Esja and Hetja, my two Icelandic girls, have lived together since they arrived in the UK  three years ago.

From Day 1 of their travels, Hetja decided to look after Esja.  They have a very close mother and daughter bond despite not being related at all.  It was from travelling together such a long way.

But Hetja is pregnant by Taktur and these days she is getting very fed up of Esja, who wants to run around and play and annoy.  Esja needs more friends and Hetja needs some peace.

So today we introduced three standard Shetland “yeld” mares to the field (a yeld mare is not  pregnant, ie without a foal at foot).

These three mares will be good for Esja.  They are the same age as her and at last, she will have some mares to talk to.

And Hetja can have some peace.

To start with, there was a bit of cantering around and hopefully they will settle down quickly together.

I have not really had the opportunity to see Esja move – she tends to put her head down and ea but, once we had introduced the mares to the field, we saw her move and, boy, can she move

(and boy, can’t the Shetland ponies move too!)

I am looking forward to summer when Esja starts her training.  It should be very interesting.