We decided a few months ago that the cottage needed a facelift. Since then we have refurbished the rooms and completely renovated the bathroom all the way down to the bare wall structure. The project was a close call in terms of meeting deadlines. The first guests arrived only a few hours after we had finished the last details. By "last details" we mean hanging the pictures and putting the flowers. The paint was dry and all rooms were ready to welcome our first clients, a Dutch family living in Australia. We now proudly offer a comfortable facility for shorter or longer stays in an up to date cottage in magnificent surroundings.
After a very complicated process, we tried to put all 3 mares in foal with Jón Forseti fra Ahl (Father:Dynur frá Hvammi; FF: Orri frá þúfu; Mother: Snörp frá Brimilsvöllum; MF: þorri frá þúfu; MMF: Stígur frá Kjartanstöðum) in Denmark. The vets in England have confirmed that Eldfim and Maistjarna are in foal. We are still not sure whether Tign is in foal, too. Most likely not - the latest bloodtest in New Zealand was negative, but not 100% conclusive. We have therefore decided to wait another month before we completely give up the hope that she might be in foal.
The long days and the weather in New Zealand are really inviting for creating space for a horse trek in the nearby forest in between all our obligations, tasks and appointments. Yesterday we managed to enjoy the great views from 4 horse backs in both sun and rain. We are not sure who enjoyed the trek more – the horses or us.
Post-merger integration
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Shortly after the new horses arrived from Denmark at Nedri Bakki, the new crew was joined by Hrima, Perla, Desiloa and Suna. Different from what usually happens in business mergers, the integration process went smoothly and with pretty much excitement. The dynamics at the moment involves the mature mares (Hrima and Eldfim) standing on each side of the herd letting the youngsters having the mid-field.
Icelandics from Denmark finally arrive at Nedri Bakki
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
After a long journey and a complex process our 5 Icelandics (3 mares and 2 foals) finally arrived at Nedri Bakki on the 27th of September. This was very exciting since only Kenneth has previously seen some of the horses back in Denmark – the rest of the family had to rely on their imagination and the many pictures. The horses arrived in a great shape and a few minutes after they were on the paddock, they behaved like they have always been there.
Guest horses
Friday, 21 September 2007
Kenneth is regularly training 2 of our "guest horses" – Sunna and Ruskur. They arrived as "a couple" from the South Island just 3 months ago, are lovely and really gorgeous. They were a bit under pressure when the regular training started, but it didn't take long before they started really enjoying the training. Ruskur enjoyed a ride in the near by forest 2 weeks ago and they now are in separate groups on the farm. Ruskur is with the other boys (yes, it can be somewhat defeating to remove a male (although a gelding) from the company of 4 females) and Sunna is without him with the other mares and fillies. They both enjoy the new group dynamics and so, the mutual attachment was not really a dependence!
We have bought 5 horses (3 mares and 2 foals) from 2 top studs in Denmark, Ahl and Tornbjerg. It was a long and complicated process to arrange all veterinary tests (those are really numerous!) and organize all formalities related to the transportation of the horses. Checking e-mail during the night was a routine for several weeks!
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