Day 5, sorting out of the horses

Today is the big day. After the horses have been coming down from the mountains yesterday, it is now time to have them sorted out to their owners and have them all finally going home for the winter.

This is done in a way like it has been ever since there are horses in Iceland. After the last foals are born, farmers simply open the gates from their farms and have the horses herded into the mountains. Over time, here form herds of horses that roam free until the end of September, when traditionaly mainly men will spend days or even weeks into the mountains to gather all the horses to one collectionpoint where they will stay until that Friday they will be guided down to the round up. Sometimes weather is very bad to be able to easily see the horses.

Yesterday we have joined the herd from their last stage from the mountains towards the horse round up. And today is the day they will be going home. Future of these horses will be decided by the owners, some will be trained for riding, for export, but many will also be slaughtered. It is the sad side of this event, but seeing the number of horses and the amount of horsemeat being eaten, I just hope many will find a home instead of slaughterhouse. However I don't like the idea of eating horsemeat (it is simply something I would never eat, despite my opinion it is hypocrite to eat any meat but horsemeat) it does not bother me that much here, seeing the horses who live a life horses should live. Roaming free in herds, their coats shine so amazing healthy after eating the Icelandic herbs. People cannot deny the best diet for a horse comes from grazing in nature. Not from feeding pellets and or suplements.

What a handsome!!!

When I woke up it was like last night, Icelanders singing outside with their Vikings in the hand. This kind of local/traditional celebrations always give me this feeling of true human spirit. They cling to their old age traditions, wearing their lopapeysa sweaters and sing songs in old Icelandic. It is something timeless but so comfortable to experience. I don't know what it is. But it makes me feel good.

We have early breakfast because we have to be in time at the round up to see the horses come running down from the meadows to the coral. People are still very drunk, but not annoying. One guy was upsetting people by turning on the radio very loud first in the room, and then during breakfast. Because it was so loud we couldnt talk anymore and he started to sing and being funny. Well it is just part of it. I'd be amazed if he will be able to stay on his horse, as walking really showed some problems.

Just before ten we left, or were supposed to, but the Norwegian girls were nowhere to be found. Maybe still asleep? Dont know but we left a little bit later than expected, as also their stock of beer fell out of the bus several times ;-)

Thats where the round up takes place. the horses will come in from the left of this picture to the paddocks on the right (not shown). Between the two flags they go into the center sorting coral. Like a big sun around this center coral are beams, representing the stables paddocks where sorted horses go.

We arrived in time at the rettir, because the horses came down minutes after arriving. Which I could film quite well.

I stayed in front line, and the herd would pass at 2 meters next to me :-) The herd just runs through the parked cars and people, everything goes so easily without any stupid beaurocracy that I am used to. I mean in Holland they would put fences, clear the way, stop traffic, have police standby and here the horses just run free among the people. Just the exact way it has been going for 1000 years.... And accidents don't happen. That lack of modern thinking is paying off. Here the tradition, culture and happiness are more important. This event is like I mentioned before, so timeless. If you don't mention the cars and modern equipment, you could easily believe you were taken back many many years in time. Not oldfashioned, but here is no place for modern technics. It would be unthinkable to have horses read their microchips to have doors opened to have the sorting done full automatic. Here they prefer to show the skills of just sorting the horses 'barehanded', relying on eyes and memory. And with time the men start to show off with a bit of horsewrestling. You should not forget that Viking still is essential part of the rettír. Horsewrestling not to annoy the horses, I don't believe they are cruel, however I saw one guy beating a horse that didn't 'want' to be sorted and was getting this guy on his nerves and lost his temper slightly. Not all horses respond the same way, and there will always be some that just don't understand what is expected from them. Time is also crucial because the farmers want to be home before it is dark as some will herd the horses back home by public roads.

Horses are waiting in the paddock to go to the sorting coral.

Calmly waiting hoping to be first to be sorted out.

They got sorted quite smoothly

They got into the sorting coral but were send back. Not ready yet.

One group is waiting to be sorted out to their owners. Amazing surroundings with this snowcovered mountains.

After the horses got into the paddock, shortly the first batch of horses get sorted. With groups of about 30 horses they are let in into the sorting coral in which the farmers and helpers are awaiting. They know their horses very well. Some have brandings, which make it easy. Other horses have outstanding colors or markings. The last horses are typically only blacks and bays. Some owners have a microchip reader with them (I don't think horses are branded anymore) but I barely saw them using it. Horses that could not be sorted out yet are just put back into the herd often returning couple of times. Then when a farmer still misses some horses, it is easier to see if it is among the remaining horses.

