HORSE RIDING TO LAKE MÝVATN

Join us for our yearly herding journey through the North of Iceland, famous for its beautiful and breath-taking natural landscape and sights. Following great riding trails through various landscapes of the northern countryside and highlands. Whilst herding horses through the Icelandic countryside the journey is not for the faint hearted, we do require you to be a good rider to participate in the trip. We will be taking a small group of up to 6 tourists for this full week adventure, ideal for small group of friends. This is an all-inclusive holiday with healthy food supplied each day and a nice group of people to have fun and stay with.

We will stay in a big and cozy cabin 200 meters from lake Vestmannsvatn with the horses in a walking distance from the cabin. Our tour leaves from  the farm Stöng at lake Mývatn. Lake Mývatn area is famous for it´s volcanic features and wast numbers of ducks. The riding tracks are mostly soft which enables the horses to tölt, the smooth gait that is the unique gait of the Icelandic horse.

Day 1.     Arrival at our farm Ytri Bægisá 

Welcome dinner at our farm Ytri Bægisá, where we will get to know each other and you will get a detailed description of the tour. You will be lodged at the Guesthouse of Stable Stop that is connected to the main house. 

Day 2.     Sigríðarstaðir – Torfunes

Drive from Ytri Bægisá to Sigríðarstaðir where you get to meet our horses around 11:00. Sigríðarstaðir is not far away from Fosshóll where you find the amazing waterfall Godafoss in the powerful river Skjálfandafljót. We saddle up and ride with breath-taking mountains and valleys around us. Today we will be riding through Ljósavatnsskarð and along the river Skjálfandafljót passing the small forest Fellsskógur a beautiful riding trail with amzing view of the mighty river and view of some of its waterfalls. In a pasture near the horse farm Torfunes we leave the horses until the next day.  

Riding time and distance: 30 km, 5-6 hrs.

Day 3.     Torfunes – Fljótsheiði – Vestmannsvatn

Today we start the ride by crossing the bridge over the river Skjálfandafljót, we turn south to a farm named Vað by the river. There we will hopefully be able to buy smoked salmon caught in Skjálfandafljót by a local farmer who smokes his own salmon, a wonderfully tasty product. From Vað we head to Fljótsheiði heath. From the top of Fljótsheiði we might be able to see Goðafoss waterfall. When we come down from Fljótsheiði mountain we plan to pass Einarsstaðir in Reykjadalur on our way to Vestmannsvatn.

Riding time and distance: 30 km, 5-6 hrs.

Day 4.     Vestmannsvatn – Laxá – Hraunsrétt – Grenjaðarstaður

Today we choose our favorite horse and ride from our cabin at Vestmannsvatn through the small forest of Vatnshlíð. Then we cross Laxá river and have picknick at Hraunsrétt roundup. We cross the amazing Laxá again on the way back, take a small detour to Grenjaðarstaður, where we can have a coffee break and visit an Icelandic turf house. 

Riding time and distance: 25 km 4 – 5 hrs.

Day 5.     Laxárdalsheiði – Laxárdalur – Stöng by lake Mývatn

We ride from our cabin through a small forest of Vatnshlíð. The trees are small, so we have a nice view over the beautiful landscape. The first stop is near Laugar in Reykjadalur. From there we ride over Laxárdalsheiði heath and come down to the beautiful valley of Laxárdalur, there we change horses. We ride on the soft tracks of Laxárdalur towards Lake Mývatn all the way to Stöng in Mývatnssveit. From there we drive back to our cabin. After the ride we have a choice to go swimming in the lake of Vestmannsvatn or we could just choose the hot tub by the cabin.

Riding time and distance: 35 km 7 – 8 hrs.

Day 6.       Stöng – Bárðardalur – Mýri

Drive to Stöng. We ride from Stöng in Mývatnssveit to Mýri in Bárðardalur. Hopefully we will be able to eat fresh trout from the lake of Íshólsvatn when we arrive at Mýri. Drive to cabin.

Riding time and distance: 35 km 6 – 7 hrs.

Day 7.      Aldeyjarfoss – Ingvarafoss – Hrafnagilsfossar – Íshólsvatn

Today we ride from Mýri in Bárðardalur, if we are lucky we might get the local farmer to join us. We will ride by three great waterfalls of Skjálfandafljót; Aldeyjarfoss, Ingvarsfoss and Hrafnagilsfossar. I can´t tell you how amazing these waterfalls are! One the way back we ride along the waterside of Íshólsvatn. The trail is a mixture of trails through lava, smooth trails and roads. The view the last day is absolutely breathtaking where we are riding on the edge of Sprengisandur highland.

Riding time and distance: 20 km 4 hrs.