I've bought myself a new horse today..
There was a guy importing lots of icelandic horses last year, but didn't manage to feed them properly so the police took care of them and sold them on an auktion... today.
They've had them for 7 weeks to get them somewhat in shape.. and there were still lots of really skinny horses. Especially two mares with foals, one of them had her hip-bones sticking out like 5 inches or so.. :/
Anyway.. among them was Sólon frá Guðrúnarstöðum, a yearling stallion..tiny and like..yellow xD
I gave the first bid.. and suddenly stood there with the last one as well. And a new horse, rather unexpectedly, actully.. I hadn't planned for it.. but oh well. I've always liked icelandics.
Somehow I had expected him to know how to lead and such basics.. I expected too much. We got him home and it took 20 minutes before I found a way to get him into the stall (half diving him before me with my body, half steering with the halter rope..), poor thing was so confused. And rather afraid of people too. But at the same time very gentle and social. I spent some time with him in the stall, and he stood perfectly as I brushed out his mane and tail, probably for the first time in his life, and scratched all the nice places. He didn't let me close to the legs or under the belly tho, I can only imagine that he's just not used to being touched.
We used one of our other horses to lead him to the pasture, and oncethere he actually let me close enough to remove the halter when they had first met.
I'm sure he'll be a very kind, gentle and fun horse to ride in a few years
At the auktion
At home, trying to figure out what I mean with that pulling of the leadrope..
Meeting the others
His head, in the stall
Congratulations on your new one!
I'm actually just the tiniest bit excited aswell, another forumer with an icy! :smile:
Sólon is precious, I can't wait to see him mature more! Does he have any big names behind him?
Your so lucky to have a horse, i might be getting one. Except that i have to buy it and pay for the board or hay if i keep it at my house. I dont know yet....I might be getting a appaloosa!
It still amazes me how some people can do those aweful things to such wonderful creatures. Amazingly horses are usually able to forgive with enough TLC. I think he is going to make you a wonderful little pony. Congrats on giving that little guy another chance to be something and giving him a chance to love again.
Congrats! My guy, Sundance was left in a field with several other horses and nearly starved to death after his owner passed away. The family just stopped feeding them. The neighbors went and got him and got him back in good health, then he came to join my family!
Thanks for all nice comments!
He has already racked in the pasture, as well as paced, so I think he'll be a good little fella ^^And he lookes.. weird.. in his new fly sheet! xD And fly mask..and..******
He loves when you pet him and messes wih his mane and tail, so I've put some shine-liquid (expensive..blergh..I guess it works like MTG tho, which I've never seen in sweden..) and braided it. I want it to grow out and be really long and lie on both sides of his neck :P Plus, and most important, since he likes to get his mane messed with as much as I do, it seems like a good way to bond and get to know each other He's having that fly-sheet covering pretty much everything from nose to tail, and any bare parts are sprayed, so the mane arn't doing any good fly catching job anyways, otherwise I'd keep it loose.
(icelandics are known to get sun and bug problems when they come to sweden, since we have a mosquito here that doesn't excist on iceland. This makes the horse rub off the mane and tail and perhaps even scratch up bloody wounds, so I better be safe than sorry and protect him against any bugs that can make him over-sensetive, and put anti-itch stuff in his mane and tail once a week, then get a horse that'll scratch his skin off if you leave him out without protection for an hour, and demand lots of creams and stuff several times a day..)
He's really easy to lead now, at least as long as you don't lead him with the other horses (he's a bit nervous about walking too close to them yet when he's ''tied'' (held i a rope), but they're getting more and more friendly in the pasture.
One mare that was at the same auktion.. she had a foal too. Another mare was just the same, but most were like Sólon or a tad bit worse..
A picture of Sólon that shows his actual shape better..
This was right after a bath.. this morning he had pawed the straw away and rolled in his pee.. yay, soo great to see after spending the entire night cleaning him up xD
I need some dry-shampoo if I'm gonna keep a light horse clean..
How heartbreaking! I am so glad that you have him now and he has a new start in life with someone who will care for him and love him as he should be! I wish you all the best with him ...
People asked for gaiting photos (or movies but that camera is bad right now) so I took some. Or tried xD
Well, can't jude his gait this early anyway, badly fed, probably lots of tensions after the move and I'll have the farrier check his hooves on tuesday (I trimmed a lot of them myself today and theres still plenty to take of.. >_>) But, here he is Not even trained to run with a leadrope xD
All dressed up to meet the mosquitos..>_>
And I love having a horse that likes getting his mane done xD
Like Soul-on according to Sissi.. x) She should know since she lives on iceland.. the rest of his name I won't even try xD
(Dad keeps calling him Saloon.. uhm xD)
wow what a cutie. There is a herd of Icelanic ponies near my barn and we always stop to see them when out riding. They are soo cool. Glad to see he is looking so much better
A forum community dedicated to horse owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, grooming, reviews, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!