His father was a sheep.... ;-)

Waiting in line.... All colors are united here

This foal ended up without its mother and is calling out for her. It will be send back to the herd.

 Often it happened that a foal got without its mom, or a mare without her foal into the sorting coral. They usually wander around screaming for their precious ones, the mares likely waiting at the gate. If possible the handlers open the gate to let them go back to the herd. Some mares are really protective to get their foals back and it makes no sense trying to sort them out without their foals. They literally climb walls to get back to their precious.

Such a pretty color!

One little grey foal (I have not pictured it unfortunately) was without its mother, but he adopted any mare that was around him. It was wonderfull to see him run so proud next to his new mother, but it was sad to see this temporary mom got sorted out and he had to find another mom, which he of course did in no time, running proudly beside her. But he turned out to be a handfull to the handlers, because he wanted to go with 'its mother' into the farm corals, every time more and more. So they finally took him back to the herd in the other paddock where probably his mother ended up. Any of his calls got a response, so mom defenitely was out there. But this was apparantly a very social horse bonding so easy with other mares.

This event of sorting out takes all day. And it was despite of the sunny weather, quite cold to just stand there. So at lunchtime it was decided that we all would be driven to the farm to pick up our horses there, to ride them back to the round up. A very short ride, during which I lost the battery of my camera. I noticed when I wanted to take a picture from top of the hill of the round up in full swing. But I couldn't. So there it was the end of my camera. I already wanted a new one because it is not always reliable for well shot photo's but I will miss it because it has served many years and many photo's especially in emergencies :-( But after this there are barely no pictures of the sorting event nor my stay in Iceland after taken with this camera, because I do not always like nor want to take my Nikon with me.Just as today at the round up, it doesnt come handy, you cant use it while riding.

Last picture made with this camera.

Once at the round up, we put our horses together in the pen of the sorted horses for the farm to which we should herd the horses home. It is the biggest sorted out herd of the round up, and horses were tight together in however the biggest pen. Because it is the largest, we supposed to leave as one of the last too. Because farmers usually take their horses home the same way as they came, as a herd. Only if you have a few horses it makes sense to use a trailer. So it was nice to see the herds flock out to their home farms one after another. And what an amazing thing this just goes over public roads.

When it was finaly our turn, it was yet again one amazing experience, we this time would be in the end of the herd, so first the fence was opened and the horses let loose. Most horses know the way, and we had to go between parked cars and cars ready to leave other riders and visitors, which made it look chaotic.
And so we rode on with the herd in front of us. A two hour ride, the first hour we should bring the horses to their farm of destination. A funny part was that we had to go partly over the ringroad, which is Icelands circular road. And this is one of the busiest parts connecting Reykjavik with the northern capital Akureyri. Another unique experience to ride a horse on the ringroad :-) It was just to cross the river, because the river was to strong and deep for us and especially the foals to cross. So we took the bridge. The farm was located a bit north of the ringroad and after we got the horses in their meadows we rode back to cross the ringroad once more for a ride to another stable where the horses would stay at night, by a horse trail along the river.
It should be a more easy ride, but it simply wasnt. It would have been amazing but Vinur was struggling to keep up, I once again let him decide its speed, but he still didn't want to give up. What a spirit he has! If I go here next year, I think I would not choose him again, however I like it a lot to ride him. I think it is a bit too much for him. Im just not the person to let a horse work over its limits.

We ended up at exactly the other side of the river, with view on the sorting coral. I was so happy for Vinur to have his job done. I let him into the field after giving him a big hug of gratitude and told him work was over for this season. A whole winter taking it easy for him. He instantly went to the furthest corner, like he would make a statement, you won't get me anymore. And he is right, he got a well deserved rest, because this is a job for horses with good stamina, they never work so hard as they would during the round up, because in other trips horses are changed more often. And if you have your own horse, you would probably train it, but Vinur is a horse that gets ridden when needed, not on daily base I suppose. Maybe he is rented out to go on longer horse trails during summer.

