The Long Ride into the Valley

On the scale of Good Days, if 100 is the greatest, today was easily a 110. Maybe even 115. For the last several weeks, Lena and I have been "training" ourselves and our horses for The Long Ride into the Valley. We have gone on many evening rides when the weather was fit, and even some when it wasn't so wonderful outside. The rides, heading out from Vatn and going either South toward Hofsos or North toward the unknown would last anywhere between one and three hours and always included a good mix of leisurely walking and brisk tölting, and depending on the path, a good gallop or pace for a short while. I can't put into words how cool it is to be able to walk out my door and saddle up my horse and go for a ride. Any hour of the day or night I can look out the window and see the horses there in the yard. It's a dream come true.

Check out this video for information on the 5 gaits of the Icelandic Horse. It is really beautiful.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV9P0w8vZi8 

All these rides were amazing unto themselves, but were ultimately preparing us for today (cue Rocky theme song)... Our full day ride into a nearby (mostly) uninhabited valley. The weather was perfect, which was a great change from the past few rainy and cold days. The forecast for today was actually correct and we were able to stick to our plan to ride. The sky was clear and the day was hot (for Iceland, at least). By the time we were 5 minutes into the ride I was wishing I had left my jacket behind, and within an hour I was wearing it tied around my waist like a Disneyland tourist.

Before we go any further, I should introduce you to the stars of the show. Below is a photo of Lysa (the blonde) and Björgun, aka "Una (the brunette). Una is my usual partner, and Lena usually rides Lysa, but today we traded steeds about 1/3 of the way through and Lysa and I got to spend the afternoon together.

Una and Lysa, our mighty steeds

Max came with us on this adventure

The horses, especially Una, were sweating and breathing heavily before long. They are more accustomed to chilly weather, and this was a very warm day for them. We took it easy on the way in, not pushing too hard or going to fast. We had a long day ahead. We took several breaks throughout the day, letting the horses rest and snack on the sweet mountain grass, and having plenty of snacks ourselves. 

Break #1

I shared my pizza bun with Max. If we weren't best friends before, we sure are now.

We met some other horses way back in the valley but they stayed on their side of the river.

We forded several rivers, tried to fight our way through an Icelandic forest (we ended up going around it), and slogged through swampy marshes. We soaked up the sunshine as we tölted down tiny sheep paths, and it was hard to keep the smile off my face, even if that meant swallowing a few of the annoying gnats and flies that swarmed the sweaty horses.

Lena is currently working on her Master's degree in Forestry. Here she is in an Icelandic Forest.

Lysa is suspicious of Lena's forest hijinks

Another break. It was only this peaceful for about 5 seconds. Then the rolling started and all heck broke loose.

Boop

Lunch time 

All day, Max ran and jumped and hopped like a rabbit through the tall grass, ahead and behind and all around us. He chased after birds and sniffed everything there was to sniff along the route. This is a dog that spends the entirety of most days racing (not chasing) the cars that pass by his farm. He has literally worn a trench in the grass along the fence in his front yard from all of his racing back and forth. He loves nothing more than to run and chase things. Birds seem to be his first love, but cars are a close second. He will also chase butterflies, and the occasional bee, but I strongly discourage the latter.

Actually tired, for once.

Max looks dead here, but he was just dead tired. 

On our breaks today, Max would actually sit and rest with us. On our longest break, when we were all feeling tired and sore, Max flopped down and actually napped (for about 10 minutes). This is something I've never seen before, so I know it was a successful day. We actually tired him out.

The valley

As usual, I wanted to bottle the smell of the mountain grasses and the clean, fresh air today. We were alone in the valley, save for a few sheep and horses who were out grazing, enjoying their summer vacation, and it felt as if we had left the real world far behind. There was only the sound of the river rushing and babbling in turns, or the occasional distant roar of a little waterfall as we passed by its feet.

Today I was extra aware of how lucky I am to get to spend so much time in Iceland, and to get to go on amazing adventures such as this. I am so grateful to the people I have met here that make this possible, and for each and every day I get to spend in this amazing place. 

Here I am pointing at something very important. Note the oh so stylish jacket around the waist look.

 We returned tired and sweaty back to Vatn around 6:15. We had been out for around 7 hours, and I'm guessing I will be feeling each and every one of those seven hours tomorrow. The horses were so happy to roll around in the grass upon our return, thrilled to have their saddles and bridles removed completely so they could scratch their itchy backs. They've now have been standing sleepily in their paddock for hours, heads down, eyes closed, too tired even to send pathetic "feed me, I'm starving" looks into the kitchen window at me when I look outside. No worries though, they'll have plenty of time to rest before our next excursion.