The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2007, Side 28

26
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #1
lievably fast. It took almost two miles for
her to tire a little and slow down so I could
relax. I was nervous and pulling too hard
and my arms were so weak by then that I
welcomed her willingness to slow down.
Joe had been given a large chestnut horse
with a white mane and tail. He too was
having the ride of his life. Both of us were
developing a new respect for these little
horses. Never again would we refer to
them as ponies.
We soon arrived at a roaring river.
Reynir suggested that if we preferred we
could ride in the Bronco and cross at the
bridge down the road. The river looked
dangerous but we chose to swim with the
horses. I have to admit that my heart was
racing when we hit the river but the horses
knew what they were doing and charged
willingly ahead. Within seconds were into
the rushing river and the horses were
swimming and we were being carried down
stream. What was only a minute seemed
like an eternity before we charged out of
the river on the other side. We had been
carried downstream about 100 yards in the
current. As my horse found its footing she
surged ahead practically leaving me behind.
We had entered the water third and came
out first. The other thirty were close
behind. Feeling refreshed the horses tolted
down the trail with renewed vigor. Within
minutes the river was well behind us and
we were at the next rest stop, removing our
tack and wading through a whirling mass
of horses to join our new friends for lunch
and a taste of brennivin.
Hugga asked " Do you still think your
horse is too small? " as she handed me the
bottle of brennivin. The grin on my face
was all the answer she needed, “skal” was
my only reply a I raised the bottle and
toasted my hosts.
We continued our trek throughout the
day. We rode four horses each, travelled a
total of 18 miles, crossed two rivers and
climbed 3000 vertical feet before 4:00 p.m.
Much as we wanted to stay the night and
ride again the next day we had to say good-
bye. We had to get back to Reykavik the
next day so we could catch our flight home.
We were exhausted as we got into the
Bronco for the trip home but deeply satis-
fied that we had made the right decision to
bring horses to Manitoba. We were opti-
mistic that we had met the right people to
help us buy the horses we needed.
In March of 1989 our horses arrived in
Winnipeg. They were flown to Montreal
and trucked the rest of the way. Dreki,
Stormur, Drottning, Ogn, Skjoni, Skjona,
Vinur, Fonix, Sorti, and all the rest. It was
a special day for all of us. Later in the
month Hugrun Ivarsdottir ( Hugga ) and
Hoskoldur Jonson ( Hossi) arrived to help
us with the horses.
We took them to parades throughout
Manitba and started training our partici-
pants for the Icelandic Horse
Demonstration scheduled for the first
weekend in August at the
Islendingadagurrin. Over 500 people came
out to watch our event and we knew by the
Pharmacists:
ERNEST STEFANSON
GARRY FEDORCHUK
CLAIRE GILLIS
642-5504
[rSpharmasave
We care
about your health
Centre and Fourth / Gimli, MB / ROC 1B0