares Freya and Gloma loose together to run around the pasture. As shown by the photo, they stood by the fence line and watched us intently for 1 1/2 hours. Why? Because we were using old feed buckets and the bag of cement could have held grain, we were obviously stirring up some special treat for them.

We also discussed using horse hair as binder in the next batch. Around 8 years ago, if I remember correctly, the University of Pennsylvania was asking Icelandic horse owners to ship them bags of brushed out body hair since they were experimenting with horse hair in composite building materials and somehow Icelandic horse hair offered some sort of advantage.

Bark Like a Puppy, Ooze Like a Stump

You can now read read my latest musing on the art of writing on my other blog "Writing to a Muse."  Find out how snarky I can be about why:

- Ann Lamott barks like a puppy, oozes like a stump
- Janet Burroway's inadequately defines writing transition as “authorial intrusion”
- Ann Dillard exaggerates beyond hyperbole in her story about the eating habits of the giant water bug
- Bruce Chatwin tells "not a half-truth but a truth and a half"
Or you can pass on the snark and just watch the video of puppies barking.


https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/11/bark-like-puppy-ooze-like-stump.html

Icelandic Horse in Justice League

Here's another reason to see Justice League besides Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Jason Momoa as Aquaman...an Icelandic horse.  Watch the first ten seconds of the trailer.  That footage was filmed in Iceland and somebody is mounting an Icelandic horse.  The double S stirrups are pretty strong clue. So which superhero is riding the Icey since several heros--Momoa, Aflleck, Gadot, Dafoe, Heard are on the island? It's Batman!

"The trailer begins with Ben Affleck, playing Batman, mounting an Icelandic horse somewhere on a desolate Icelandic heath, riding to Djúpavík village where the film crew was based during the shooting last year."

http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/desolate-shores-and-mountains-westfjords-focus-first-justice-league-trailer

The Eyes in the Trees

Here's a photo that I took at the Bloedel Reserve, in the Seattle area .  Here's my lesson learned. I would have never observed this remarkably weird, eerie pattern found in the bark of a birch tree by myself. It was only by listening to a friend that I was able to see beyond my narrow focus.

What do you see?  To me.  these look like the weirwood in Game of Thrones.

Icelandic Horses under the Midnight Sun

Benedikt Sigeirsson released an absolutely beautiful video of Icelandic horses by the sea under the midnight sun.

Finished Norse Shield

Here is my finished Norse shield!





It will look so good with Blessi'
Vendel bridle.

Painting a Vendel Shield

Thanks to good friends my Norse shield made by Bill Grunner made its way from Snohomish to Bellingham to Port Townsend to my place. Mr. Grunner did a wonderful job making the shield--beautiful finish job. I am painting it with a gripping beast design to match Blessi's Vendel bridle that I made for him.

Here are some stages in the execution.
I have already primed the wood, marked off the shield into thirds (since the design repeats 3 times), used the computer to blow up the design to shield size, transferred motif to shield, and started painting. I had to do a lot of manual adjustments to the design since the original image was off center. Also start painting from left to right (if you are right handed) or you will smear paint at some point. Also make sure your design aligns with handle in the back or you may end up carrying an upside down or sideways design.

Plan for Sólvangur Icelandic Horse Center

For those of you who speak Icelandic or understand sign language, this is the start up tourism demo day plan for Sólvangur Icelandic Horse Center . Here is my translation"

"Horses....horse.....keep calm and love Icelandic horses...horses....Lansmot......horses.....tourists feed our horses too much junk food..it's a problem....horses....FEIF....horse.... horses....horses."

 

 

Oh I Could Tell You Stories

Check out my other blog "Writing to A Muse" for a new musing "Oh I Could Tell You Stories." The writer as Scheherazade uses the wonderful conflict implicit in the conditional verb “could,”  ignores broadcasts from Lamont's imaginary radio station KFKD that lead the writer to vacillate between doubting despair and their certainty of genius, and realizing Chatwin's finding that the real version of events has the “merit” of truth but is “less romantic.”  What advice does Scheherazade whisper in your ear?
 



https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/10/oh-i-could-tell-you-stories.html

Norse Designs in Poulsbo WA

Poulsbo, WA adapted a Norse great hall design for its public library. One outside corridor is
decorated with carved, wooden panels of gripping beasts. The gripping beast occurs as a motif throughout the library.


This style is known as Urnes, the latest of the Norse art styles from around 1050 to 1120 AD. The Urnes gripping beast motifs are slim, stylized, and usually tightly woven. The best example is the wooden Urnes stave church in Norway.

Urnes photos are from Wikipedia.