Rather than call my future horse farm Field of Dreams, I’m going to call it Field of Tolting Dreams. This would then make my enterprise seem more Icelandic horse-specific. Build it, and knowledgeable Icelandic horse people and horses will come. I can hardly wait. Writing about this makes it seem more real. But I am going to have to wait until we have the money to make this happen.

The fourth horse that I wrote about in previous dispatches has now materialized. Her name is Tyra, she’s a three year old chestnut filly. I made her acquaintance when I was at Kathy Lockerbie’s place in Bellingham, WA. It will also be a while before I own her.

I can wait. I don’t want to wait forever, but, well, all things in their time.

When this does come about, the timing will be god. I’m thinking next spring. By then we’ll be in need of another riding horse, especially if we are serious about doing yet another trip. Hrimmi will be the pack horse, and Raudi and Tyra will be the riding horses. Tinni will continue to keep the home fires burning.

Tyra is supposedly not the best representative of her breed in that I am told that she’s not a natural tolter. Kathy Lockerbie told me that she’s four-gaited, which means that she doesn’t pace, but rather trots. I think that in this respect she’ll be a lot like Signy.

I asked Raudi what she thought about our getting another mare – she said that she was okay with this, just so long as the young one “knows her place.”

Our place by then might be elsewhere. We need more pasturage. This will give all the space they desire. I hope that it also has a nice barn, one with individual stalls and turnout areas.

Tyra is chestnut with a dark red mane and tail. Like Raudi, and unlike Hrimmi, she has no markings. Kathy described her character as being “unflappable.” I suppose that being a fire horse, like the other two we have here, that she’s bold, brave, brazen, and extremely independent.

Raudi has all these characteristics to the nth degree. Had I known this when I got her, I might have instead chosen to purchase a different horse, for I most likely would have thought that she’d be too much for me to handle. But because I loved her (and still do) I didn’t give up on her.

The same may be true of Tyra. Add to this that I’m now more experienced at dealing with brave, brazen, and extremely independent horses. I now know what I must do if, say, she is the sort who wants to go one way, and I want to go the other way. This is to say that I must not waver in my judgement.

There are innumerable benefits to having this kind of horse in one’s barn, and these benefits are most apt to make themselves apparent when one is out on the trail. I don’t have much use for a horse that is going to refuse to go over an obstacle or balk at a bog because it’s fearful. I can’t reason with 800 pounds of unmitigated fear. I would rather have a horse or horses that say “hey hey, lady we are going for it – are you ready?” I suspect that my horses feel the same way, which is why, though I am at times fearful, that I squelch it and continue on rather than turn back. I want another horse like Raudi and Hrimmi, who are of the mind that the river crossing is no big deal, and take action accordingly.

The only thing I lack in my quest to make all the above happen is money. I don’t know if I’ll find work here or in the Lower 48. But I now have further incentive in attempting to find such work. Nose to the grindstone, woman.

Tyra’s name is Tyra but I’ve taken to calling her sister because she will be just that.

I tell friends that my having children was conditional upon my having assured that I’d be blessed with three red-headed girls – of course, triplets, all born within the same timeframe. The likelihood of this happening is now non-existent. But my ending up with three red headed ponies is a very likely possibility. As Raudi (dear girl) says “bring it on!”

107. 4/24/15: Lessons Learned, Resumed