Friday, May 30, 2008

Icelandic Horses (part 1)



Our third day in Iceland we took a Reykjavik Excursions horsebike riding tour. This was a lava walk, for beginners-expert horseback riders. I myself had never ridden before, and was moderately terrified. Kelsey has a little riding experience in America and therefore was less nervous about the ride.

The bus picked us up at our guest house and took us 25 minutes to a horse ranch, where we were prepped for the ride. We got to wear these spiffy blue jump suits and nifty hats and gloves. It was rather chilly, so it was very delightful to have another layer beyond what we wore. They gave us each horses depending on our level of experience. My horse, whose name I could not pronounce and therefore cannot remember, was great! Very mild tempered and calm.

Icelandic horses are very short and a bit thick, I would consider them to be inbetween a pony and an american horse. The Icelandic Horses also have a lot of hair, and are typically a lot less fussy than American horse (this information was provided by our guide).

We were on horseback on a 45 minute trail over a volcanic landscape, much like the landscape we were introduced to immediately after stepping foot from the airport. The footing was very rocky and the horses would frequently stumble or lose their footing.

I hope you will enjoy these photos, I will upload more pictures to Icelandic Horses part 2 and tell you my overall feelings about the ride and horses in Icleand.




No comments: