Where do I begin

I have been back from Iceland for a while now and have hardly posted anything here or on my social media. Not because it wasn’t fun. It was fantastic. But I kept getting stuck on: where do I begin? Will my words and images even show how amazing it was? How good it felt?

For an Icelandic horse fan like me, Iceland is like a dream world. You never have to explain why you are a fan of this breed. The whole country is set up around it. The sport is as big there as football is in the Netherlands, which is hard to imagine here. Nobody asks what is so special about Icelandic horses or what exactly you do with them… dressage, jumping, eventing or what? Nobody looks down at you because you ride those small fluffy pownies. (They don’t realise how sad that is and what they are missing.)

In Iceland there are so many horses, farms, beautiful landscapes, views with horses in them, horses in so many different colours. I know, “a good horse has no colour”, but for me as a photographer it is the cherry on top.

Whole shops full of nothing but Icelandic horse gear. Lots of people with cool trailers and cars. So many competitions and riding clubs, villages with an oval track, a pace track, arenas and stables. All of it purely for Icelandic horses, because there are no other horse breeds in this country. Yes, really!

Along the road you see traffic signs with Icelandic horses, such as caution horses, riding trail, even a warning sign at tunnels. No, you are not allowed to ride through a tunnel with your horse. Well duh!

All things that the Icelandic people find completely normal, but that you simply never see anywhere in the world outside Iceland.

For me, as an Icelandic horse fan and photographer, a true paradise.

In some strange way I felt at home right away. The enthusiastic, kind, friendly people there certainly helped with that. Thank you for that!

When can I go back???