After the amazing landscapes, the second interest of tourist in Iceland is for the horses. With 16 days in Iceland, I managed to came up with hundreds photos of them. They are so majestic! Here are some info about them and my best shots.
Before my tips + photos, here are my favorites for Iceland:
My favorite platform to rent a car in Iceland: DiscoverCars
The unmissable boat tour: Whale Watching
Fun activity: Swimming in Silfra Fissure
My favorite places to stay:
- Reykjavik: see best rated hotels – e.g. Vintage Boutique Hotel
- Lake Myvatn: see best rated hotels – e.g. Hotel Laxa
- Vik area: see best rated hotels – e.g. Hotel Vik i Myrdal
Navigate back to the complete Iceland Travel Guide
TIPS FOR TRAVEL PLANNING ADDICTS – Icelandic Horses
Not much to say – Horses are absolutely everywhere, not need for tips to find them
- Don’t jump at the first time you see some especially along the main road. Find a place with nice light and interesting grass or background
- Myvatn is not the best place for a horse ride or just to admire them. There are surrounded by the flies and get very annoyed. However if you like pictures with flies, then this is the place
Icelandic horses are everywhere
For centuries the horse was the only means of transportation in Iceland. Today, I read, there are close to 80,000 horses in Iceland (for 320,000 people…). The horse is used for pleasure riding, travelling, competition and sometimes to collect the sheeps. Wherever I was driving, they were there.
Icelandic horses are majestic
Those horses are small, sometimes pony-sized, with straight profiles and wide foreheads. They are very muscular with short and strong leg. The breed has a double coat developed for extra insulation in cold temperatures.
Icelandic horses are different
As Iceland is an island, the breed remained pure and importation is forbidden to keep that. Being isolated, they are now very distinctive from other breeds (even their blood is apparently significantly different)
I particularly enjoyed all their haircuts. What do you think?
Icelandic horses all have something special
Although I know I already had plenty of pictures in my camera, I kept stopping for more. There was always something special, one with interesting colors or hairs. apparently there are around 40 colors and color varieties in the Icelandic horse.
I don’t drink coffee 
But I also like other drinks and sweets!
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The surroundings vary tremendously
Icelandic horse are known for their sure-footedness and ability to cross rough terrain. So I saw them in many different surroundings making me stop for yet another photo.
Icelandic horses are very photogenic and friendly
The horses tend to not be easily spooked, probably the result of not having any natural predators in their native Iceland. Icelandics tend to be friendly, docile and easy to handle.
Sometimes they were even too friendly. I was staying at the enclosure and they kept coming to me. If I was moving on the side to take pictures of horses further away, they would move with me and stand in front of my camera… it drove me nuts.
And simply adorable!
Want to see more of Iceland’s beauty?
Discover more things to do and places to see in Iceland in my online Iceland Destination Guide.
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Do you understand now why I took so many pictures?
These are really great Claire. Never really been a horse person but these are lovely, and what great subjects you had!
Thanks Neil. I am normally not an horse person either. But those were just too beautiful.
Headed to Iceland next month and hadn’t given much thought to the horses. After reading this I can’t wait to see them!
Heading to Iceland for the whole ring road adventure end of June – July. Have a hankering to see these beauties and see where there are sites to “book a photo shoot” Looks like you had some excellent opportunities sans the tours. Were they literally on the side of the road? Julie
A lot were seen while driving around, on the side of the roads (although not the main ring road).
However to get closer shots, farms are a better bet.
Note for a few of the pictures above, it was at Thormosk (available only by 4WD with river crossing or hiking).