A Day All Its Own.
Lisa + Flóki :)
Although we all don't want to admit we're aware of what day it is, we all know at heart it's Lisa's last work day. Even Apple seems to be a little extra cuddly of her today--lingering on spaces she was sitting and reclining on her lap. She has tomorrow off and is planning to go snorkeling in a lake on the continental rift--I wish she had a buddy to go with her though. Days off just hit so much different when you have a buddy, and especially because it'll be her last hoorah before heading home. She'll be staying with us for a few more nights in between her hotel booking and now--but a new girl arrives tomorrow night very very late...or early depending on how you view 1:30am. The boss had originally planned to let Lisa stay until her hotel dates, but she's been demoted to the couch given the new circumstances. Needless to say, that couch could give anyone a solid nights rest--that thing is magical.
This morning Axelle rode Mango on the tour (not his real name, but the boss bought him on a whim and can't remember the name as of right now, so we took the liberty of naming him), a new horse we received about a week ago. Elisa tried him in Ölfus, to which she reported he wasn't her favorite and was quite awful to ride at a walk. Watching Axelle this morning made that even more hilarious, as Axelle stays almost too chill and carefree in any circumstance. At every road stop I choked on my laughter as Mango tölted sideways on the asphalt, head held high and lips lifted as though trying to smile or protect against a bad smell...all the while with a loose reined, smiling and giggling Axelle chattering away on his back. It takes a crazy to calm one I suppose. He really is quite a pretty horse though, and I hope he ends up doing well.
On the afternoon tour we met a super fun flight attendant who had a ton of riding experience and was soooo so funny. She arrived a bit early and spent some time laughing with us about equestrian stories, and how we all end up being responsible for more beginners on horses than we probably should be. We put her on Bliki (who had a nice braid around his bridle strap as he’d been taking his bridle off all day, his record right now is 5 minutes.) and got her in the back with me--she had a blast. Sometimes I like when there's a really experienced rider who's by themselves for our tours here in Reykjavik, as they end up being like an additional guide to us and I try to match them with a really beautiful and fun horse. We took a different forest route today (which was so so fun) and at the end we had fun speeding up. I got her instagram and hope to keep in touch with her to see all of her fun adventures and Icelandic updates as the summer goes by. Secretly I am hoping she books another tour so we could ride w her again and maybe have a little fun racing after, but she’s got a lot too see and not many routes for the summer.
After work we sent Lisa out the only way we knew--a forest trail ride and then an ultimate race. Iti joined us with one of her horses from her work, a beautiful gelding that reminded us all a bit of Bliki (but with manners), Lisa took Grima, Axelle took Eldey, and I took Mbrun with a speaker for good tunes locked onto my saddle. We wove around, reminiscing of our funniest, and most frustrating, times, and I held a little extra appreciation in my heart for getting the chance to be apart of Lisa's Rvk. I'm all the better for getting to learn from her, and take on each day with her. We took turns galloping down pathways, swallowing dust and rocks if we weren't first (the worst part of sunny summer), and Grima almost killed us as she made a full 90* turn onto the skinniest forest trail right into Mbrun while we were racing. Looking back it was hilarious, but in the moment I was sure I was going to taste bark. Going back towards the barn, Iti's efforts to slowly decrease her horse's speed ended up in the funniest fall I've ever seen. It was like watching a penguin bounce off a cliff and flop into the sea, expect it was Iti flopping perfectly sideways into a bush. She was ok, but it was so funny.
During the ride we finally got Lisa to agree on a final race between Floki and Bliki--and trust me when I say it took more than just a bit of convincing. Lisa is very sensible, with a healthy self preservation mentality, and was still questioning her decision to say yes (knowing Floki was one of the faster horses of the company, with quiet a competitive heart) as we tacked up for the track. Meanwhile, Axelle's unhealthy love for high risk manifested itself in her eager mount on Bliki for the challenge, as we all knew he was THE most completive horse (just unsure on the fastest or not but dangerous at uncontrolled speed none the less). The track is right next to Viking Horses so as I was setting up my camera to film, Iti dropped off her trail horse and joined me as an eager bystander. I turned up some killer racing tunes, and they were off!
...& then when things got speedy...
It was going super well, they were well paced and in control, until I'm assuming Lisa kept control of Floki's run and Axelle lost control of Bliki's...and rounded the last corner when Bliki decided to go rouge and jump the track markers making Axelle completely eat shit. I had my money on Floki, unfortunately for me, as even though Axelle was catapulted off before crossing the finish line--there wasn't really much of a competition at that point. Her safety vest deployed as she fell (which I had just been making fun of her for in the pre-race moments earlier) and thinking about it now, she probably saw that one coming. While some might say that Lisa and Floki won because they both stayed in line and finished the race…Bliki still got the finish line first even if he went nuts and Axelle fell. I told Axelle afterwards that she should love Iti and I a little more, because for a brief moment when she was flung across the track, we both put our cameras down and were genuinely concerned about her. We should've just laughed.
Before dinner we brought the horses in as the sun glowed across the sky--making their coats warm and eyes sparkle. The boss had called me after our race and let me know that I'd be moving back to Ölfus once the new girl arrives tomorrow--I wasn't expecting it at all. On the one hand it makes sense, as Judith would be taking my place since she will be staying until September, so when Axelle leaves on the 11th (and I will too), Judith will be able to focus on training the new Reykjavik girl instead of whoever is arriving tomorrow having to train two new girls at the same time while just having learned the tours herself.
It still makes me sad though--and ever aware that the golden days of our summer are closing their wings. I offered to herd the horses down on my own so I could breathe it in, and took some photos for memories. I almost wish the boss would decide that we all should stay for the rest of the summer, but I understand there are things each of us needs to get back to. Plus I can't be too bummed, as Axelle, Iti and I are camper-traveling around Iceland after the 11th along with one of Axelle's friends. I'm very excited, and it makes leaving a little bit easier to comprehend.
When we fed the horses, Axelle was taking f o r e v e r to separate the hay, and Lisa displayed a beautiful technique where the distributor mounts the hay and pulls from beneath them. I don't trust the Boss' hay bales that much, but at this point Lisa and I have nothing to loose I suppose.
The races of the day resulted in the funniest video chain, which I will provide here. As we make Lisa's last family dinner in the apartment and set up our Too Hot To Handle viewing, we're all just about breathless from laughter:
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