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See whats new ... lots of great photos of foals, events and general Icelandic
horsey news.
PRODUCTS FOR SALE
Amy has a selection of Icelandic horse DVDS, books
etc ... available for sale. Please email me for a product list until we get
items loaded on the web.
Current News
CLINIC DATES: 17th - 18th March 2012
More info on News & Events page
under the CLINICS section.
Training season
Training season kicking off again in Feb 2012. We have some fabulous horses
started under saddle now and the biggest selection of trained horses we've ever
had ... check out the geldings for sales page for great photos and videos.
The first month of the year has slipped by quickly. Weather
has been divine ... thankyou beautiful sunshine. :)
The farm is very quiet with the mares with the stallions and
the riding horses on break. That's about to change with training season starting
in February. Susanne & Vicky will be coming soon from Germany to start riding.
Birgit and Wiebke have just arrived "home", in "Charlie" their wheels. They have
hardly ridden since before Christmas ... thats TOO long for those who love
and live Icelandic horses.
Haukur, Tandri and Skelmir ( Neles youngster) are all out with
mares this year. Looking forward to seeing the results in a years time. Galdur
is down at Neles and Halfdan ( a Tandri/ Saela son) is visiting mares in
Gippsland. Busy, happy boys.
Happy Haukur as he's put out with the mare!!
I did a rough count up the other day and we have around 80 of
our own Icelandic horses now. Broken down into 38 over 4 yrs of age ... leaving
42 under 4 yrs. Of those over 4 yrs old there are 20 riding horses ( including
the 3 stallions) and a few more on their L plates, others are in the breeding
herd, like the original mares that were never started. This is a big difference
from when Thea and I started working with the herd in 2006 ... back then there
were 34 horses & only one had been started under saddle.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE
Best wishes for a wonderful 2012 from all of us at Haldane
Icelandic Horses.
Its always such a great feeling to see our "babies" grow up
and become "riding horses". With the help of some great trainers this year, our
babies have made amazing progress in a short few weeks. Here are a couple of pics
of our "big boys"! ... Some of the boys are now on the sales list
... and will make great riding horses for the right owners. We are feeling very
proud of these youngsters and its been an absolute thrill to have been able to
ride them over the past few weeks.
Draumur at the beach
Pipar
BABIES : IT'S FOAL TIME 30/11/2011
What an amazing time of year! Our first foal was a little
chestnut girl from Melodia and Tandri on the 20th Nov. Number two followed a few
hours later, Laena and Haukur had a wee girl. Emma, Venus and Perla have also
had gorgeous babies. So its 4 girls and 1 boy so far.
Emmas boy
Melodias chestnut girl
Perlas buckskin filly
WEEKLY TIMES ARTICLE
Fabulous article and photos in recent Weekly Times Horse
magazine. We had a great time doing the photo shoot ... and I think it shows!!
Equitana Sydney was heaps of fun!! We are very thankful for
the loan of Icelandic gelding Gymir who is owned by a fabulous family in Sydney.
Many thanks to you again!! Gymir was with us for our first Equitana several
years ago in Melbourne so it was so nice to see him again. Tess rode him in the
breed parades each day and the two breed displays with great feedback.
Lots of familiar faces and many more fabulous friends made in
the 4 days. So many amazing things to see, learn, buy and do. The horse world is
so big with many different breeds, sports, events etx... - yet sometimes its so
small!
The weather was amazing ... warm without being too hot. Our
bodies were craving a good home cooked meal and a weeks sleep by the
end of it. Tina Turners "you're simply the best" can have a little rest until
the next time we have to put on the tolt demonstration DVD but .... personally I
cant wait for Equitana Melbourne 2013 :)
OPEN DAY 6th Nov 2011
We had a fabulous Open Day! Thankyou to all of the gorgeous
visitors for coming out to meet the horses and to see the icelandics in action.
Tess choreographed a display for us, we had only a few practice runs and managed
to pull it off pretty well. We had massive amounts of fun doing it and imagine
it could be quite addictive.
here is a link to the (unedited as yet) video we made on the
day ... may need to be viewed on youtube.
Drill team practice ... Tess on Haukur, Amy on Falinn, Sabrina on Tryggur,
Niina and Bjarki,
Birgit and Mooie, Wiebke and Meyla
SCHOOL VISIT 25/10/2011
Today we had two delightful groups of children visit from a
Melbourne school. We really enjoyed talking with them about Buffaloes,
cheesemaking and Icelandic horses. Thea gave a great talk about all the weird
and wonderful things our family have been involved with over the years; alpacas,
fishing, illustrating books, goats, sheep, buffalo and horses to name just a
few.
