Only 3 Days Left & I'm Not Crying You're Crying.
JULY 7: MBRUN IS BACK IN ÖLFUSSSSS! The foreboding clouds of yesterday indeed manifested into a long, wet, stormy day, and thankfully it allowed us to take things at a slower pace since the customers were slower to arrive and get ready to go. We had two small tours, so I was able to stay behind and help Elisa consolidate the horses inside the stable and get ready the ones we were sending to Reykjavik. Around noon the boss brought 6 reykjavik horses for us...and Mbrun was in the group. It was mostly the horses that also needed shoes the worst--which Mbrun is a proud member of that club--but I wasn't expecting it at all and it made the past few days worth it to be back here. I sent a text to my parents as I could hardly believe my luck: Gáski, Mbrun, and Herkules all in Ölfus for the rest of my last week. After the day fizzled off, Elisa and I decided to go on a ride. I hadn't tried Jarpa yet, so I took her and Elisa took Ófeigur, and we went for a short loop ride. I know Jarpa really prefers Elisa, so I kept that in mind as we rode, and tölted along the mountainside. I kind of expected a faster ride, and I think so did Elisa, but I wasn't expecting Jarpa to be as heavy as she was in the tölt alone. I know Ófeigur likes to race the horse he's with, and that's not a battle I wanted to loose especially on Elisa's favorite horse. That'd just be downright embarrassing. Looking back I think I wish I had because the flying pace could've been so fun--oh well.
JULY 8: We had a 1hr tour at 9:30, then the Disney tour around midday, but that was pretty much it for the work day. We got ready extra early for the 1hr tour, and I brewed so much coffee we could caffeinate an army. For some reason waiting in the coffee house recently has turned into one big phone fest, so I took my coffee outside to spend some time with Mbrun (I'm still so excited to have her here I could burst). I offered her some as a joke, because we had a lot of people coming for us, and she actually loved it? As if I needed another reason to love that horse more. I tried to offer some to Gáski, but we wasn't a fan really, so I let Mbrun have the rest after I was finished with it. It was so funny though, I took Gáski for the tours (obviously) so I was able to chat with everyone pretty well (as he prefers to wander up and down the line instead of in front or back) and found a family from Charleston in the second group! Wacky! We geeked out for a second, as we should. They were really nice, and as per the Disney style we got a sweet 10.000isk tip and all got to go get ice cream after. Yummmmm.
Since the day was pretty chill for us and the horses, Elisa and I decided to go on a long ride through the forest to the Reykjadalor entrance. The bugs were considerably worse than the last time I rode this trial, but it was just as exciting and magical otherwise. When we got to the Reykjadalor entrance we let the horses rest and eat/drink while we talked and laughed about the summer we'd had together. We ended up sitting for about 30 minutes, and created an instagram for the company (since the other ones were very inactive and outdated). I'm not sure if it will go far, or if the future guides will do much with it, but it could be so fun. Once the horses had rested a bit we took some funny videos tölting in the water (please notice the bugs, they're truly ungodly) and raced a little back towards the forest. At one point Jarpa broke into her flying pace and it was such a funny look: just the way she flattened her head and back, it was almost cartoonish.
At the edge of the forest trail we decided to cut across the main road and ride through Eldhestar territory back home (since we didn't have any of our company's gear on) and finish through the breeding pastures. The Eldhestar trail was very underwhelming in comparison to our mountain trial, but crossing the streams was exciting, and there were plenty of opportunities to gallop. Jarpa deftinely outran Mbrun by a lot every time, and after one gate crossing the horses got very excited and spontaneously burst into a full run. It was SOOOOO funny, at one point in their surprise race Elisa couldn’t stop Jarpa, and all I saw was her fly past in a blur, almost entirely reclined on Jarpa's back as she was pulling with her entire body weight to stop. Of course it would have stopped being funny the moment that she really couldn’t stop Jarpa or fell, but thank god that horse loves Elisa and it ended just fine. I laughed for at least 5 minutes straight because of how genuinely ridiculous it looked as she went by...I don't even have good enough words to describe it. It was about 4 hours in total of riding, and by the time we got home the four of us (riders and horses) were ready for a relaxing rest of the evening. We shouldn't need to use either of them tomorrow as we don't have many tours...unless the boss pulls a surprise on us. Here's hoping he stays dormant.
When we got home we showered, make a big dinner, and just hung around. Elisa spent some time calling her family, and I have come to the conclusion that German sounds like if you flipped English inside out. It sounds like I should understand what she's saying, but the words just come up jumbled in my mind.
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