We were talking about this out on our ride today.  I think Autumn is my favourite season.

For me, it’s the colours and the light. Also if you have a chestnut Icelandic horse, he looks good in photos.

And the same goes for a dun one too.

Today I rode Klængur and then Daisy asked if I would accompany her and Kappi on Iacs.

We had a superb time, even narrowly missing a huge tractor and trailer that rattled past as we walked down our track to the “main” road (as in one car an hour) – I think the Gods were looking out for us today which was kind.  Klængur was not sure about that tractor/trailer combo but did his best not to walk in the ditch.  It was tense while we went past but we’re both still here so I consider that a success!

Freshly made homemade bread for lunch and then onwards driving around looking at all the horses and ponies now all in different fields far and wide.

I don’t actually think Lilja, Hetja and Sóley have actually moved since we put them in their field at Leradale.  I guess they don’t need to.

Despite not being at home, we will still go on working with Sóley and her headcollar skills.  At the moment it is a two man job and I didn’t have the necessary people with me but we said hello to each other anyway.

Lilja looked very happy in her surroundings.

I do like this picture except it is a very odd angle for Sóley and she looks like a sturdy wee chublet!

So that was my day.  How was your’s?

Little Sóley the Foalie has been loading nicely into the van so today we put the ramp up and drove her and her mother, Hetja, over to their winter field a couple of miles away at Leradale.

Sóley was perfect.  She happily followed along and was curious to investigate her new home.

As there is only room for two horses max in the van, we left Lilja at home in the stable with two new friends, Iacs and Haakon, who I trusted to keep her entertained and safe.

When it was Lilja’s turn to travel, Iacs came along “for the ride” so to speak as companion in the van. I hate travelling horses by themselves.   They were very happy travel buddies considering they had met only 30 minutes earlier.

So that’s the girls all moved and ready for the winter.  They will be checked daily and hopefully can’t get into any trouble (please don’t Lilja – I am watching you!)  The Minions will join them in the next field probably in January.

Iacs enjoyed his brief sojourn, looked at the view and then loaded back up again to go home by himself.  He is a seasoned traveller so he kept himself entertained with Hetja’s haynet.  He also wanted to get back to his bestfriend, Haakon.  He knows that wimmin are only trouble.

Haakon and everyone else were then moved into the big hill field. It is where they will stay for a while.

This will give our more sheltered fields a chance to benefit from the “Autumn flush” which will be useful later as our grass starts to decline while the temperature drops.

Well, that’s the theory anyway.  You know me. Nothing is written in stone.  It was nice to see Leradale again.  One of my favourite crofts.

I finally did it. I sewed and if you know me, you will know I do not sew. I could not delegate (read fob off) the job of sewing a metre of 3″ curtain heading tape onto the back of my beautiful new unicorn rug and so was resigned to do it myself.

After a duff start and some frantic unpicking, I sewed diligently away vocalising various swear words as I went.  I also had a brief moment when I thought I had put the tape on the wrong end and my unicorn would be upside down. I checked it more than once.

Next I sent an elder daughter Daisy up the chimney (ok, she stood on the swivel chair while I promised to hold it still) and, having previously attached the curtain hooks to the tape, we hung/hanged my gorgeous unicorn rug.

A huge thank you again to Shetland Handweavers for this very special piece of weaving.

After the rug hanging, I went into my shed to recover.  Due to inclement weather, Lambie headbutted the door, came in, dithered about a bit, got shouted at so sat down and made himself comfortable. I didn’t shut the door, though I was cold.  I didn’t want to disturb the large woolly lump.

Lambie had a small snooze and then realised the others (ie ‘Bert and ‘Ster) were wanting to come in too.  I saw a side of Lambie not often seen.

He got all cross and started defending “his territory”, ie my shed.  So ‘Ster headbutted the door frame for a while and ‘Bert didn’t bother asking again.  Lambie was not going to move or let anyone in.  A leg in each corner and he wasn’t budging.

You can tell he’s cross – he is all tense and stern.

I have a big bag of turmeric so I made some “Golden Paste” this morning for Haakon and Iacs, who are living together having been beaten up by Taktur who thought he smelled a girl, once (I am still cross with him).  The weather is harsh (wind and fierce rain) at the moment and I think they could do with some help.

Here is the recipe I used – Golden Paste recipe by Doug English, vet

It was still pouring with rain but I geared up into my waterproofs, mixed the gloop into a handful of hard feed and healthy hoof supplement and went down the hill to give it to the old men.

Haakon decided he didn’t want his food. There is a certain random element as to doseage so I wondered if his tasted stronger.  Anyway, Iacs’ food was fine and they both shared happily.

One lovely turmeric moustache from Haakon.

And one from Iacs, who tried to spread it all over me as well.

Then they both decided to eat from Haakon’s bowl too.

I love that these two old men, who have known each other all their lives (they are cousins.  Can you tell?), can share so nicely without a cross word.  It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.  A bit like the Golden Paste really.

One of my missions over the next few weeks, is to teach Sóley the Foalie how to load into the van with her mother, Hetja, so that we can eventually move them into their winter field at Leradale.

We caught Lilja and Hetja and led them over to the indoor school, with Sóley happily following along too.

We put Lilja out of the way and concentrated on Hetja and Sóley.

This is completely new territory but Sóley let me easily catch and put a headcollar on her.  Daisy attached a lunge line.  Good idea!

We did a spot of leading and then I walked Hetja into the van, leaving Sóley at the bottom of the ramp wondering what to do next.

Sóley:  Where’s Mum gone?

Sóley: Ah, here you are.

Sóley:  You want me to do what?

Sóley:  Seriously.  Just give me a nose kissey and I will think about it.

Sóley: No, I’ve decided I don’t want to think about it.

So we hung a haynet in the van to keep Hetja occupied and Sóley could see that her mother was happy, relaxed and eating.

That was the decider for Sóley.  She held her own investigation.

It was thorough.

And next thing, before you know it, she had her feet on the ramp.

Sniff, sniff, sniff…..

I walked behind and slipped out a bucket of food for Hetja and one for Sóley too (in a strategic position).

I moved the food in tiny steps until Sóley had walked into the van all by herself.

Mission achieved with minimal fuss.

And absolutely no lying down on the ramp having a tantrum, like others we know – that was Lilja’s party trick when she was a foal.

And we will be repeating this in regular training sessions until one day we put up the ramp and drive off to Leradale.