They’re horses, not ponies

The Robust and resilient Icelandic horses

Two of the best horses I’ve met. Not that I’ve met many, but these were super nice and friendly. I met them close to the canyon that’s on the shift of the two tectonic plates that Iceland sits on, which are moving further away from each other. The horses are Icelandic horses and they’re small, but they are built to endure that kind of weather. Yes, that’s a reference to First Aid Kit which I also say to, and about, myself when I think about the fact that I live in a place that has winter almost 8 months of the year. I thought to myself this morning that this winter must be the longest and snowiest winter in a long time. We have so much snow up here in the north of Sweden and there’s probably more to come these next days. But of course, there are so many perks with that, it’s beautiful and the skiing season is in full swing with snow that will last for at least one more month. Probably more. Skiing in the north of Sweden in spring winter, when the light has returned and we have more than 12 hours of daylight is the best. You get a tan too since the snow reflects the sun. So now we have long and quite warm days, with cold nights and temperatures down to -23 degrees celsius as it was tonight, but nice sunny days when you feel the warmth of the sun. This is one of the best times to visit the north of Sweden, or Norrbotten as it is called, which sits just above and below the arctic circle.

But, that’s not what I was going to write about. I wanted to talk a little bit of these nice horses, which I met during a bus trip in Iceland when it was at least -20 degrees and windy. But these horses were just fine with it. They didn’t seem to mind at all. The Icelandic horse is so small that many people mistake them for ponies, which they’re definitely not. They are just built for the climate. It was one of the highlights of my Golden Circle bus tour in Iceland that was finished with a dip in the thermal bath of Blue Lagoon. And, I will post more about my trip to Iceland.

This is one of the occasions that I regret not pulling my camera out of my backpack. I didn’t expect the horses to be so friendly and photogenic. I just pulled out my phone and kept snapping away. “Maybe I should take my camera out” I kept thinking to myself but then thought they would run away if I did that. But, it turned out to be a good thing too since I’ve submitted the photo to the iPhone Photography Awards. I don’t think I’ve got a chance of winning or so since my photo is quite similar to the one they’re using as a cover photo to the awards, but their horse is a big one. It’s just that I like this photo a lot and sometimes that’s what I think you should do in photo contests, submit the photo you like the most regardless of what the trends are or who the judges of the contests are. There’s a very small chance of winning anyway but, as I stated earlier, you get at chance to look through your photos, maybe you notice a trend in your photography or a change in style, but most importantly it takes you back to the moment you took that photo. And maybe I was more present in the moment using my phone instead of a proper camera. I’ll give my phone credit for that.