Saddle Up and Enjoy the Ride at Hestasnilld
Giddyup and take the reins, it’s time to talk about horses! Iceland famously has its own breed of small but sturdy equines and many sites will offer tours on horseback to make you feel like you and Buttercup really can be one with the wind! But what if you want to pursue your equestrian endeavors for more than one afternoon? In order to appease the inner horse girl in us all, I have done some rigorous research regarding riding in Reykjavík (horse back, specifically) and spoke to Sonja Noack, teacher at the riding school Hestasnilld.
“I’ve always loved horses,” Sonja tells me. “Even though I actually fell off the first time I sat on a horse and got a concussion! But I kept going and didn’t want to stop, despite the rough start. I went to the stable every day and helped out in exchange for lessons after school. It was and is everything for me.” Sonja came to Iceland from Switzerland in 2005, initially to work on a farm for seven months but then moved here permanently in 2008. After training in Hólar to become a riding teacher and horse trainer, she eventually started her own program in 2022.
Sonja teaches people of all ages and all year round, making sure to involve her riding students in the process of caring for and preparing the horses. She emphasizes that she wants to create the opportunity for anyone to pursue horseback riding. “So many kids and adults don’t have the opportunity to ride because nobody in their family has horses, which I always thought was so sad,” Sonja says. “Normally you just have the summer courses here for kids — what about the kids who don’t have relatives with horses or riding experience? The ones that really want to learn to ride, pursue it as a sport and not just sit on a horse in the summer. I started with private lessons for adults and eventually, in 2022 it became more of a riding school.”
Working in smaller groups on a weekly basis throughout the year, Sonja helps her students form a connection to the living creatures they are working with. Should they ever foster a horse or even have one of their own, they can first learn about the care and responsibility that comes with such an endeavor. So far, Sonja says, her focus has been on kids that are somewhat familiar with the concept of riding on a horse and want to learn more. Although there are also courses for parents and toddlers between two and five years old, which serve more on the connection than the technique level. For the adults, she primarily offers private lessons. All students start learning from a beginner level to advanced, aka Knapamerki 1-5. This education also involves theoretical as well as practical tests. So, if you want to pursue horse riding seriously this is worth looking into.
“It’s important to me for my students to learn that the horse comes first, not you and your fun,” Sonja says.
The draw of the hobby, according to Sonja, lies first and foremost in the connection you can form with a horse — and even in gaining a better understanding of yourself, your body and managing conditions like anxiety, for example. “You need to take charge of the horse, show that they can trust you,” Sonja explains. “It’s a whole process to build up, they are sensitive to your feelings, to stress, fear. Through that you learn control over yourself. Body language is very important. It also forces you to be present in the moment. You have to focus on yourself and the horse. You feel the energy of the horse, how fast you can go. It’s one of the best feelings I know and it’s so fun to give that to others.”
Time to saddle up my equestrian enthusiasts. We ride at dawn!
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