The Valkyrie Chronicles

my adventures in Iceland

  • 2024: Thoughts on New Years Resolutions, Lunar Calendars and the Power of Words

    2024: Thoughts on New Years Resolutions, Lunar Calendars and the Power of Words

    The author discusses the traditional New Year’s resolutions, the significance of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and the concept of choosing a word or theme for the year instead of resolutions. They share personal experiences and challenges, emphasizing the theme of “transformation” for the upcoming year. This personal reflection offers a unique approach to embracing…

  • Staying True to the Creative Process

    Staying True to the Creative Process

    “I always like people who have developed long and hard, particularly through introspection and a lot of dedication. I think that what they arrive at is, usually, deeper and more beautiful than the person who seems to have that ability and fluidity from the beginning. I say this because it’s a good message to give…

  • 14 days til Amsterdam

    14 days til Amsterdam

    So here we go, back into this habit of writing again. It’s not easy to find the time with everything going on but I am going to try my best. We are now in our final 14 days of training at Taktur Icelandics in Crestwood, KY until we depart for Amsterdam on the 2nd of…

  • Journey to the 2023 World Championships

    Journey to the 2023 World Championships

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/lala-geysir-go-to-the-netherlands What better way to breathe life back into this blog than to share some exciting news- Geysir frá Kvistum and I have qualified for the US Team for the 2023 Icelandic Horse World Championships in Oirschot, NL this August!! We will be competing in T2 ( Loose-rein Tölt) which is our specialty and also…

  • Icelandic Triple Crown

    Well, the Icelandic fall show season is over. This year was an exceptional success for Team Valkyrie. We had 3 shows, the first being At Mountain Icelandic Farm in September where we had the largest Youth participation on record in the USA. Stjarni and I had our best performance to date in 4-gait and tölt,…

  • Iceland vs. Portugal – A new adventure

    This post is about a classical dressage clinic that recently happened here in California. I am going to write a bit about how it all came to be, so if you are just interested in the photos and not my endless ramblings, you can skip to the end…:) These past few months have been very…

  • Apassionata: a very different story than the one I expected to tell..

    When I was asked to write about my travels with Apassionata, I never imagined I would be writing the things I have to say now. For those of you that are not aware, “Apassionata: The Beginning” was to be an 18 month, 66 city tour with 5 different teams of 45 horses and riders of…

  • Gudmar Clinic

    Well, we had a great start to 2012 with our first big clinic of the year. I got to host my “big brother” and business partner, Guðmar Pétursson, for a 3-day clinic at Coast Road Stables. This year he also taught a full clinic for all of the gang in Los Gatos. We had over 30…

  • 2012 FEIF Youth Cup team announced!

    Congratulations to Ayla Green and Madison Prestine for making the 2012 FEIF Youth Cup team. I am so proud of you, young valkyries.      You´ve come a long way!

  • Another day, Another year!

    Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that January has been treating you well so far. It has been ridiculously good weather here, full of sunshine and mild temperatures. I´m waiting for the monsoon to hit any second, it has just been to good to be true! 2011 became such a busy year…