I have the car today (flute lesson) so I took the opportunity to go and see my little Icelandic boy, Hjalti.  When I arrived, I saw that everyone was at the top of the hill in their enormous field.

So I struggled up to the top, huge camera in hand and found two little boys.

This is Hjalti’s new best friend, a Shetland gelding (not mine) who is now in residence.

Hetja is very happy with this arrangement and leaves the little boys to play all day, but she does keep an eye out.

The little Shetland gelding is very friendly and hopefully he will teach Hjalti how to talk and make friends too.

Hjalti is remains aloof but interested in everything going on with or without him.

It was lovely to see the boys play, though.  Hjalti has been desperate for a friend for a long time. We were all very sad when the Shetland mare and foal did not work out.

This one, however, seems just the right size.

So this morning, I suggested to my remaining daughter, Flossie, that we would go for a ride (if she wanted).

As Iacs needed shoes, it was not fair to ride him so I thought Flossie would be fine on Klaengur as we would just be plodding up the road and down again.

Sadly, Klaengur had other ideas and was a berk.  He was all fast and scary and, as he raced past me, I grabbed him and Floss got off looking visibly shocked.  I felt awful. I had made a bad decision and I didn’t want to put her off riding.

Bless her, Flossie still wanted to go out, so I bunged her on Haakon, gave him “The Look” and we went out with me on Klaengur who was obviously on mind-altering bouncy drugs.

Floss had lost her nerve after the Klaengur debacle so I told her to hold onto the pommel of the saddle with one hand and the reins with the other.  Haakon plodded like a beach donkey carrying raw eggs.  I love that horse.  He always knows.

We came home with a smile on our faces and Floss’ confidence restored.

After a restorative lunch, we went to see Klaengur and the others in their field.

BeAnne discovered a rabbit hole that needed excavation.

The Minions were bewitched and stood watching a professional Patterdale terrier at work!

If they investigated a bit too much, a Monster From the Deep would appear to tell them off!

Meanwhile, Flossie and Klaengur were talking..

She explained to him that his behaviour was scary…..

And that it had upset and frightened her….

… and then they made friends again.

The Monster From The Deep went for a swim, ….

…… Had a shake.

And returned to her usual beautiful (?) self.

Every year the Shetland Pony Breeders of Shetland host The Viking Shetland Pony Show in Lerwick.

I went off this morning armed with my camera to the Show.

How many horse shows have this for a view? Perfect.

Anywho, the first ponies to grab my eye/camera were Fivla, Charlie and Andy in the ridden ring.  They were very happy with their young jockeys who were doing very well.  So proud (sniff).

Then I pottered about generally taking photos of ponies that grabbed me for various reasons.  If you know me, you will know I am very keen on whiskers and happy faces…..

…. and anyone snoozing!

My friends were in the ring and doing very well.

There is the serious side to showing.

And the fun side (when no one is watching).

The bit about showing that matters most to me is to say thank you to your pony afterwards. So important.

She deserved her win.  A lovely girl.

While I was a-wandering, I came across this gentleman talking to Andy, who was tied, with his friends, around their trailer.

For me, these Shetland ponies are the unsung heroes.  They are the real ambassadors for the breed.  So what if they don’t win huge prizes – they are 100% reliable and trustworthy in any situation and I was very proud of Andy.  He was a true gentleman.  You can’t really ask more of a Shetland pony.

It was a good day and I saw old friends, met new folk and generally enjoyed myself.

Daisy is off to foreign climes for a two week trial for a job.

So she said goodbye to her horses.

Iacs, of course, is devastated.

While Kappi is working out how he will cope in her absence. I mean where will the carrots come from.  They don’t just drop from the sky, you know.

Silver was very demonstrative in his attentions.  He does real kisses.

And then all The Minions decided to pile in, sorry, I mean say goodbye in their own unique way.

Once finished, they had better things to do, ie to annoy Waffle while he had a roll because you do, don’t you, and there is nothing better than jumping on a friend when he is down.

And then it was “party on, dudes”.

(and this is why we don’t have good tails at Thordale – the finger points, Tiddles.  It points!)

Please wish Daisy the best of luck on her travels.  This is the job she wants for the foreseeable but I am not going to jinx it by saying anything.

Suffice it to say my riding buddy has gone away and I know she will miss her horses very much – everyone here will miss her too.

Iacs, oh Iacs, what is the matter with you?

He is presenting with very uncharacteristic behaviour.

When we are out on a trek, Klaengur will dung on the side of the road, and Iacs stops dead, refuses to move forward and paws the ground.

He does this with different riders.  He exhibits no signs of pain, is relaxed but just saying “won’t”.  If he is turned round, he is very happy to go home and if you turn him 360 degrees, he will keep going and even enjoy a canter up his favourite track.

Iacs is 20 years old. He was castrated as a youngster with no complications. He is not a dominant horse in the herd – a glass half-full kinda guy.

So what is going on?

Daisy and I took him into the school and we tested his back, asked him to step through a tight circle on both reins and there was no reaction.  All was fine.

Daisy then tacked him up and rode him round the school on both reins. No bother.

He went along in a long low relaxed frame of mind.

She then tried him bareback to see if there was any difference.

There wasn’t.  Iacs’ ears are pricked forward and he happily walked, trotted and cantered on each rein.

We tried his other saddle (for the wider fit, sir) and he was slightly faster so perhaps his saddle was pinching.

To be honest, we are none the wiser.  The only thing I can think of is that Iacs has no shoes on at the moment so perhaps he is footy.

But why would he stop dead and start pawing another gelding’s dung?  What is he saying?

A Norwegian animal behaviourist came over today and we explained the situation.  She wondered whether he had learned this behaviour and now it was stuck his pea-like brain.