Poor Daisy.
It was drizzling in a non-stop Shetland way and she has to train her horse, Kappi.
Bjørn Roar Larsen, Daisy’s trainer, and I drove in the car to watch Daisy train her Icelandic horse, Kappi, on the straight road.
Before we arrived, Daisy had been warming up Kappi for a while and then Bjørn gave her instruction on the gaits and transitions.
(I liked the backdrop)
Both horse and rider worked hard. From now on, it is all about getting Kappi fit. Seriously fit.
In June, we go south for the Icelandic Horse British Championships so they have to be ready.
Daisy and Kappi are training hard.
It is not easy, in Shetland for either of them. We do not have an oval track (the nearest is over 400 miles away) and it is nearly impossible for horse/rider to go south or go abroad to compete.
But still they train and they can only do their best, when the time comes. I drove alongside Daisy and Kappi while Bjørn shouted instructions to them. In Iceland, they have separate parallel riding tracks to the roads. In Shetland, we are on single track roads with me trying not to either drive into the ditch or run the horse over! Not easy I can tell you.
Kappi moves beautifully! How are the horses judged at the championships, Frances? Are the qualities of the pace a significant factor?
Beat and then conformation.
Can’t believe he won’t do well in that case!
Agreed, it doesn’t look easy at all. Is the indoor ring too small for the type of training required? They look good, for what i’ts worth.
Is an oval track the same as a thoroughbred race track? Would it be prohibitive to create one- or too expensive?
I shudder to think at the cost tbh. It would be a digger, membrane, fill with sand, fencing kind of job of a very large flat area.
What events will Daisy and Kappi have to do to win?
Not to win but have to score about 6.0, I think. Various classes – not sure yet.
Wins by those of us who DON’T have ideal training venues are all the sweeter! Go (again) Daisy!