Vaginal AI trip, page 3

Oddgeirsholar ewes                                      A Visir son

Lopi Sweaters at Thingborg Craft Center

After an enjoyable time at Thingborg, some of us went horseback riding on 5-gaited Icelandic horses.  The ride is somewhat unusual in that when the Icelandic horse "tolts," (Yes, that IS spelled correctly!) it doesn't bounce the rider up and down like a normally gaited horse, and you do not "post," but the ride is very smooth, with all the bumps removed. Our horses were too smart though, and decided for the most part that they were not going to give us the priviledge of experiencing their unusual gait, sensing immediately that they had not been mounted by any great horsemen (except Racheal was quite experienced,) and for the most part, our independant-minded steeds abused us with the normal "jounce-the-tourists-as-hard-as-you-can" gait.

The seminar was over as of that mid-afternoon when we left the semen station, but that night we were served dinner at a nice restaurant,  diplomas were handed out to the participants, thank-you's were expressed, Isbona president Elaine Clark gave a short but empassioned mini-speech, and we finished the night with a celebration at Dr. Olafsson's home.      The next morning we were up early for some sightseeing and to visit three more farms; Heidarbaer Farm, Hestur Experimental Station, and Haafelli Farm at Borgarnes.  The distinctive features of these particular farms were that Heidarbaer Farm was run by a man & wife team, Olof B. Einarsdottir, and Johannes Sveinbjornsson.  Probably the most highly educated shepherds in Iceland, both received their MSc degrees at Ultuna University in Sweden, her degree in Animal Breeding, his in Animal Nutrition, and his Phd thesis is also in Animal Nutrition at Ultuna University.  He has developed a system by which he and his wife could feed their 600 ewes only once every 4 days by cutting round bales & distributing them to the ewes by an overhead rail system.

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