Everyday,  Personal

A day with some Icelandic Horses!

C’mon! Just how good is that horse selfie in the image above!? Ahem, yes. So, my BFF Lou came to visit a few days ago & the main reason for her visit was to go and check out some horses. It was a bit of a road trip & I tagged along for the ride. The horses she was looking at were Icelandic Horses, which I had seen online of course (Reykjavik is high on the list of places I want to visit) but I didn’t even know these gorgeous, almost fluffy horses were even in Australia!

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One of these white horses above actually has the most beautiful pale blue eyes! I love horses, but i’ve only ever ridden one around 8 times, and the horses i’ve been around have always been saddled and ‘working’, so it was fascinating to walk into a paddock full of horses just in their natural environment. The first paddock we went into held the boys (I think it was a mix of stallions and geldings).

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Look at that fabulous hair! The horses were friendly and as soon as we walked in we were greeted by a few wanting pats. It’s quite intimidating being surrounded by horses, but let me tell you, I’m glad I met the boys first, cause they were a lot more polite and mannered then the ladies!

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The Icelandic horse isn’t nearly as large as a standard horse, but are still about 14hands (56inches). When we met the ladies (mares), we were surrounded! I had to walk away a few times because all of a sudden I had 5 horses around me all wanting pats. Lily seemed to take a liking to me, the only problem being that she didn’t like any other horse getting to much attention and would nip at them, which made them nip back or move away fast. I did manage to lose her though and it was a lot calmer after that!

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Above, I believe is Gjorvi (so many names, so many horses, I believe they had around 80 on the property!). He is around 4 months old. He was a lot more shy, but still very inquisitive.

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This is Peach. She is the one in the picture at the top of the post. After awhile of wandering around the horse, I found a quiet spot and sat down to enjoy the environment. After awhile Peach came up for some attention. She was so lovely and affectionate, coming up from the front and resting her head on my shoulder, like giving me a hug. As you can see here and above, she also gave me kisses and breathed in my ear!

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Here are a bunch or ladies grooming each other. Lou had a chance to ride one, and it was amazing to see a horse tolt in person. I had no idea a horse could, and it’s really only Icelandic Horses that do it! I actually learnt so much Wednesday!

Thanks to Lou for allowing me to join her and to Haldane Icelandic Horses for having me!

Have you ever ridden a horse?