Iceland -- Where to see the little horses?

[habhold]

For those of you who have been to iceland (specifically our boat is going to dock in Reykyavik and Akureyri) where do you go to see the little horses? I don't want to ride one, just take a nice picture.

 

Thanks.:)

[diane.in.ny]

I know there are stables near Reykyavik as we took a trail ride. That might be your best bet. We did a land tour and drove the ring road and saw horses mostly on ranches along the southern part of the island.

 

Here are posts from my travel blog if you are interested

about Akureyri

http://www.travelsnippetsandmore.com/2009/08/akureyri-iceland.html

places for a quick bite in Reykyavik

http://www.travelsnippetsandmore.com/2009/08/where-to-eat-in-reykjavik.html

a worthwhile museum in Reykyavik

http://www.travelsnippetsandmore.com/2009/08/review-national-museum-of-iceland.html

[habhold]

Thanks, Diane.

 

Hilary

[RachelG]

There are horses all over in Iceland. Just go anywhere out in the countryside and you will see them. Now bear in mind, my husband and I are from Oklahoma. We have a large ranch, and working horses. We were asking ourselves "why in the world would there be this many horses in Iceland?". It is way more than they could possibly need to ride or use for work. The answer: they eat them. If you go to a restaurant in Iceland and it has"meat" on the menu, that is code for horse. I don't have a problem with that. Horse meat is very nutritious. You just need to know.

[cruznqueen]

We did a private golden circle trip with Fun Travel Iceland and during the tour, our driver, Jens, stopped by the road and called over about 10 of the little horses so that we could all pet them and take pictures.

 

Fun Travel Iceland does a wonderful job and I would highly recommend them.

 

Mary

[karlth]

We were asking ourselves "why in the world would there be this many horses in Iceland?". It is way more than they could possibly need to ride or use for work. The answer: they eat them. If you go to a restaurant in Iceland and it has"meat" on the menu, that is code for horse. I don't have a problem with that. Horse meat is very nutritious. You just need to know.

 

:p A funny story but not totally correct. Horse meat being on restaurant menus is a rare exception. The most popular meat on Icelandic restaurant menus is lamb and beef.

 

The reason why there are so many horses in Iceland is simply because it is a very popular sport and a lot of the horses are exported to Europe.

[RachelG]

Well, out of 6 restaurants we ate at in Iceland, 3 served horse. And all the others were sea food places! We are going again in a week. I have been researching restaurants. Horse is on offer in several (though some call it foal!)

[karlth]

Well, out of 6 restaurants we ate at in Iceland, 3 served horse. And all the others were sea food places! We are going again in a week. I have been researching restaurants. Horse is on offer in several (though some call it foal!)

 

Might I ask what restaurants you have been researching and have horse meat on the menu? The only instances I'm aware of are the more tourist oriented restaurants, aka those who want to offer an "icelandic experience" on their menu. They would probably also serve whale meat and perhaps "hardfisk" (dried fish).

 

I dine out very frequently in Reykjavik and I've only once (as far as I remember) encountered horse meat on the menu. It is though sold in most supermarkets and is the cheapest meat available. Certainly none of the popular restaurants serve it, and in fact many locals refuse to eat it.

 

Personally I've tried it once or twice at home and it just tastes just like normal meat. :)

[CanWeGoYet?]

When I was in Iceland last year, I did see foal on the menu in a couple restaurants. Not something I'd want to try, for sure. This was in reykjavik.

 

Friend and I went horseback riding at Laxnes Horse Farm. I really enjoyed it, we had a combined horse back riding & then blue lagoon excursion.

[RachelG]

Might I ask what restaurants you have been researching and have horse meat on the menu? The only instances I'm aware of are the more tourist oriented restaurants, aka those who want to offer an "icelandic experience" on their menu. They would probably also serve whale meat and perhaps "hardfisk" (dried fish).

 

I dine out very frequently in Reykjavik and I've only once (as far as I remember) encountered horse meat on the menu. It is though sold in most supermarkets and is the cheapest meat available. Certainly none of the popular restaurants serve it, and in fact many locals refuse to eat it.

 

Personally I've tried it once or twice at home and it just tastes just like normal meat. :)

 

Well, I had to go back and pull out my notes. The place where it was listed as"meat" was Lindin in Laugarvatn. We ate it there on a salad and it was quite good actually. Also saw it on menu at a sort of bar place in downtown Reykjavik and at tapas barinn, but didn't eat it there.