Iceland: Day 23 - Horse-back riding

July 17, 2004

Horse-back riding is a 'must do' on the list of tourist activities in Iceland and the people here are very proud of their unique horses (they may be small in stature, but NEVER call an Iceland horse a pony!) The site we chose for our tour was called Eldhestar. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed our one hour ride, despite the bumpiness. At the end Rubby commented on how he'd figured out the reason why there were no other male participants on the tour... did the saddle not fit right in certain places? ;-)

After our one hour riding tour we stopped at a picnic spot down the road to organize our car a bit and we fed our leftover bread to the horses in the adjacent field.

For previous pictures of Icelandic horses see Day 3.

A photo to remember our proud Icelandic horses by!

A nice butt scratching on the stairs to finish off the meal!

Some additional information on the Icelandic horse:

The Icelandic horse was brought to Iceland from Europe by the Vikings in the late 9th century and it has remained pure bred ever since. Once the prime method of transportation in Iceland, today horses are mostly recreational. In the fall the horses are used for herding the sheep and riding tours for foreigners is a fast growing business.

Because of Iceland's geographic isolation, the Icelandic horse has remained virtually disease-free so far and to keep it that way imports of livestock and used riding gear are very strictly regulated. Icelandic horses are gaining popularity world wide but once a horse has been exported it may not be brought back to Iceland.

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