When we woke this morning, Chrissy still wasn't feeling well, but we had horseback riding reservations, so as the brave little trooper she is, she got up, and off we went to find breakfast. Our first attempt was closed, but Cafe Loki, just on the corner by the church, was open for breakfast. While eating, the riding stable called to confirm and make sure of our pickup location. They don't have WhatsApp, so I'll be eating some international calling charges, not just the breakfast I ordered. I usually don't answer calls while traveling because my plan includes data and text, but not calls. It wasn't long, though, should shouldn't be more than a dollar or two.
After breakfast, we went to the bus stop at the church to wait for the bus. It started spitting a little rain again. When we got to the stable, they had the big, heavy-duty waterproof outers, so I chose to put those over my waterproof things. I'm so glad I did! While riding, the rain picked up, often feeling like sleet hitting my face! It was awesome, though!
The Icelandic horse is a unique creature and very well cared for and protected under Icelandic law. They do not measure them in hands (1 hand = 4 inches), and there is a very good reason for that. Where most breeds are concerned, the defining line between a horse and a pony is 14.2 hands. Anything short of that is a pony and anything 14.2 or over is a horse. According to our guides, the average height of the Icelandic horse is 130 cm, which converts to just under 13 hands. But DO NOT under any circumstances call them a pony! They are horses, just very short ones! They live to be about 25-30 years old, just like other horses. Since they have never experienced any predators, they are very loving and approachable. A bunch of sweeties! And these guys are spoiled rotten, which is not a bad thing! The law limits the time an Icelandic horse can be worked, regardless of the work they are doing. There are no exceptions to this law for horses that just live on a farm with maybe one or two friends or horses who live in large stables like these. They can only work a maximum of 4 hours in any given day, and they must be given an annual four-month vacation, where they are taken to a "vacation resort", which is just a huge open field of multiple square kilometers, where they can just hang out and play. Kind of like being taken to Montana in the US and set free for 4 months! That's more vacation time than the people get!
The blood line is so protected that no horses of any breed are allowed to be imported into Iceland, and if an Icelandic horse is taken out of the country, it can never return. Apparently, at one time, there was an attempt to cross breed the Icelandic horse with another breed, and the results were less than stellar, resulting in the near decimation of the breed. Therefore, parliament passed laws in 982 AD prohibiting the importation of any horse, including Icelandic horses that had been taken out of the country. Those laws remain in full force and effect today.
The Icelandic horse has five gaits. Like all horses, it has the walk, trot, and canter. They also have the flying pace, which is just a normal pace in which both legs on the right side move together, then the legs on the left side move. The fifth gait is called the tölt. This has been described as similar to a saddlebred's rack, a paso fino's largo, or a Tennessee walker's runwalk. I've never ridden a paso fino (I should probably do that the next time I'm in Peru!), but I have ridden saddlebreds and walkers, and between the two, the tölt felt very similar to the runwalk of the Tennessee walking horse.
The coat on these animals is incredible, too! Our non-Icelandic horses developed an undercoat in winter to help insulate them, but these guys felt like they had a few coats! We were out for a little over an hour in the pouring rain. My waterproof gloves (that stayed dry under water for 10 minutes when I tested them to be sure they were waterproof and not just water resistent when I first got them) got soaked through in spots. I was so happy to have had the stable's waterproof top layer on. When I got off Piano, my horse, I rubbed my hands up on his neck, on the side that didn't have the mane flowing over, and he was bone dry under there! Nice and toasty, too! These guys don't go seeking shelter from a little rain! The stable hands said they seem to prefer being out in the rain instead of inside.
Because of the rain, I didn't take my camera with me on the ride, so the only shots on the horse are with my crappy phone camera. I got some shots and some video of them playing in the paddock after the ride was finished. As you can see, none of these guys look like drowned rats or even like the rain is a problem at all!
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