Experiencing the Icelandic horse in a uniquely Icelandic landscape

The sky was up for the occasion when my companions and I headed due east in early November, leaving the familiarity of Miðbær behind in favour of the steaming hillsides of Hveragerði. An expansive white rainbow — formed by the sun’s rays being scattered by fog — monopolised the otherwise dazzling blue sky over Reykjavík, greeting us once again as we descended from the Hellisheiði mountain pass down into the valley below. 

Though the options for daytrippers are ample in Hveragerði, we were in town to get up close and personal with a few of Iceland’s famed horses. 

Don’t call them ponies 

The Icelandic horse is a magnificent animal. They have trod the land since the time of the settlement, believed to be a cross breed of the horses brought to Iceland by the first to arrive between 860 and 935, and ponies imported by a wave of Norse settlers from Ireland and Scotland. Clearly aware of what a special breed they had created, Alþingi passed the first law prohibiting the import of other horses into Iceland in the year 982.  

That regulation stands today, with the import of other horse breeds being a strict no-no. But the rules are about more than protecting genetics. Icelandic horses sent abroad are also prohibited from ever returning to Iceland. This measure is in place to protect the animals from a slew of veterinary diseases that the Icelandic breed has thus far avoided. It is also for this reason that international riders are not permitted to bring their own gear to use on an Icelandic horse. 

I regale my riding companion for the day with these details and other nuggets of Icelandic horse trivia I’ve amassed over years of working within or adjacent to Iceland’s booming tourism industry — hey, someone wrote all those blog posts before the rise of AI — while reminding her for the hundredth time not to call them ponies.  

While I have my riding buddy beat when it comes to random factoids about Icelandic horses, she’s far more knowledgeable about horsemanship, having been riding competitively since childhood. Though an experienced equestrian, she’s eager to experience the gaits that make the Icelandic horse really special. Most horses are capable of three gaits, or ways of walking — walk, trot and canter. But the Icelandic horse can also tölt and the best of the bunch can kick it into gear with a flying pace.  

Tölt is a four-beat lateral gait that is supposedly very smooth for the rider. As we pull into the parking lot of Eldhestar, we’re all excited to try it out. 

Tea and the gang 

Greeted warmly by Tea, a young Swedish woman working at Eldhestar on a gap year before starting law school, we were soon suited up in warm coveralls, outfitted with helmets and ushered out to the paddock to meet our noble steeds for the afternoon.  

I was paired with Hljómar, a big boy who I’m hoping will be patient with a first-time rider — yes, I’ve written about Icelandic horses, I’ve pet them on the side of the road, I’ve sent my kid to horse camp every summer, but I had not ridden one until that afternoon in Hveragerði. My riding companions mounted Rauðhetta and Skessa. 

After a couple circles around the paddock to find out comfort zones and a quick lesson on holding the reins and giving the horses a squeeze with our legs to encourage them forward, we were out onto the trail, through a tunnel under the Ring Road and headed up the mountainside that rises behind the town.  

The Horses and Hotsprings tour we were enjoying that afternoon delivered exactly what its name promised: horses and (you guessed it) hotsprings. Hveragerði is a geothermal hotspot, as evidenced by the steam rising from various points across the terrain and the abundance of greenhouses in operation. The trail we rode on our noble steeds headed into the geothermal zone, where we rode past steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pits while Tea explained a little about the geothermal activity in the area and how it increased significantly following an earthquake in the region in 2008. 

The joy of the tölt 

Hljómar was no Sleipnir — Tea even equipped me with a stick to give him a little tap when he just didn’t feel like keeping up with the group, though I didn’t have the heart to use it, opting for encouraging words that did little more than give me the sense that Hljómar and I were really bonding. But when we managed to tölt it was magical. All of a sudden the bounce of a trot dissipated entirely and it felt like this massive animal was somehow hovering above the ground. 

Tölting through a small forest on the outskirts of the geothermal zone was like a dream, and my much more experienced riding companion was given the go-ahead to break free from the group and put her skills to good use. She was in heaven. 

The white rainbow now dissipated as the sun began to dip toward the horizon, we rode our horses back into the paddock and dismounted onto the mucky ground, removing their saddles and sending off to rome in an adjacent field. For us, it was back over the mountain pass toward Reykjavík, leaving the horses and the hotsprings behind. 

Eldhestar is located in Hveragerði, just 47 km from Reykjavík. Book your riding tour at Eldhestar.is.