Elin and Birkir

Who are you? My name is Elin Andersén and my horse is called Birkir frá Björkhagen and is 9 years old.

When did you start riding horses? I started riding lessons at a riding school with Icelanders when I was seven, a few years later we bought our own Icelandic horse.

What is your favorite activity with Birkir? I love to train together and develop us. Birkir is sensitive but has a great sweet nature, it is a joy to work with him. Both in ground work and in the saddle.

Do you ride competitions with Birkir? We have tried some practice competitions, in the future my goal is to come out in the four courses with him.

Does Birkir have skin or eczema problems and how do you address them? Birkir has summer eczema and most of the skin problems occur on his head and under his belly. It often starts with itching and ends in ugly wounds during previous summers. His ears are actually the biggest problem, because of the headgear he scraped them. It was often quite a task to take good care of his ears because Birkir hated it when I sat on them or tried to treat them. So our favorite product is the Happy Skin Gel, the cooling gel did a fantastic job and helped the ears heal quickly.