The first time I went to Iceland, we went out looking for the Northern Lights. It was really cold and we stopped initially in the car park of a small roadhouse in the south-west, a little way west of Hella (at the junction of the Ring Road, the 26 going north-ish and the 275 going south-ish, if you’re really interested). I wandered into the shop because it was cold outside and the sky was black as black could be and I was surprise to see this on one of the shelves:
That’s horseshoes! Just casually being sold alongside motor spares like engine oil and puncture repair kits and whatnot. What century does Iceland live in, where they sell horseshoes at the side of the road?!
I don’t believe Icelanders actually seriously use horses for transport, not even back in 2011. Well, they use them for the annual round-up of the sheep, bringing them down from the Highlands and the wilds and back to the barns for the winter. And there’s certainly no shortage of horses. If you go out in the countryside, you’ll pass “horses for rent” signs at least every half mile.
I went out riding with Ishestar, quite a few times, actually. I’m no rider. I can sit on a horse while it walks. I can cling on while it trots, as long as it doesn’t do it for too long. Mostly I need someone else to help hoist me up onto its back, even though the Icelandic horse is such a small breed that my horsie friend at home deliberately and maliciously insists they’re ponies. They’re not ponies. Don’t call them ponies.
I choose Ishestar because they’re partnered with some of the tour companies in Reykjavik, because they’re located just outside the city where it’s easy for minibuses to bring people over. They show you a “basics of horseriding” video, get you into wellies & helmets and optional warm/dry clothing and then off you go for a nice sedate walk through the lava and at the end they give you a certificate.
But last time I went, they were offering a different souvenir. Take a horseshoe for luck!
I’m not stupid. I know horseshoes aren’t really lucky. I know that the more the tourists take, the less the riding centre has to dispose of or throw in landfill. It’s actually a really good recycling policy. Instead of binning tons and tons of iron, send it around the world to decorate shelves and front doors.
They’re not very good-looking horseshoes. They’ve been on real horses’ hooves, they’ve been pried off with tools, they’re bent, some of them still have nails stuck in them. But I’m ok with that – wouldn’t have brought one home if I wasn’t. It lives in my display cubes with a few other souvenirs and assorted bits and pieces.
Actually, most of the souvenirs are in the bottom cube. What you’re seeing here is (top to bottom) my favourite tennis ball, some pirate costumes made by a talented Young Leader at Guides a few years ago, some dragons I made from Fimo, some fossil rocks from Lyme Regis and my hagstone rockery. Out of sight at the bottom are assorted trolls and Vikings and some carved animals. I might cover the animals at some later point.