October 03, 2022

Iceland and Icelandic Horses

 This year has been a hard year and as the temperatures cool I'm happy that I'm now more than ever ready to dust off my mare and get back to riding.  She has her insulin resistance issue still, got a little tender in early September but got her off any grass and she was good the next day and the vet wasn't too worried.  I need to build up her sole some more and then when I ride see how boots work with her.  Hopefully it will go well but of course I need to start with groundwork for now.  She's very rusty and so am I!


Anyways, I have recently ridden a horse though.  My hubby and I did have some time to take a short vacation to Iceland for a week.  I rode a cute gelding name Tindur, meaning mountainside.  He was a bit lazy and I'm not sure if we actually got to do a Tolt but he was smooth whatever we did and was a sweet mount on a cold and rainy day.  Riding on the beach was nice and being on an Icelandic horse was awesome.  I think this breed would not be suited to North Carolina heat though!

The main goal in going to Iceland was to see the northern lights and then experience some more of this amazing earth on which we live.  We had a mostly overcast week but we lucked out with a clear evening and a substorm of solar wind and a great northern lights display that made me tear up so much I lost a contact!  Luckily that contact landed in a clear patch of walkway and I could place it back into it's place to enjoy the rest of the beautiful sky.


The trip was amazing even though it was rainy and overcast most of the time.  We saw a lot of waterfalls between Reykevik and Vik on the southwest area of Iceland.  Didn't venture much further since there was a ton to see there.  If you ever go to Iceland stay for two weeks and see as much as you can.  We crammed in a lot in the week we were there with 3 days in the capital city and then the rest in the country side towards Vik.  


The southern most tip of the island that is Iceland was gorgeous and we got there right about at sunset so the lighting made the land that much more ethereal. It was part of the network of Black sand beaches and that contrast of the foamy white waves and the black sand was striking.


We got close to an iceberg but were not prepared with time or equipment to get up close and personal with it.  Maybe an other time but it was awesome to see one so close. Are traveling penguin Percy who we've had since 2005 went with us and posted about his adventures on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/percy.forster.16 .  It's always nice to get away from it all!  

2 comments:

lytha said...

What fun! We're planning to go to Finland next week so I"m hoping to see the Northern Lights again, I've only seen them from a plane in Montana, I need to see them from the ground. I did get to see Jupiter and its moons this week with binoculars, and a lovely view of the Pleadies. Anytime I see a new planet or star cluster, I get so excited. I'd love to go to Iceland, there are so many Icelandic horses where I live, but people think they can only carry 60 or 70 kg, and I'm a bit more than that. I know people who weigh 80 kg ride them in Iceland, so I guess it's the Germans are conservative. Am I wrong?

Christie said...

Hi Lytha! I'm sorry I just saw that you commented today! LOL. I think they are pretty sturdy little horses. The place we rode at had a limit at 240lbs which is about 100kg. I think if one is more stout they can carry more. Yeah they were fun but I think they'd die in NC heat! I may be looking for a gaited horse this coming year as my mare is more a home body and with her hoof issues probably not gonna be doing miles on the trail. Now my life seems to be calming down more I'm getting her into riding gear to at least play around here and get me back in riding shape. Hope you had a great time in Finland! That's another place we want to go!