Hekla, horses and lupins

Ìshestar, Landmannalaugar tour

After having checked out from the hotel, we were picked up by the bus who'd take us first to Geysir and Gullfoss (sightseeing) and then on to where we'd start the horseback riding tour. In the bus we met the rest of our group for the first time; the 13 other people who we'd spend the next 6 days with. Everyone instantly started chatting :)

Since I visited both the Geysir area and Gullfoss while on horseback while in Iceland two years ago, I took it really easy while the rest of the group hurried to see as much as they could in the allotted time.

After some more time in the bus, we finally arrived at Fossnes farm, where lunch was waiting. There we met our guide, Magnus (Maggi), and he sat down with each of us in turn to find out about our riding experience to be able to at least approximately match horses to our level of skill this first day, before he could find out for himself by looking at us on horseback. Joining the tour was also Þórður Freyr, who was my guide the last time I went on one, but now was in charge of the herd since he knew all the horses.

Time to saddle up! The first horse they put me on was Svört (= black in Icelandic, and so he was). I love riding even though I don't get to do it enough, and was very relaxed and happy as we tölted away from Fossnes and steered towards Hólaskógur, this night's accommodation. Svört was very alert and quite fast, and I rode with a grin on my face :)

After stopping for lunch, welcoming the herd of loose horses to our ranks, and being provided with a new mount, Hylling, we got up again and continued the journey, this time letting the herd run in front of us, as they should. Hylling was one fun horse :) So much energy, so much speed, and so much strength for my poor untrained muscles to deal with, when she wanted to run on ahead to catch up with the herd as quickly as possible. Wonderful!

When we arrive at Hólaskógur, we got one big room for us all to sleep in and a sleeping bag each. After having dinner and chatting for a bit, we all fell asleep to the sound of Maggi snoring :)