Hello, now I want to show you some photographs of our 3 horses Ylaria, Bär and Jamie.
Ylaria is my 10-year-old trotter mare, Bär our 22-year-old icelandic gelding and Jamie my parents' 3-year-old Paint mare.
Normally I am only working with Ylaria, but my parents are in Canda for four weeks and so I also work with our "youngster".

1: Ylaria and me.
2: Bär ("bear")
3: Ylaria, galopping
4: Jamie

Aww, Icelandics are always so cute and fuzzy looking. They look like a nice, happy bunch. Are paints very common in Germany? I know that AQH/QH and Paints are very common in the US, but I've always wondered if they were less common in other countries.

About the Icelandics, or especially about Bär: When it's winter, he does really look like a bear with his very long hair. :)

And the Paints and Quarters - I don't think there will ever be as many as there are in the USA, but there are quite a lot. Jamie, for axample, was not breeded very far away from our village, and there are still more stables owning and breeding Quarters and Paints.

About the Icelandics, or especially about Bär: When it's winter, he does really look like a bear with his very long hair. :)
Do you have a picture of that? :D

@ fotog: Of course :)

This photo is from march 2007. In the front Bär, behind him stands my trotter Ylaria. Bär is not the only one to look like a teddy bear in winter, but he has the longest and thickest hair.
(I know they are all very dirty on this photo, but they look like this every winter, and nearly every day ;-) )

I like the second picture! Who is that? Do you ride it?

I like the second picture! Who is that? Do you ride it?
This is Bär, our Icelandic Horse. He's my mother's horse rather than mine, I only rode him very often before Ylaria was there. But since Ylaria is my horse, she is the one I am working with.
What is more, Bär has a chronical bronchitis and cannot be ridden on very long distances and only at a slow pace.

Aw poor little guy. He is adorable. There is nothing like a fuzzy pony to melt your heart. He looks great for being 22 and having bronchitis. Bet he doesn't mind taking it slow in his retirement, lol.

Aw poor little guy. He is adorable. There is nothing like a fuzzy pony to melt your heart. He looks great for being 22 and having bronchitis. Bet he doesn't mind taking it slow in his retirement, lol.

We were already too times very short before having him euthanised because he had great difficulties with breathing, but he recovered both times, and now he's finer than ever.Actually, Bär is still very often willing to trot or gallop, but the problem is this: Bär would run until he'd just collapse, but of course this is not what we want him to. But as my mother works with him and some children in order to bring handling a horse near to them, there's some easy work for him which also fits his health. Yes, I think it's a very relaxative retirement ;) And he'll stay here and'll occupied by us until the very end. I think he deserves it, due to his past not having been like any horse would like to experience it.

Ylaria is really a fine looking horse. What kind work do you mostly do with your horses? If I may ask.

About Bär, did you have him when he was just a foal? I just wish you the best luck and the best time with Bär.

These are really very beautiful horses. I love the way they look in the winter with their coat so long and shaggy! I love the black ones.

Hey, I nearly forgot this board until I just got an email message telling me that katie wrote an answer to this topic ;)

@ Allan: Above all, I ride out with Ylaria. There is a big forest near the village I live in, and there are some really beautiful routes. What I am also very concentrated on is Natural Horsemanship. I don't have a special idol whose methods I use, but I got very much inspiration from Michael Geitner, a bavarian horse trainer - perhaps he is known in English-speaking countries, too? This is his website: www.be-strict.de (http://www.be-strict.de)
No, we only got Bär when he was 15. At that time, he already had had at least 3 owners, and was not treated well by at least two of them. That's what I meant when I wrote about his past. When my mum and I got to know him, he and his fellow Fylkir were very uneasy with people whom they didn't know. Even today, Bär sometimes is very sceptical if someone is strange to him.

@ katie: Well, now they have nothing left of their winter coat ;) But I like Ylaria's colour in the summer very much :)

The winter coat snap shot reminds me of my dog when its winter here and he gets all fluffy. I love the shots in the first as well the 2nd just blows my mind. Thank you for sharing and how long have you been working with horses if you dont mind me asking?

The winter coat snap shot reminds me of my dog when its winter here and he gets all fluffy. I love the shots in the first as well the 2nd just blows my mind. Thank you for sharing and how long have you been working with horses if you dont mind me asking?
Thanks for your nice comment :o
I started riding when I was 8, so this year it's 11 years.

Here are some new photos of the last weeks:

Bär with Anabell (Arabian) and Ylaria
http://images.bilder-speicher.de/show.php?type=image_800&id=08062213679465

Dusty (Paint Horse), Anabell, Bär, Ylaria, Bronco (Haflinger) - Jamie is missing because she is broken in at the moment
http://images.bilder-speicher.de/show.php?type=image_800&id=08062213589925

Ylaria and me in medieval clothing
http://images.bilder-speicher.de/show.php?type=image_800&id=08062808666862

Absolutely beautiful horses!! They are very fortunate to have such a good home, especially Bar. I love the picture of Ylaria galloping. She looks so free and happy.

@ Jewel: I am always very happy to hear or read statements like yours, thank you :) They show me that my mother and I found the right way with our horses.
The photo of Ylaria is one of my favourite pictures of her, too.

Aww, your horses look so happy and well cared for. Wow, Bar really does resemble a little bear! How is Bar and the others these days? Its been some time since this thread was originally created

These sure are some beautiful horses. I think they are most definitely one of the prettiest creatures ever. It's wonderful to see and know that there are horse owners out there that really love and care for their animals.

@ ilovehorses & Derbygirl: Wow, thank you for your nice words :)

@ ilovehorses: At the moment, they are standing on a meadow in the next village with very fine terrain for riding, and so I ride out with Ylaria as often as possible. They are all very fine, although we had some very hot days in the last few weeks.
Jamie seems to be getting a really fine western horse, she will return in a few weeks.

And I fell in love with Jamie's father RP Flash Me Up, whom I really could imagine as the father of Ylaria's foal, if she'll ever get one ;)