Flossie has a new job.- she is now officially Taktur’s exercise buddy.

We want Taktur to put on more muscle (not flab) and the only way is to walk and walk and walk him round and round the school to 1980’s disco music.  The music is important as there is a good working beat to walk to.

Ten minutes in one direction, encouraging Taktur to walk as fast as he can manage without breaking into trot/tölt, on a loose rein so he stretches down too.

Turn on the forehand.

And then ten minutes in the other direction.

It is good for both Taktur and Flossie.  Taktur will get more muscle and Flossie will achieve a better seat, learning how to move her body in time with the horse’s movement.

After the twenty minutes, they can both relax!

Bjørn, our trainer, taught Flossie exactly what he wanted her to do.

He talked her through the whole process, telling her what should be achieved.

I have put up this photo to show you that although Floss has her concentrating face on, she adored riding Taktur and says it will not be a chore to exercise him almost every day for 20 minutes.

Today, I sat in with her while she exercised Taktur, just to keep an eye, after all this is a vicious stallion who could kill her at any time (NOT), and as she was absolutely fine, I will leave her to get on with her new job.

All hail The Guardian of The Silage Bale.  She takes her job very seriously.  None shall rub their heads or bums on the fence. They will be stopped forthwith. Thems are her rules, sorry Her Rules.

A new silage bale was put out yesterday afternoon and everyone is gathered or living around it.

The silage bales is everyone’s friend.  Everyone’s bestest friend.  It understands the need for greed.

The foothills of the silage bale are mostly eaten by lesser pushy mortals.

I put out separate piles of silage for those that are feeling left out, though mostly everyone gets a shot at the bale eventually.

It is a full time job worshipping at The Temple of The Bale.  My horses sense the urgency of eating it before it goes off and always make a clean plate because they are well brung up and know you always leave a clean plate.

Bless them for trying!

Yesterday, Floss had an excellent riding lesson from Bjørn, our trainer.

She rode Klængur and they started in walk, practiced halt and asked for an outline.

Klængur was sold to me a few years back in Iceland as a tölt horse.  He never trotted once and that is just how me and my back (or is it my back and I?) liked it.

A solid good action tölting Icelandic horse is a wonderful thing.

Smooth, fun, and makes the rider smile.

Motoring around, having fun, knowing you are safe is definitely the way forward.

So I am now depressed that Klængur has started trotting.  I never asked him and he never did i but he trots for Flossie. Meh.

My horse does not trot.  I can’t trot – it hurts my back horridly with all that bouncing.

There is nothing I can do, however.  Klængur belongs to Flossie now (note-to-self, I must remember to fill in the transfer form and send it off to the Icelandic Horse Society of Great Britain).

I suppose, it doesn’t really matter if Klængur trots, tölts, flies or wobbles his way around as long as Floss has a smile on her face at the end of her riding lesson.

They both worked very well together which is lovely to see.

Have you been wondering about Taktur and how he is getting on?

Well, he has been ridden and trained regularly since the beginning of this year.

Tölt

Trot

Canter – he finds it very difficult to keep his balance in the school – he is 100 times better outside.  Much more elevation.

And then we put a stang (Stangir) or Icelandic curb bit on for the first time (as well as weighted front boots, which he is used to).  This is a training aid and will not worn regularly.

Walk

Slow Tölt

Trot

Tölt (the other way round)

And Rest and stretch with long reins coz Taktur has worked very hard and been wonderful.

I love this superb horse.  He is awesome – the very definition of that over-used word.

Daisy, Floss and I, along with Loki and BeAnne, went to the beach for a dog walk.   We haven’t been for ages and were in the area, de-lousing Lyra.

We all enjoy the beach.  No, really.  This is BeAnne’s “I wanted to swim, but it is a bit freezing” face!

I don’t blame her.  No one else was in the water.  Not even the seals.  Still, the sea was a lovely colour.

So we walked up and down the beach and yes, BeAnne is on her spring pre-bikini diet, as she has enjoyed the winter a bit too much, so calories were burned.

Daisy and Floss held the dogs while I walked away, turned and called them to me. They raced and I took these photos.  I love their faces and their ears.  Loki is much faster than BeAnne (that would be the greyhound in him).  He runs effortlessly, while BeAnne runs with huge concentration to get to me.

I think this is my favourite photo as they are both in sync together.

Daisy has gone back now and it was the best Spring break ever!