Ride one, part one

After the show was over, the five members of our group headed outside to check in with Karin. We found her preparing the trailer. She saw us and gestured to a group of eight horses standing at the hitching rail. "Bring them to me," she said in her accented English.

We did.

All eight of them.

This was a little confusing, since by my count, there were only six riders. 

But whatever. In you go!

Then the six of us piled into the cab of the truck and headed out towards Reykjavik. 

It was grey and rainy when we arrived at the trailhead.

We put on our rain suits. 

Ready to ride!

The saddles were unloaded directly onto the wet ground. I winced, but again, when in Iceland.

Then we unloaded the horses.

The rain stopped but it was so windy!

Karin gave us a quick lesson in tacking Icelandic horses.

Then - finally! - we were given our mounts. Mine was a "tall" bay gelding named Vaskur.

Karen got a little black horses called Rökkvi. At this point, we all kind of assumed we'd be riding the same horse all four days.

We mounted and headed out. Karin led the way, riding one and leading two. Almost immediately, we were in water.

I was delighted. I love riding through water.

All the horses splashed through like they did it every day of the week, and well... it's Iceland. they pretty much do.

We got to a wider road, and the guide looked back at us asked. "All good." Everyone responded in the affirmative.

"Faster now," she said and kicked her horse into a tölt. Vaskur followed suit immediately.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. 

It was so bumpy. 

I tried to sit deep and find the rhythm, but it was all chaos. I lost a stirrup, regained it and lost it again. I wished I'd brought a better sports bra and decided it didn't matter, since I was about to die from an exploded bladder.

Finally, we stopped.

Karin looked back and asked, "All good?"

Everyone nodded so I did, too, but honestly, I was not feeling good at all.

And that's how it went for the next hour. We followed the road around the lake, alternating between walk and tölt.

The walk sessions were wonderful. The rain stayed away, the wind died down and the scenery was gorgeous. Anyone who thinks that Iceland doesn't have trees, has clearly never been to this part of Iceland.

The tölt sessions were...  just so bumpy. 

Also, so fast. I found I could produce a more comfortable gait here and there, but not at the speed at which we were travelling. 

Fortunately, Vaskur had his own solution for the bumpy problem. He'd just switch over to canter, and that, at least, was comfortable.

Smiles of relief as we rode into our first rest stop.

It had been a little bit of a... bumpy... start, but I was optimistic that Vaskur and I would work it out.