We should once again have some availability for training horses in the next few weeks – please get in touch if you are interested!

We have just returned from a week at the MEM in Germany competing with four horses; Kafteinn, Hafeti, Svala and Snaevar. Mike had a brilliant competition getting a bronze medal with Kafteinn in the Pace test! He also got a personal best in the F1 class, as well as getting great results with Hafeti in the Pace test and Speed Pace. Jemimah rode Snaevar in the V2, and he did a respectable test for a young stallion at his first major competition.

Jemimah also rode Svala in the V1 and T1. It was the first time Jemimah had ridden Svala in a competition and they achieved 6-6.8 in the T1! It was great to be part of the GB team and we congratulate the other team members on their performances.

Josefin Birkebro from Sweden rode our own Stallion, Noi fran Brosarpsgarden, to Silver position in the T1 at the Nordic Championships this weekend with a score of 8.22! Congratulations to Josefin and Noi!

Today was Charlotte’s last day with us after over a year! We shall miss her greatly – she is off to start in the army so we wish her all the very best, and think she’s very brave!

At the end of last week, Andrew flew out to Rio for the Olympics with the NZ eventing team…. all the horses have arrived safely and everyone is getting accustomed to the surroundings at the Olympic horse park and the Olympic village. More to follow shortly….!

This weekend Mike got to ride a young mare, a daughter of Frosti fra Efri-Raudalaek in the Breeding Farm show for the Efri-Raudalaek farm at Landsmot 2016. Unfortunately the farm did not win the show, which was voted for by the public, but it was a lot of fun never-the-less!

This week, we were excited to host a group of 20 riders from the Shillingstone and District Riding Club (SDRC), who came to see our beautiful horses. They enjoyed a little refreshment while Mike talked to them about the Icelandic Horse, why we love them so much and answered any questions they had about Icelandics. Following this, the group had a look at the stables and met some of the horses. We then rode four of the horses to demonstrate their gaits; Mike rode Svala demonstrating a T1, Jemimah rode a V1 on Snaevar while Elizabeth rode a T2 on Odinn and finally Mike demonstrated pace on Hafeti. We offered any of the group to ‘have a go’ and one lady jumped on board and came off beaming that Icelandic grin!

Here are a few photo’s from the evening:

We received a very nice email the next day Thanking us for the evening “A huge thank you to you and your family for welcoming us all to your home yesterday evening.  Your passion for your sport and your horses is evident. Also a special thank you from me personally for your generosity in allowing me to ride your fantastic horse. It was like being put behind the wheel of a Ferrari – I want an Icelandic for TREC! Please pass on my thanks to your parents for an unforgettable experience – I am still buzzing this morning”.

Last weekend, we hosted the British Championships at Connegar Farm which was also a world ranking event. We were delighted to welcome international judges from Germany, Iceland, Switzerland and the UK.

Mike rode some excellent pace tests and speed pace tests on Kafteinn and Hafeti, and a very nice five gait program on Kafteinn. He also won the preliminary on Svala in the T1. It was Elizabeth’s debut with Komma in the T2 who did a nice test. Jemimah rode the two new stallions in the V1, and lead the preliminaries. She also rode Fjolnir and Dogun in Intermediate classes as well as Stapi and Draupnir in the T2. Draupnir did a great test and got some great marks up to 7.5 for the loose rein section in the final.

We were very happy with all our horses and it was great to see the Youth and Adult riders doing so well.

Also during the weekend, one of the judges’ daughters got to ride Sokkull ‘just for fun!’.

This week, the whole family have been busy tidying, mowing, strimming, setting up equipment and more – as well as practicing with their horses ready for the British Championships next weekend!

Last weekend Jemimah had the pleasure of teaching three students including one new one, on their lovely horses! It was a pleasure!

One of the visitors also had a little play with Sokkull and had a great time galloping around the oval track!