Anna at Horse Riding School
Last summer, we signed Anna up for two consecutive weeks of horse riding school run by Viking Horses, which happen to be located very close to us. When the two weeks were up, Anna spent a whole day crying over the ‘loss’ of her horse, was sad for days afterwards, and waxed poetically about ‘her horse’ (Sproti) for an entire year.
It was pretty obvious that two weeks were nowhere near enough time for her to get her horse-fix, so this year I kept a close eye on when registration started this spring, and booked her for a whopping five consecutive weeks: from when school ended up until we would leave for a week-long stay at a summer house in Húsafell. (Deal sweetener: A 10% discount for repeat bookings.)
This worked out really beautifully because a) Anna could bike to and from the horse riding school (about 15 minutes each way) on a bike path with so many underpasses that she only had to cross one street, meaning b) she was out of the house between 12:30 to 5 pm every weekday, which meant that I could take uninterrupted daytime naps with Emma (Bjarki was at daycare).
For me the extra icing on the cake was also the fact that Anna really wanted to go, so there was no whining about when or if to get going. Which is priceless. Really.
On the last couple of days of her five week stint, I showed up with the camera to take pictures of Anna with ‘her’ horses, as well as with some of the kittens which she’d spent a good chunk of time playing with both before and after each afternoon session.
Anna on Síben, her new favorite horse, because he would gallop (go very fast) if given the chance. (Photo by Viking Horses)
Thursday 11 July 2013
I showed up at the end of the day, hoping Anna’s horses would be there, but no luck – they’d already gone to their houses for the night a little walk away.
I believe this is Kolfinna, a horse Anna wanted to ride, but didn’t get a chance to. Maybe next year?
We are evil parents that refuse to get pets. So Anna has to get her animal fix elsewhere.
Fun and cute kittens. Most of them had been given away at that point so only two remained.
Instructors resting their weary legs at the end of the day.
Friday 12 July 2013
I arrived before school was over, so most of the horses were still there.
Even better, the kids and horses were still working. This was their last exercise which involved climbing onto a saddle-less horse, sitting on it while it was walked to the other edge of the pen, turning around on the horse to face backwards, and riding back. The horse they’re riding is Vaka.
Anna turning around.
Riding backwards.
Video of the riding exercise (click the image to go to google+ to view the video).
Anna with Orator.
Anna with Síben.
All of Síben.
Lining up to get their certificates of accomplishment.
Anna gets her certificate with the photo at the top of this page.
One of the horses (Sómi) showing his impressive teeth.
This is Sproti.
Here is Fáfnir.
Another shot of Fáfnir.
Saying hi to Ljúflingur.
And thus ended Anna’s epic five weeks of horse riding school.
As we were leaving, I stopped by the ‘office’ to ask for the digital version of Anna’s certificate photo (see the top image) and casually asked if they ever took in six year olds, even though the stated age limit is seven years. The girl said ‘sure, if they’re not scared’, so I signed Bjarki up for one week after we return from the summer house. That week is the last week the school is in session for this year.
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