Tess visiting from Sweden gave a little demonstration on
Haukur - showing the kids tolt and pace. Haukur loved the attention, soft as
butter for pats in the yard and super happy with himself as the children cheered
him racing around the track in tolt. We hope everyone had a fabulous visit
to Pt Fairy and surrounds. Thankyou for coming to visit us!
GREAT WESTERN PLEASURE RIDE - Oct 2011
A big thankyou to all the wonderful people that organised
Great Western Pleasure ride again this year. We had a fabulous time, and felt
very well looked after .We took along Falinn, Tryggur and Bjarki, and our
friend's gorgeous thoroughbred mare plus a few extra international campers. Day
one was a big ride - approx 40Kms. The stunning scenery took the minds off the
aching behinds, and we all pulled up surprisingly well, looking forward to day
two. A mere 11kms of breathtaking vistas till lunch the second day, and floated
home. Spectacular blown tyre on the way home, but we were all set up to change
it so it wasn't long before we were back on the road.
END OF WINTER!!!! - Sept 2011
Well its been a muddy wet old winter here. Hopefully the
worst is behind us now as the horses are beginning to shed their coats and the
grass is growing. Usually winter is when we catch up on all those little jobs we
neglected during the warm months - however this year we were kept busy with
various bus tours and visitors and cant really say we were ever at a loss
for things to do.
Our hayshed blew away last year and it looks like we'll be
able to start putting up a new one soon. This is a great source of joy for me as
it will mean we have a covered area to carrying on with stock-work while
sheltered from the sun, rain and wind.
Time to start training horses again :) :) :)
We're expecting our first girls to help with training this month so excited to
see how all the new horses being started this year go. Three young men in
particular - Pipar, Keldan and Draumur will be started in the hopes that they
will become part of the home team here at Haldane Icelandic's. It will fabulous
to have a group of geldings who will be able to be ridden all year. We
hope that in future we will be able to have a bigger range of horses for people
to ride out on or get lessons with.
All last years young boys have been weaned now and are
growing at a great rate of knots. Some of these and some older boys are in line
to be gelded, then offered for sale in the next few months. So if you are
looking for something to buy the sales lists should change quite a bit with the
addition of these youngsters as well as some geldings we've kept back to
see how they go being trained this season.
Haukur still amazes me - we'd not ridden him for months and
finally had an excuse to take him across to the indoor arena in Warrnambool. He was a perfect gentleman & I am itching to improve my
riding skills so that I can do him justice when I ride. Here you can see me
riding him - although he looks much hairier, whiter and shabby in his winter
coat that his golden summer coat.
The ever reliable Haukur ridden by Amy & the ever so patient
Bjarki with Jazmin and Zoe
May 2011
April and May have been a happy blur of visitors and
horse training. Thanks to Nora, Christine and Linda who stopped by and enjoyed
an Australian Icelandic horse experience. We wish you well with your adventures
as you explore Australia. We've also had a number of big groups of tourists visit to
learn more about the buffalo/cheese making & horse business.
Photo shoots for Weekly Times articles made for a fun morning on the beach at
Yambuk. Now winter is starting set in. The horses are getting hairy, feed is
running out and hay is being plonked in the paddock by the giant round bale
full. Rain is falling, the river is rising; must be time to pull out the
gumboots and go play in some puddles. Wishing everyone a lovely day and thinking
of all those wonderful people we'd love to be out riding with today, especially
those whom we don' t catch up with nearly enough. :)
Bjarki and Falinn Bjarki loves a roll at the beach
Mooie and Tryggur
Mooie ( Eimyrja) and Tryggur get a good training session on the beach
Yambuk Buffalo Man
Weekly times article on Yambuk Buffalo Farming: Featuring our Dad, Roger
Haldane.
Last year Icelandic Film maker Árni Gunnarsson, came out to New Zealand and
Australia to film a documentary about Icelandic people abroad. He filmed our
stallion Haukur in Iceland before he left and again here on the beaches in
Australia. The documentary Lífið - aired in Iceland recently. It was available
online for a short time and it was a lot of fun to see the finished product of
all of those hours of filming. Excellent job Árni!!!
March 8th
2011
Foaling is over again with a total of 14 gorgeous babies ( 4 girls and 10
boys.) They are already so big, and are just starting to look awkward as they
loose their foal coats. They are so funny, they are always doing cute little
nickering and whinnying to each other. It makes us laugh as this is the first
year we have had foals being so vocal. The new stallion must have different
communication genetics!
Embers foal - losing her foal coat
Training season 2011
Karen is finally back on a horse after nearly 4
months of being out of action due to injury, and boy is she a happy camper! Only
5 horses in riding training at present, but all the young ones are enjoying some
handling and being introduced to new experiences.
