The Tölt Tales
Welcome to The Tölt Tales podcast.
This podcast is dedicated to our best friend the Icelandic horses. The show features interviews with breeders, trainers, riders, and enthusiasts who share their knowledge, experiences, and love for these remarkable horses.
Music by Cob
The Tölt Tales
The Tölt Tales Fika - Getting to know us
The Tolt Tales podcast is trying something new with this new format.
We wanted to have a format that we can do from time to time and today's episode is about us. We wanted to discuss with Ariane about how we started, how we started with Icelandic horses etc...
Please do not hesitate to reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook to give us feedback on this format. During the fika episode Ariane will be your host.
Music by Cob.
Follow us on Instagram and TikTok, @the_toelt_tales.
Come ride with us. Fika with The Tölt Tales Podcast. Today, this is actually Ariane. So normally, it is Lionel on the mic, asking the questions, but today we switched roles, and today, Lionel is asked the questions. Can you introduce yourself a bit to our listeners?
Lionel:Yeah, so it's Lionel. I started to be interested about horses because of you. The moment we met, I had to welcome not only you, but a big horse named Sam. And since then, we had up to five horses together, and now it's even smaller. Now we only have four.
Ariane:Only, yes. But like, have you been involved with horses before? What were your thoughts about that?
Lionel:So, I can just describe what I know. You were going every three weeks because we live in the south of Sweden, and your horse at that time, Sam, was in the north of Germany. So you were going every three weeks for a weekend, leaving the Friday, coming back on the Monday. And that's all I knew. And at some point I told you, like, we have him here in Sweden. And then after, the second part of it is, I didn't expect it that we were to spend every evening at the stable to take him out of the, from the field, put him in the stable, brush him, remove the poop from his hooves, and you get on riding. And me, I...
Ariane:I have the fun part, and you have the cleaning up after me.
Lionel:Yeah, I was cleaning up after you, and I was collecting the poop, and this is what I... what trigger, actually, where we are today. I said, well, if my life is about coming with you to the stable, which I want, I might as well try to enjoy it. So this is where we went very close to our stable to do a horse tour, Icelandic horse tour.
Ariane:Yeah, like a ride tour.
Lionel:Ride tour.
Ariane:Where we borrowed horses with a guide and we went out in the forest and you seemed to enjoy it. And I was also open for it because I have not been interacting with Icelandic horses so much before.
Lionel:Yeah, because Sam is a nano-verano, was a nano-verano.
Ariane:So he was a big horse. I've been riding since I'm a child, ponies and then big horses. And then we had this stable next to us, and we did this riding tour. And I went to Iceland also for like a week to do a tour there with Eltester. And I felt like this could work for you as well.
Lionel:Yeah, they are smaller size and very uncomplicated. Very, very easy to handle, no drama. That's the 10 years that I learned that in our stable, we have obviously big horses, but like you see the Icelandics are just like no drama, easy to handle.
Ariane:Yes. It's also something that we experienced now last year when we went to a competition. My mom followed the first time when I was riding here in Sweden in a competition, and she of course was driving me when I was a child or when I was a teenager, she was driving me to competitions with the big horses and my pony. And the whole environment, the atmosphere is very different. Maybe, of course, it might be a difference between Germany and Sweden, but it's also the whole atmosphere in how you handle the Icelandic horses on a competition day, how the people are interacting with each other and my mom was very impressed by that.
Lionel:You mentioned to me multiple times that also, having a paddock with the horse grazing while waiting is not something that you would do with when you were younger with the big horse.
Ariane:Either you had somebody that helped you hold the horse, like a groom, in German it's called Tete, to near Trottel, like a dumb person that comes and follows you and helps you on the competition is very degrading actually. Or you leave your horse in the transporter. And of course, people still do this, but I think it is a nice thing that a lot of people that offer the competition and organize the competition have the possibility to either have paddocks available or boxes stalled or that you have the possibility to make your own paddock, which then kind of it feels relaxed.
Lionel:Yes. So, we did that tour in Nying, this tour for La Havre and the Alps and...
Ariane:You liked it.
Lionel:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I liked it. And what I said, which is in hindsight, not the cleverest idea, is that I said, OK, I will buy a horse. And a month and a half after, I had my first horse.
Ariane:Yes.
Lionel:Trudeur.
