Raudi here, standing in for Alys who today has little to say. About time she let me again write a dispatch. She seems to have forgotten that I wrote a book and have written State of the Farm Addresses in the past. Not surprising, Alys’s short term memory seems to be fried. This is why, quite often, after cleaning the enclosure, she leaves the rake and shovel and sometimes muck buckets behind.

I am of course concerned about her. However, it’s quite understandable, why she is walking around like a wilted garden bed. While Tinni’s death didn’t take her by surprise, it has made her quite sad.

Raudi and Tinni at the hitching post

Us mares, of course we are also quite sad. Tinni was as big a part of our lives as he was Alys’s. She often missed the boat in communicating with him – of course this is understandable given that she is only human. We three mares communicated with Tinni just fine.

Tinni came to Squalor Holler with a bad cough, and he left with a bad cough. Heaves is a chronic disease, and I must say, Alys and Pete did a good job of reducing the incidences with Mr. T. They kept the enclosure and shelters clean, and they removed moldy hay. This last go around – there was so much hay in the barn that Tinni’s inhaling spores was unavoidable.

Tinni had a really good sense of humor. For example, he once said that humans were inherently lazy, this is why they chose to ride us. He also thought it great fun to leave Alys on the trail and run home. He did this once when we went on a group trip to Yanert. I was there. He had been left off the highline to graze – I heard Alys yell, “Tinni’s taken off!” And by gosh, he was nowhere to be seen. A few differing posse set out, and he was found and brought back home. He later told me that he was getting tired of being in such close proximity to so many stupid horses. And yes, indeed, the horses on this trip (no Icelandics of course), were really stupid, spooking at everything and refusing to cross creeks. “Dumb shits,” he called them.

Tinni also often spoke of Iceland, and often said that he’d like to have gone back there. I reminded him that horses that leave the country are never allowed back in – he said to that that this was wrong, that the horses themselves should have gotten to weigh in on this rule.

I suspect that he’s back there now, back at the place of his birth. Alys did say she’d like to go there too.

Alys has spent the past three days with us mares and as well, the dogs, going out on our trails. The weather (fortunately) has been conducive to this. She has told us all that Tinni’s loss is a wake-up call, meaning horse lives are too short.

I can’t speak for the others, but I’m not planning on leaving here anytime soon.

Next: 272. 10/4/22: Three