Viðir,
Þor, Leo and Tomas
January 31st 2011
Happy New Year everyone. We're not sure where January went but its been fun-filled and busy down on the farm.
Foaling is going well. The count stands at 12 foals - 10 boys and 2 girls so far. 2 more mares to foal. We are very pleased with all the foals born so far.
2010
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
From all of us at Haldane Icelandic Horses we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hoping all of your dreams come true for 2011!!!
BEACH TIME: Dec 2010
What could be more fun than hot weather, sand, surf, horses and great friends?
As the temperature climbed over 27 the other day Tess, Karen and Amy packed Arkin and Haukur into the horse float and headed for Pt Fairy's East Beach. Arkin had never been to the beach before and happily ventured into the water after Haukur. We played in the waves, tolted up and down the beach, posed for silly christmas
photos and had an amazing day.
So much FUN!!!
OPEN DAY 12th Dec 2010 - Yambuk
The sun made a cameo appearance at our open day after a week of wet, strange weather. Lots of gorgeous people came and met the horses. Tess, Nele and Gesine rode Haukur, Arkin and Bjarki in a great demonstration of the icelandic
horses' 5 gaits while Karen did running commentary and answered questions. Thank you to all who helped out (including the group of super sweet young horses who stood around happily for pats all day) and to the wonderful people who came and found out more about the icelandic horses.
December 2010 - FIRST AUSTRALIAN BORN HAUKUR BABIES
Emma and Perla have both had
gorgeous little colts out of Haukur our imported Icelandic Stallion. Its so exciting to see they have their Daddies star and that the palamino colour is coming through.
Emmas Foal
Perlas Foal
ITS A BOY!! 30/11/2010
First baby of the season was born today! Yeah! Leana one of our favourite
mares had a gorgeous black colt sired by our friend Nele's stallino Dagfari from
Clear Lake farm. We love this time of the year and cant wait to see what Haukurs'
Australian born offspring who are due very soon will be like.
EQUITANA 2010 Melbourne
Equitana was amazing this year. An estimated 40,000 people through the gates
over the 4 day event. We took along the two stallions Haukur and Neles boy
Dagfari. Tess and Nele rode them in the daily stallion parade dressed as
gorgeous viking maidens! Tess was able to pace Haukur in the parade which
created a stir in the crowd! We could tell the horses loved getting out in the
ring and showing off but were absolutely relaxed and on their best behaviour the
whole time. The breeders village was well positioned this year and there was
lots of interest in all the breeds. Thankyou to all of our team for their hard
work leading up to and during equitana and to the organisers who do a fabulous
job of co-ordiating it all. Cant wait for the next one!
Here is Haukur and Tess in the stallion parade showing off the 5th gear "PACE" !
October 8,9,10 2010 Great Western Pleasure ride
This year we decided we couldn't miss out on the Great Western Pleasure ride. We'd heard great things from other riders whom had participated before, and we were not disappointed. 5 icelandic horses, six girls and 4 children camping and riding make for a really fun weekend! It was run really well, we were well fed, camping area was stunning and we were treated to some amazing country for riding. The weather
also came to the party, sunshine and clear blue skies!
Day 1 was about 36km, Day 2 about 25, and typically the Icelandics were enjoying themselves immensely the whole way. Nothing fazed them - not even the train which flew past us honking - that was just an excuse to stop and eat as far as they were concerned!! Itching for an excuse to go camping/riding with them again so obviously we cant wait for next year!
More photos on our Haldane Icelandics Facebook page.
Cooling off after lunch on day two ... Karen, riding Melodia and leading
Eimyjra, Nele on Sorli and Tess on Tryggur
Coming into camp after the first day - 36kms
Tess on Tryggur, Nele on Sorli, Thea on Bjarki,
Karen riding Melodia and leading Eimyjra
June 2010
Records of Icelandic Horses in Australia as far back as
1863:
As advertised in the Argus newspaper Melbourne
on Monday 2nd Feb 1863 " THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5.Iceland Ponies. Kirk's Horse
Bazaar. WC. YUILLE and Co. are Instructed to SELL by. AUCTION, on the above
date, Four beautiful Iceland ponies, admirably suited for juveniles, being
perfectly docile and quiet. Just Imported by the
Venus. They are on view at the bazaar until day of sale."
They sold for
an average of £21 each. We wonder who bought them and where they went also how
many more were brought out over the years. Thanks goes to Thorgeir in NL for the
info.