Ariane:Yeah. It was an experience. We were looking for something. And I know also coming, having such a long experience with horses. Of course, this is not the way that you normally do. But then on the other hand, we went and looked for a horse for you that I can ride with you so that I can always help you. Right. And Trudeur was maybe not the cleverest choice that we made, but we still have him.
Lionel:Yeah.
Ariane:He's still with us and we love him a lot.
Lionel:Yeah. This is what I say to everybody. It's probably, in a lot of ways, it was not a good horse for a beginner, very tense, not necessarily a great gait.
Ariane:But reliable, friendly in the field. And you were able to go out with him by yourself and make your own experience with him.
Lionel:Yes, for sure. So we had Trudur and Sam.
Ariane:And Sam. And then we had a mini Chreti. Yes. Jeunette's Wonder Cream that we bought as a company for Sam. And then we started working more and more with her, driving her even. She was an excellent pony. She hopefully still is. We had to sell her because the stable was not able to provide space for mares.
Lionel:Because that was just gilding.
Ariane:Yes.
Lionel:So we had the three Stooges, three sizes, and then I can't remember.
Ariane:Then I bought Huygen.
Lionel:You bought Huygen.
Ariane:Because Sam was already 19 when he moved to Sweden, and we wanted to retire him. And I enjoyed more and more also the Icelandic horses. So then I bought Huygen.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:Pretty plaque, long mane, and super to ride out, but I wanted more. Yeah.
Lionel:In Swedish, they call them...
Ariane:Skogsmulle.
Lionel:So it's like basically the horse that you use to go in the forest.
Ariane:We found actually another horse. Again, we drove quite some...
Lionel:Yeah, in Blekinge.
Ariane:Blekinge, yeah.
Lionel:Which is a different region of Sweden, next to Skåne still, but it's three-hour drive.
Ariane:Yes. And we found Nui. And the moment I sat on Nui... Well, the moment we arrived with the car, I thought, oh my god, it's...
Lionel:It's not a pretty horse.
Ariane:It's not a pretty horse. But then we prepared him, and the moment I went on him and put my butt in the saddle, I knew, this is my horse, I'm going to buy him.
Lionel:Big fat smile. And this is what we said, right? I think it's a lesson for a lot of people, maybe. I don't know if that's going to help anyone saying that, but we said to ourselves, we don't look. We don't care about how it looks. We care about if you like riding that horse, it's your horse. If you don't feel anything, then that's how it is.
Ariane:It is very much about the feeling and to just trust your gut a bit in a certain way. So we had then out of a sudden five horses. And I sold Huygin again to a very lovely couple. So he went up north again, north of Gothenburg.
Lionel:We sold Suri right after, Mini. So we are down to three.
Ariane:Yes. And then, unfortunately, after almost 21 years together...
Lionel:At 24 years old.
Ariane:Yes. I had Sam since he was three and a half. So we managed, we were two months short of 21 years. He went to the evergreen pastures.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:But he's still in my heart. And I think he's in the heart of everybody that knew him and met him. Well, and then we were down to two horses.
Lionel:Yes. Then I always wanted a Sconelland horse.
Ariane:Yeah, because we talked with Niels and Susi, and we have been training with Niels for many years.
Lionel:Yes, because we didn't mention that I bought a horse, but we also started to train for Icelandic. You coming from the big horses, it's a bit different. So we started to train. We train with Niels for many years and other great trainers that we had. And yes, that's that. We had then Phoenix from Sconelland. That's horse number six then.
Ariane:Yeah.
Lionel:I don't know when did you...
Ariane:We bought him or you bought him when he was two. So we looked at him. We really liked him. And then we waited until he could start being ridden. And we started them up together with Niels. And we had him then until he was four.
Lionel:Yep. And then we train with him. And after maybe six months, it was just not for me.
Ariane:I think that is always the thing. You don't know what you get when you buy a young horse that you have never ridden. Again, it comes back to the feeling. I had this feeling that Nui is my horse the moment I sat on him. I didn't like him necessarily from the looks, but we knew already that he will be a good horse.
Lionel:Yes, and so just to come back to... We had Phoenix, and then you bought...
Ariane:Yeah, so Phoenix was a really good horse, but then you don't know how it feels when you actually start riding them. And that is... It can be the best horse ever, but you need to feel it.
Lionel:And like sometimes it works.
Ariane:It's a relationship.
Lionel:Yeah, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it just doesn't.
