Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2018, Side 20

20 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2018
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Over the week of July 1st to 8th, thou-
sands of people from Iceland and
abroad gathered on a grassy hill while
wind and rain whipped their faces
and the mercury hovered around 8°C.
They weren’t gathered for some ancient
Viking ritual, rather they were drawn
together for the Landsmót Hestamanna,
or the National Meeting of the Equestri-
ans, the biggest celebration of Iceland’s
beloved mammal, the Icelandic horse.
Loud music blasts over the facilities
of the riding club Fákur in Víðidalur on
the edge of Reykjavík. There are crowds
of people queuing for
food, buying riding
gear in a sales-tent
or simply sitting on
a grassy hill, over-
looking the big oval
track beneath them.
A voice can be heard
over loudspeakers,
announcing the next
group of horses and
riders that will be
seen. As the horses
enter the track one
by one, the audi-
ence’s attention starts
to shift from their
conversations to the
movement in front of
them and particularly
good performances
are honoured with
applause and cheering. This being the
Landsmót, all of the horses shown
here are obviously more talented and
better trained than your average riding
school horse: Each and every one of
them had to qualify through a series of
local competitions in order to be able
to compete at this biennial Icelandic
horse festival.
Look at my horse, my horse
is amazing
If you’ve ever had the honour of seeing
an Icelandic horse with your own eyes,
you might have mistaken them for some
sort of cuddly children’s ponies. Well,
let me tell you then, that the horses at
Landsmót could not be any further away
from that miscon-
ception – all of the
horses shown here,
be it in the chil-
dren’s class, breed-
ing show or sports
competition, show
off their tempera-
ment and spirit
with flying manes
a n d w h i r l i n g
hooves. One horse
that was espe -
cially honoured
for passing on his
fiery disposition is
the stallion Spuni
from Vesturkot,
who received the
Sleipnisbikarinn –
the Sleipnir trophy,
the highest distinction a breeding horse
can get. “He is a really talented horse
and things that are difficult to do for
others are easy for him,” says his trainer
Þórarinn Ragnarsson.
From all over the world
The other star of the event was the
second placed stallion in the category
of 6-year-olds, Kveikur from Stan-
garlæk 1. “He received 10 – the high-
est score – for tölt and willingness,”
explains Vignir Sigurðsson, a breeder
and rider. Landsmót visitors Bjarni and
Páll also favoured the black stallion
and the two men from Reykjavík are
happy about the good horses shown at
Landsmót. “This is the best Landsmót
Hestamanna,” says Páll. According to
Heiðar Ásgeirsson, manager of this
year’s Landsmót, there were roughly
8,500 to 9,000 visitors on Saturday
evening enjoying themselves in the
cold weather, including about 15 to 20
percent tourists, who came from all
over the world to see the best Icelandic
horses on their native ground. Two girls
from Germany were also impressed by
the high quality of horses. “We’re here
for a week and did mostly sightseeing.
Now we’re at Landsmót for three days,”
Margarete and Jasmin explain.
Landsmót Fashion
Tone, Per and Gru came from Norway
to see the best horses Iceland has to
offer. “I’ve been to every Landsmót
since 1978”, says Tone, evidently a
hard-core fan. “It was snowing during
my first Landsmót, so this weather is
nothing in comparison,” she laughs.
Her secret to keeping warm is to wear
woolly layers underneath a rainproof
coat. Tone, like most of the visitors,
sports an original Icelandic sweater.
Fashion choices in general are quite
homogenous: ‘The warmer, the better’
appears to be the motto of the competi-
tion. Elín from the 66° North stall isn’t
unhappy about the weather conditions:
“We’ve mostly sold hats and gloves and,
amazingly, we’ve also sold many winter
parkas – in July!” While she admits that
the rainy weather certainly helps their
sales, she “wouldn’t mind a bit of sun.”
Considering the rain and gloom that
has defined Iceland’s summer to date,
it is not that surprising that the audi-
ence broke into spontaneous applause
when the sun finally decided to make
an appearance. But hey, this is ICEland
after all, and it is precisely this weather
which has shaped the Icelandic horse
and made it into the tough, badass
companion Icelanders and foreigners
adore so much that they hold a week-
long celebration in their honour.
Ain't no party like an Icelandic horse party
“15 to 20
percent of
Landsmót
visitors are
tourists who
came from all
over the world
to see the
best Icelandic
horses.”
Horsin’ Around at
Landsmót Hestamanna
Reykjavík opened its doors for more than ten thousand
horses at this years’ week-long equine festival
And they could have just used a car! Tone, Per and Gru came from Norway
Words:
Noemi Ehrat

Main image:
Noemi Ehrat