The Halloween Horse

Draumur the Icelandic meets the haunted horse right before Halloween--another wonderful video by Kathy Sierra and Intrizen.
Halloween Horse from Seriouspony on Vimeo.

Helping with Certification for Pet Therapy

I volunteered to help with a certification for Pet Therapy animals. I got to play the lady in the wheelchair, be part of the arguing couple and later join the walking crowd for 3 dogs and 1 cat. Blessi and I are going to try for pet therapy certification. This group had a wonderful idea--trading cards for pet therapy animals. Wouldn't Blessi  look great on trading cards. Blessi has already been on some business cards.

How to Get your Stall Mate to Remove Your Halter

Here's a great example of the cognitive abilities of horses. One horse has carefully watched how humans take off halters. Plus he is doing this for another horse--not for an immediate reward for himself (or herself).

Policemen in Iceland capture house prowlers or amblers

This is how Icelandic policemen, who aren't familiar with horses, catch stray horses. Here is a rough on-line translation from the local police station Facebook page:

"So because it is Friday.

Some time ago called party 112 and suspected he was unauthorized to crawl around his house Kirkjuveg, but he had woken up to the panic of his bedroom window. Our people were touched in revolutions, as always, and came to the site shortly. These dishonest people were in the comfort of the feast on the grass in chewable notifier. Neither of the officers had come close to such creatures before one had ever seen the older men "gobbagobba" on such animals. There was anyway in the case of two horses that had exercise in the town break. Our men "gobbagobbuðu" anyway horses back in the stable and does so pleasant that this video was taken the night in question and can be heard on our men they found this.

Have a good weekend and be careful."

Walking Hayricks Iceland 1908

From the book Iceland by Mrs. Disney Leith, London, Adam and Charles Black, 1908, p. 38.

Shetland Ponies Sailing to Shetlands

Ponies on sailboats....Icelandics on Norse knarrs...same idea just different millennium.  Emma Massingale sails with her two Shetlands Ernie and Albert to learn more about the island of their origin.   Blessi would love to be able to spend the night with his people herd in a tent--not sure about the sweathers.

Update on Horses of Iceland

The  organization Horses of Iceland works with concerned entities in Iceland and abroad to better market the Icelandic horse around the world.  In this video, Jenna Olm discusses the progress that has been made in the past two years.

Icelandic Costume 1880 to 1920

Here's the last major category of Icelandic costume for women--the skautbúningur and the kyrtill which were worn late 1800s and early 1900s. Photograph is from Wikipedia.

You can access more information and photos about Icelandic National costumes at http://buningurinn.is/thjodbuningar/

Norse Women Attire 1000 to 1100 AD

This is my best attempt to create garb for what a Norse woman would wear around 1000 to 1100 AD.

I am wearing an apron dress. I took off my turtle brooches and beads since there is always a good chance I could get my weapon tangled up in such adornment. Blessi and I are riding in front of historically accurate Norse tents used while traveling as we participate in a SCA tournament. I am carrying a quintain lance, which is medieval not Norse.

The second photo shows Blessi in the saddle blanket I made him based on the Lewis Chessman knights.

In my survey of historic Icelandic riding attire, I am still missing one major costume style. I'll have to look for public domain pictures of folks riding horses.

Historic Icelandic Church Attire 1840

Here's what Icelandic men and women wore while riding to church around 1840. The women, in riding chairs, wear faldbúningur, a style worn from the 1600s to mid 1800s. The women are wearing two types of hat; the one with the curved top piece is unique to Iceland. The men wore pantaloons or breeches. Source is an engraving by Paul Gaimard, found on Wikipedia.

If I Was a Horse--Sing to Icelandic Horses

Federico Borluzzi took time during his tour of Iceland to play a song to the local horses.  As you can see, they are a respectful but appreciative audience.

Icelandic Farmer Attire 1911

Here is what a working Icelandic farmer wore about 1911. The farmer is bringing in hay from the fields. The photograph, called the Hay Train, is from Cornell University, Frederick Howell Collection.

Icelandic Riding Habit circa 1908

Got into another discussion about traditional Icelandic riding attire. Here is a watercolor of what the well dressed Icelandic woman would have worn around 1908. Photo is from Mrs. Disney Leith's book Iceland.

Lyngshest Horse Herding Sheep

This is a Lyngshest horse from Norway, a close relation to the Icelandic. Here Peter, Neisti, and Tinka the border collie are herding sheep in the mountains of Norway. Tinka works independently at such far distances. And I swear by Neisti's ears that horse is looking for sheep also. On steeper parts of the trail, I had my eyes closed.

I wonder what types of obstacles this would require in a Working Equitation class and how the longer legged horses would do. ;-) Check out the trail maps at the beginning of the video showing the rough, steep, terrain that had to be negotiated.

Hancock's 50 Facts on Icelandic Sheep

Icelandic sheep  Photo: Wikipedia

I keep finding some absolutely fascinating, almost crazy, information about Iceland, its horses, and other inhabitants. Edward Hancock has the same disease, er interest. He published his research on Icelandic sheep on his Blog Iceland Defrosted. Here are some of the 50 facts he discovered.

"#1. Sheep have a lot of very important business in the middle of roads. You will often see them having meetings. @CatTheobald

#2. Icelandic sheep have radars in their horns so they know exactly when to run in front of your car.

#14. Icelandic Sheep favour Twitter over Facebook, due to the confusion around facial recognition.

#15. Icelandic sheep have lead sheep called forystufe, who can operate GPS, and know the farmers phone number by heart.

#46. When transported out of Iceland, Icelandic sheep retain their accents. "

You can check out his web site for the rest of his crazy facts about Icelandic sheep

https://icelanddefrosted.com/50-crazy-facts-about-icelandic-sheep/.

Horses of St Marks Basilica in Venice

One last post about Roman chariot racing....the horses of St. Marks Basilica in Venice (the originals are now inside the church) represent a Quadriga, or 4-horse team, used in Roman victory parades or chariot racing. These gorgeous sculptures are copper, not bronze and were probably made in the Roman Empire circa second or third century AD. Enjoy the video showing the beauty of these golden horses and the miraculous story of their survival as they were moved around Europe and Asia by conquest and war.