A horse is a horse, of course, of course....and no one can talk to a horse, of course BECAUSE IT'S ON MY PLATE!!! All week we've been hearing about grilled horse steaks and it's about time I sit down and have me one! It wasn't easy finding a restaurant that serves grilled horse fillets, but we finally tracked one down. Checkout the Forrettabarinn restaurant menu and you'll find the surf & turf meal called the Seahorse....that's what I had! Nay! Nay! Nay!
And, since we're enjoying a few more days in Iceland....Jenesa and I decided to book us a trip to an Icelandic horse farm to ride these tasty horses. We've ridden horses before on different trips, and I am the first to admit that I just don't have much fun on horseback. Honestly, I had more fun eating them! But these horses are supposed to be special. The Icelandic horse has a total of 5 gaits (pictured below). The three normal gaits (walk, trot, gallop) plus two additional gaits (tölt and flying pace).
Islenski Hesturinn Riding Tours is ranked #2 of 184 on TripAdvisor for outdoor activities in Reykjavik. We ALWAYS check reviews before booking tours!!! We were given a 30 minute training session on how to ride these horses. Our guide was great! He explained how these horses are trained differently than other breeds of horses - including how to hold the reigns (tight), how to steer the horse (pull toward hip), how to sit (and shift) properly in the saddle, and how to motivate the horse (give it a beer!).
We both suited up (weatherproof outerwear) and saddled up! Our journey started out crossing over the nearby lava field....and I just couldn't get the Bonanza theme song out of my head! We sure didn't "look" like cowboys, but had several opportunities to experience the tölt. This gait forces you to shift your weight back in the saddle and keep the reigns tight....while the horse does the rest! That weatherproof outerwear actually turned in quite handy half way through our ride. We got to experience extreme Icelandic weather! First snow. Then sleet. Then bullets of hail started pounding us! My face stung so bad that it felt like I was being attacked by bees! Ice was bouncing off of the horses. We literally had to turn the horses to face away from the wind and ice. We've never been through such a winter "storm" before. Then came the thunder and a flash of lightning....which caused our guide to become concerned that the horses would get spooked. It is not typical for lightning and thunder during storms in Iceland. Luckily, after 15 minutes of nonstop freezing rain, our horses toughed it out and got us safely back to the stables. I guess we won't mention that I ate one of their friends last night. They've been through enough today. Shhhhhh....
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