May 2010
Where's this year gone?:
Wow the weeks and months are flying pass. We're already making preparations
for the next training season and ready to start weaning foals. The last few
months have passed with lots of lovely visitors dropping in for a cuddle with
the now very hairy horses. Gwen from Germany returned briefly to have a ride on
Haukur. She struck perfect weather and we were able to fit in a blissful early
morning ride on the beach. Life doesn' t get much better than that. Happy
travels Gwen.
We have recently set up a permanent office at the factory and are finding
ourselves extremely motivated and happy to be going to work each day. Working
from home sounded great but going to the office is blissful. There are no
distracting piles of laundry, kids, or housework to worry about.
Gwen gets some cuddles from the colts
11th March 2010
Talk to the Animals come to visit:
We recently had the pleasure of filming with the crew from Talk to the Animals. Sallianne, Mick and Chris were amused by the curious horses and buffalo all wanting a piece of the action. They left with more footage than they could ever have dreamed of, curtesy of the well behaved animals (who are just born to be on camera! ) and the fantastic weather. The highlight for us was being able to let
Sallianne ride Haukur our new stallion from Iceland - in TOLT on the beach!
6/7th March 2010
Thea and Karen took two Icelandic's Reynir and Tryggur to a Steve Jefferies riding clinic. As you can see they had fun and learnt a few new tricks.
Karen and Tryggur! Clever boy!
20-21st Feb 2010
Tolt Clinic Yambuk
Tolt
is a gait that truly has to be experienced, describing it and watching it does not do justice to the magical feeling of riding a tolting horse. We try to run informative clinics that give people a taste of tölt and an overview of history, training and riding the icelandic horse. A
great group of people joined us for a very hot but fun weekend in Feb. Karen Woodrow, visiting Icelandic horse trainer, took the groups through the differences in gaits, training methods and preparation for riding tölt. We had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and made some amazing new friends.
08/02/10
Film Stars
This week we have had the pleasure of Árni Gunnarsson, an Icelandic film maker visiting. He had flown from Iceland via New Zealand to continue filming for a documentary series about Icelandic people overseas and interesting stories associated with Iceland. Karen and Amy met Árni in Reykjavik last year when we began filming about Icelandic Horses in Australia and the imminent export of Haukur.
He
has a beautiful film KRAFTUR, which is doing the rounds of film festivals at the moment. It is a moving film about a very special relationship between a man and his icelandic stallion.
The weather was hot and gorgeous the few days he was here. After filming us rounding up Buffalo at Byaduk in the morning on Laena and Melodia we loaded more horses and headed for Port Fairys' East beach. Árni filmed the horses tölting up the East Beach and getting in the water in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. It was an
amazing day, hard to wipe the grins off our faces we'd had so much fun. I think we all count ourselves lucky that we have such an interesting life with opportunities to meet such people in the name of "work". We look forward to seeing the completed documentary.
17/01/09
Open Day
Wind and showers couldn't keep a great crowd of interested tourists and horse lovers away from our Summer Open Day. Haukur, our newly imported stallion and young gelding Bjarki showed off the gaits in two displays, ridden by Karen Woodrow and Amy Haldane. Thanks to all the lovely people, friends and newcomers who braved the western districts wind to partake in a great day on the farm.
On the suggestion of one of our friends Karen and Amy decided to take two of the young geldings on a ride held by one of the local trail riding clubs. Icelandic horses might not look big but boy they can cover some ground, Bjarki enjoying himself out at the front of the pack, throwing in some tolt down the forest roads. We saw echidnas, emu,
kangaroos and a koala and finished the day off in true Australian style with a fabulous BBQ. A day out in the Australian bush was a new experience for the young horses and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. Thank you Klaus and Janet.
04/01/10
Haukur frá Stuðlum arrives in Yambuk
After what seems to have been a very long wait our new stallion Haukur has finally arrived safe and sound in Yambuk.We are very excited to have him here! Haukur is a great addition to our breeding program and we cant wait to see what he will produce over our mares. Not only is Haukur the first Icelandic Stallion directly imported from Iceland to Australia, he is
also the first, 1st prize stallion in Australia. He will be on display at our Open day on the 17th January.
Haukur, cool as a cucumber with his new clipped look!
Amy and Thea settle Haukur in ...
it is such a great feeling to finally have him here!
06/01/01
Its always a fascinating experience for the children to see the miracle of birth. This little fellow was born on a misty morning about eight and we were lucky enough to watch the whole thing.
02/01/10
The New Year has started off in great style with Roger booking a string of camels for us to ride on Port Fairy's East Beach. We all enjoyed the chance to just relax, enjoy the ride and soak up the beautiful scenery. I think we all realise how lucky we are to live in such a magical place and can see why all the tourists flock here in summer. Thanks Dad for organising such a fun day for us all!
