Avalon Icelandics and Farm

01/19/2025

Super cool tutorial yesterday from a great biomechanic and eventing trainer who I really admire. 15 minutes on the crazy seat/balance-training tool in the background gave me some great ideas for my riding improvement. Now I just wait for weather that doesn't freeze my t**s off to be outside to ride. It's currently -10°F / -22°C.

01/14/2025

Enjoy the best winter leagues.

01/14/2025

Our beauty queen is rough and tumble in the winter when she and the rest of our mare herd get to be dirty and relatively carefree. It's bitterly 🥶 🧊 cold here for a few days and the mares get the unlimited hay buffet to keep warm and happy.
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01/10/2025

Beautiful winter Fairy Ring around the moon last night. People often comment about how much work a horse farm must be. But like so many things, there's just more to it. I know our son Leo will go on to college soon and his own life full of adventures. But for now, he does chores with me every night and I get very special alone time with him where we talk and notice the beauty we're privileged to witness each day. I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

01/04/2025

The loveliest 2 year old to trim, hands down. Rokkur from Avalon is sold and staying here at our farm to grow up with other youngsters. He's always a joy to work with and is growing into such a great companion. Congratulations to his owners.

11/28/2024

Very excited about this young mare.
F. Ísak frá Þjórsárbakka (8.61)
FF. Herkúles frá Ragnheiðarstöðum (8.47 w/o pace)
FM. Elding frá Hóli (8.02 w/o pace)
M. Kolbrá frá Langholti II
MF. Dugur frá Þúfu í Landeyjum (8.49 w/o pace)
MM. Alda frá Langholti II (8.03)

10/29/2024

We have the best helpers whenever we work in the pasture.

10/13/2024

Hey Minneapolis! Come see us, meet the riders raising money for the Minneapolis Mounted Police, and enjoy a brisk fall day along the Mississippi River.

10/11/2024

Northern lights last night.

10/10/2024

10/10/2024

10/03/2024

Artemis meeting her little sister for the first time a few days ago with their momma, Hugrún in the background. Broodmares and foals went to the winter pasture with the other young mares last week as autumn 🍂 approaches.

09/27/2024

This Week’s Training Thoughts…

When it comes to riding, most folks can appreciate the value of a good seat. But there are two common misunderstandings around a good seat that are important to consider:

• A good seat is an innate talent that you either have or you don't.

• A classically correct seat guarantees good riding

The art of riding is, at its most basic level, keeping the horse in between you and the ground. This takes balance, coordination, feel for rhythm, and a degree of physical strength & flexibility. It also involves developing competency in different types of seats- half seat, full seat, posting, and two-point. Through the decades, riding schools around the world have found that the best place these skills can be effectively developed is on the longe line. On a longe line, you are able to focus on yourself, as opposed to controlling the horse. This gives you opportunity to develop the skills of your seat before you need to use them to ride independently. Far too often, riding schools neglect this integral part of rider education. So many issues can be mitigated later in a rider’s career through building a foundation of skill and understanding on the longe line.

The second misunderstanding is… many folks confuse good riding with the ability to sit pretty. Think about your seat like a tool. You can have the prettiest, most expensive looking tool in the world… but if you don’t know how to USE it, then it has very little purpose. This is why you may notice many high level riders from various disciplines with clear faults in their seat. These riders have achieved high level horsemanship due to superior feel for the horse. They know how to apply and release pressure with their bodies in ways that guide the horse’s movement, regardless of how “pretty” their seat is. Of course, a quality tool lends itself to more effective work, so all the best riders in the world work to improve their seat in ways that will help them communicate. That said… At the end of the day, it’s not how pretty you look but how effectively you USE your seat to have a conversation with the horse that really counts.

There are two take home messages for riders on this front:

1. We should all be working to improve our seat and all take seat lessons.

2. At the end of the day, your ability to communicate with your horse is more important than type of seat, physical ability (or disability), or body type.

To us, these are actually quite heartening messages, although they can feel contradictory. We all have our limitations and challenges. Some bodies just don’t have the elements needed to easily achieve a pretty seat. We all should continuously push ourselves to improve our riding posture… but the best seat is the one that facilitates a harmonious understanding between horse and rider.

Photo by Cameron Durbin

09/22/2024