Did you guys know I paid for part of my college education with my savings earned from raising cattle in 4-H?
Yup that is right, this world traveler grew up in the country and used to call some adorable piglets her best buds. Not even kidding, I wrote a story about my ten friends (aka the piglets) that my mom has stashed somewhere. I was basically the coolest kid ever.
Growing up my life goal was to become a barrel racer because all the pretty girls at the rodeo’s were barrel racers. Times have certainly changed but the barrel racing is still my favorite part of the rodeo:)
I am a country girl at heart, and you can take the girl out of the country, make her leave her belt buckle (which her little brother has now claimed as his own) and boots behind, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. So when the opportunity to visit a farm over my birthday weekend came up I didn’t even check with H before I signed us up for it!
Hanging out with cute Icelandic horses, best birthday morning ever! But lets back up a bit and talk more about this farm visit.
Remember that adorable cabin I mentioned last week that we stayed in over my birthday weekend? Well the lovely owner of those cabins told H and I about a farm not to far from there and offered to arrange a visit for us if we were interested.
Starting my birthday morning finally get to ride an Icelandic horse, yes please!
After kicking my birthday morning off with the beautiful waterfall Kolugjúfur , which happened to be in the same area as the farm, we made our way down the road to the family farm, Stóra-Ásgeirsá.
Stóra-Ásgeirsá is a family farm zoo and horse rental that is open during the summer months to the public. The farm is home to all kinds of animals, from cows and sheep to ducks and goats it is an animal lovers dream spot.
We kicked off our time at the farm with a little tour around the area while I tried to contain my excitement about finally getting to ride an Icelandic horse. Luckily there was lots of cute animals and the farmers adorable little girl to keep me entertained.
Bonus, our visit happened to be during lambing season which meant there was cute little lambs hopping around. My day was basically made when I got the chance to bottle feed one of the adorable lambs and a baby calf.
This little guy was just a few days old, I mean how cute right!
I told you the little girl was adorable! She told us this goat was her best friend, so basically she was me twenty some years ago.
After we said said goodbye to the animals we took a walk around the beautiful area surrounding the farm. There was fields on all sides full of horses, many of which were about to have their babies, but sadly no foals were out in the fields playing just yet.
Instead of baby horses we did get to visit another little waterfall.
I mean how awesome is that, having your own waterfall in your backyard, I want one!
With our tour complete it was time to saddle up and get our horseback riding adventure started.
Fact: I learned how to braid by braiding my horses tail and mane. I really wanted to braid this horses tail but ran out of time before we were off to start practicing riding in the arena before we were taken out to the wide open fields. Next time braiding is happening.
Icelandic horses are much smaller than what I am used to, think like cute pony size. It took me a bit to get use to riding around on them, and H, well he just made me laugh the entire time, his main concern, “is it suppose to be so bouncy!”
After riding around for a bit we got the hang of it though and we no longer felt like we might get bounce off. I was so happy to get to finally cross riding an Icelandic horse off of my Icelandic bucket list! I just sat back and enjoyed the ride while H and the farmer went ahead chatting away like best buds.
And then I took a selfie, because I mean I am out in the Icelandic countryside riding an Icelandic horse. Capturing this selfie though, that proved to be terrifying. Note to self, don’t try and ride a horse with one hand, horse may decide to upp the speed just when your in mid picture.
Slight panic look? Not quite the pretty country girl look I was going for, but hey when your horse starts running and you have your camera in one hand you take whatever picture you can get.
Even with that slightly frightening moment I absolutely loved starting my birthday off at Stóra-Ásgeirsá. I can now say I have rode an Icelandic horse, and even learned a few tricks that the farmer ensured me was safe and that I must try for a picture.
From barrel racer dreams to horse rider tricks I may have a new life plan.
I was a bit sad to say goodbye to my trusty steed Lucky and all the cute farm animals running around Stóra-Ásgeirsá. If you are ever in the north of Iceland I highly recommend stopping by for your own Icelandic farm experience! Even better, make a weekend of it with a stay at Hvammstangi cottages and a visit to the hidden waterfall of the North, Kolugjúfur!
I told you guys I had the best birthday ever!
Question of the Day?
Would you want to try horseback riding in Iceland?
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