More photos on the photo gallery page ...click here
HAPPY NEW YEAR
2010 is already shaping up to be a fun, exciting and busy year. We look forward to Haukur frá Stuðlum finally arriving on the farm in a few days. 17th January we are having another open day, a tölt clinic in February, we are already planning who will train horses next season and preparing for Equitana in Melbourne at the end of the year.
OPEN DAY : SUNDAY 6th NOVEMBER 2011 - HALDANE
ICELANDI HORSES, YAMBUK.
We had such a fabulous open day & lots of fun putting on a ridden
demonstration with 6 horses. Thanks to all those who attended and helped out.
EQUITANA SYDNEY 10th - 13th November 2011
Thanks to Carina and family for loaning the fabulous Gymir to star at
Equitana this year. We had a great time and had fun meeting a whole new group of
people ( and a few repeat offenders) . Are we crazy? ... we're already really
looking forward to Melbourne Equitana 2012!!
OPEN DAY Dec 12th 2010
The open day got off to a great start with a new foal in the morning, the skies cleared and the crowds arrived. The girls and horses did a magnificent job of showing off the five gaits of the icelandic horse. Thank you to all the lovely people who visited us - we had a brilliant day and thoroughly enjoyed meeting you all.
TOLT WEEK 6 - 11
Dec 2010
Lots of lovely people braved the crazy wet weather to come and try a tolting horse. Grins galore as they discovered the "Tolt button!" Was so nice to meet you all.
Equitana in Melbourne in November 2010
Four days of fabulous horse madness and gorgeous weather. We
again represented Icelandic horses in the Breeders village along with Nele from
Litli Stadur Icelandic Horses.
Sheepvention : Hamilton 2nd and 3rd August
We had a great couple of days at Hamilton again this year. Not as cold and wet as some have been. Arkin and Ifli loved all the pats from the kids and were fascinated by our neighbours the angus bulls.
TOLT CLINIC Saturday 20th - Sunday 21st February 2010
A chance to learn about tölt and experience a tolting horse, instruction from international Icelandic horse trainer Karen Woodrow. We all had a really fun weekend and learnt heaps! See our News section for more information.
OPEN DAY Sunday 17th January 2010 -
Wind and rain made for a great crowd at our Summer open day in Yambuk, showcasing gaited displays by Haukur the newly imported stallion and Karen Woodrow, Iceland horse trainer. See our News section for more information.
OPEN DAY 14th Nov 2009
- featuring gaited display and talk by Icelandic Trainer and rider Karen Woodrow. The day was a great success - see our News section for pictures and more information.
Events we've attended
Every year we like to get off the farm and spread the word about Icelandic horses. These are some of the events we've been to.
We’re very excited to be able to offer an Icelandic horse
clinic this year. So if you’ve never ridden an Icelandic horse or if you have,
and would like to advance your skills … this clinic is for you!!
Theory and practical on Icelandic horses and their gaits …
remembering they have 5 gaits and somehow the rider needs to work out how to
communicate what gait, what speed, what quality of gait, and in what direction!
WHAT?????
Our gorgeous trainers and fabulous horses will walk us all
through in babysteps. :)
Horses to suit nervous to advanced riders.
Please
click here to download PDF of clinic information and booking form.
For any reason its not working ... please email me at
amy@icelandichorses.com.au and I
will email/fax one to you.
Either fax, scan/email or snail mail them back to us.
Bookings will be essential as numbers are limited.
Any further questions …. Feel free to call or email us …
We are also happy to tailor tuition/riding lessons to suit individuals as needed at other times.
Check back from time to time or join our facebook page for notifications of events and
formal clinics!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 
What could be more fun than hot weather, sand, surf, horses and great friends?
The sun made a cameo appearance at our open day after a week of wet, strange weather. Lots of gorgeous people came and met the horses. Tess, Nele and Gesine rode Haukur, Arkin and Bjarki in a great demonstration of the icelandic
horses' 5 gaits while Karen did running commentary and answered questions. Thank you to all who helped out (including the group of super sweet young horses who stood around happily for pats all day) and to the wonderful people who came and found out more about the icelandic horses. 
Tolt
is a gait that truly has to be experienced, describing it and watching it does not do justice to the magical feeling of riding a tolting horse. We try to run informative clinics that give people a taste of tölt and an overview of history, training and riding the icelandic horse. A
great group of people joined us for a very hot but fun weekend in Feb. Karen Woodrow, visiting Icelandic horse trainer, took the groups through the differences in gaits, training methods and preparation for riding tölt. We had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and made some amazing new friends.