Ariane:Now he has a new home, and we're very happy for him.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:But then, of course, seeing this development with Léonel and Phoenix, I was curious. I also wanted a young horse again after having Sam for so long, and having followed him and training him myself since he was three and a half, I felt like I also want to experience this from the start.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:So we bought Ariane.
Lionel:Horse number seven.
Ariane:Ariane Franskarneland. We bought him when he was one year old. One year old. But so far, he moved to our stable now two weeks ago, and he has the sweetest heart ever, absolutely unfazed by so many things that we throw at him.
Lionel:Not worried about anything.
Ariane:No. No, but we actually bought horse number eight.
Lionel:Ah, yes. I forgot.
Ariane:You forgot.
Lionel:Yes, I forgot.
Ariane:The sweetheart in the family.
Lionel:Yeah. So we discussed with Niels, and we decided that the feeling was not working for us, but I still wanted a horse.
Ariane:And a good horse.
Lionel:And I still wanted a good horse, and we went to see Odin, Fralle Camotti, in Paisland, so with James, and we bought Odin. And now, Odin, we have him since eight months ago, and we're having fun with him.
Ariane:He's the sweetest horse ever.
Lionel:He's very well trained, and yes, that's that. That's the last ten years of horse riding.
Ariane:Yes. So, how did you then start a podcast?
Lionel:This is something that was in my mind since some years. I think something that started to put in my mind was the Nat Fary podcast, which is a Sweden-born podcast, in a sense, with Johan Hegberg. And basically, I was listening to the English.
Ariane:Yeah, there were some English episodes.
Lionel:There were some English episodes, yes. And I just loved it. I like the podcast format, first of all, I think. It's very useful for us writers, I think, when you have to collect poop or...
Ariane:Yeah, also while I'm driving, I'm driving a lot, also longer distances.
Lionel:When you prepare the hay bags, for instance, as well.
Ariane:Packing the hay.
Lionel:I think overall the podcast makes sense. And I think the episode with Julio Borba is the one that I probably forced you the most to listen to. I think it's super interesting to have Julio Borba's point of view on writing. And then I started to look on line back in the day. There was not so much. I don't think that Rymnir didn't start the community videos. We didn't. And like you said, we didn't know really a lot of people really basically. So we, I was looking in the first videos from Gunnar Pettersson.
Ariane:Also really interesting.
Lionel:Yes. And then after, I think we tend to get more and more involved. Like we watch Mester Ed Irene every year now. We get to know more and more people. People that we are inviting in the show from Sabina, Linda, Louise, Nils and Susie from Scone Land and all the guests that we are preparing for you.
Ariane:Yeah.
Lionel:And it's just extremely interesting for us. I think we are the lucky one. And we get to record beautiful words sometime. The podcast, I'm thinking the podcast of Gems.
Ariane:Yeah.
Lionel:With really nice words about horsemanship and all the other guests that brought us a lot of knowledge. And hopefully, to everybody that listened to us.
Ariane:Yeah. Some knowledge, but also just nice, interesting anecdotes, some fun moments to share about this really amazing Icelandic community, where we, as foreigners living in Sweden, felt very welcomed. And everybody that we meet, I feel very at home. And I enjoy that. Even though we don't speak the language, so many people make an effort to communicate with us and to show us their world. And that was just really nice.
Lionel:And let's talk about this format. We wanted to have a shorter format, first of all.
Ariane:We wanted to, of course, Lianell will continue with the guest, but then we wanted to try out now some shorter versions, where we just talk about like everyday life in the stable, where we invite maybe just friends or some interesting people to talk about shorter topics and see also that we maybe, if there's anything anybody wants us to talk about or ask some questions about, invite certain people, we will address this first of all here. And then, of course, if it is of more interest, then we will try to really make a longer episode of it.
Lionel:It's not only about the big names in the world. I think it's also done by a lot of writers around the world. And we wanted to share our passion, Ari and I, and that's why we did that episode. And we will try to find people that are not world champion, not part of any big organization.
Ariane:No, I think we want to just also hear from our listeners and we want to share everyday life with an Icelandic horse.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:And with that, I say thank you, Lenel.
Lionel:Thank you, Ari.
Ariane:And I hope you enjoyed this episode. And then you can follow us on any podcast platform and on Instagram. Goodbye.
Lionel:Goodbye.