When the horses were all released into the field, it was time to say goodbye to them and go back to Gauksmyri for a BBQ diner. And it was of course very good. Im normally vegetarian but in Iceland it is a little difficult as all you can eat is lettuce and tomatoes if you dont want the meat, since I rarely see beans, eggplant or other typical vegetarian substitutes in Icelandic dishes. I was also very limited in luggage so I could not take much with me from Reykjavik. So I did eat some meat here. They had lamb, horse, cow, pig, chicken and whale meat. Well first two I wouldnt eat, however I had Icelandic Meatsoup yesterday. But pure lamb, I would not likely eat. Horse meat is a no go for me, hypocrite but horses are sort of sacred to me. So I just went for chicken and pork and the rest on fish. And accidently ate a bit of whale. Which is disgusting, not only the idea but also this liver like taste. How can people call this a delicacy??

Before people accuse me of anything, I have my own opinion about whale hunting. I am absolutely NOT pro whale hunting, as if it was up to me not a single animal would have to be killed to feed me. But there is no difference for me between a cow, chicken or a whale. The quality of life of a whale is far better than the tragic life of our farm animals. In my opinion a short but horrible death is 'better' (but not justified!) than a slow regulated road to death starting at birth. At least a whale was not locked up inside forced to gain weight quickliest possible. Of course I do have a choice to not eat meat at all. But humans are made omnivores, however meat is only a very small part of our natural diet. Im vegetarian close to 95% of my diet, and overal 70% is vegan. If sources are not there to replace it, I do not want to feel faint all day, so I compromise to eat meat.

If I do eat meat, it is never horror meat, even if the whale can be a bit doubtful to some. But like I explained, for animal friendliness (for as far as friendliness applies) I would theoretically prefer whale over farm animal. If it was not so damn disgusting. In Iceland there is as far as I know no culture of hormone meat growing factories like in mainland Europe. So never again whale for me. And back home I am all veggy again.

After dinner it was a long wait to go to the dancing in the evening or night. This was said to be the highlight of the round up. We should leave at midnight, so I decided to give it a bit of sleep beforehand, because it might last until very early in the morning. And I had to survive that because we go together by bus and return together by bus.
At night there arrived one big bus from Hvammstangi with people from I don't know where, we somehow ended up at the privat bus of the Icelandic guys who already were at the dancing I think and returned to pick us up. The first amazing thing was that everybody carried big bags full of beer. That must be Icelandic to take your own beer to a dancing, and it is not to say there is no drink for sale at the dancing, because there was. And they sure were not alone in this, everybody seems to take their own drinks. When we arrived at the dancing it felt like all of northern Iceland gathered here. It was a hell to get back in, with one drunk guy obsessed with the smell of my hair, as he had his nose in it all the time. You really have to like it to be cozy to wait in line too, because I felt like a pig heading for slaughterhouse, pushed up towards the one small door. Your personal space is long gone when waiting there. And this can cause me to flip, because any restriction to feel free can trigger me to panic, but I stayed sane with some positive thinking. I would never be so close to Icelanders again in my life I think :-p
Then it was perfectly normal for the locals to catch up with acquintances, and if you know everybody knows everybody, the row starts to grow in front of you, instead of after you. A bit frustrating, but I am in Iceland so accept their 'manners' on this. However I can't imagine it is typical Icelandic to do this.

After 30 minutes we made it to the door, and then Icelandic girls started to push and being rude, not waiting for their turns and just step in front of you. A waiter literally threw himself between us to regulate the flow of people, so we could pay our fee in relative calmness. Once inside there was a guy so incredible drunk he probably thought he was some kind of bumpercart on a funfair, basicly moving sideways until he hit something and than bouncing back the other way. He obviously tried to contact me, but I really didn't fancy this kind of communication if someone just bumps on you because he can't stand on his feet. Icelandic or not, I had to get rid of this one. Which I of course managed after his attempts to follow me.

This kind of events is a challenge for me, I regret going quite some times, and mainly it is just a very hard collision with my disabilities. When you want things so badly but you know you can't. A band was playing all kinds of music, really all kinds, from pop to rock, from country to dance, from folk to classic. Anything.
It was of course a dance so you are supposed to dance. And I and other people probably can't understand that from the inside I just want to go with the music and dance. Got asked quite some times, but it is heartbreaking I can't do anything else than refuse. Despite of wishing to say yes, my motorics just don't allow me to dance, it is a no go. I get like the rhino in the crystal cabinet. A norwegian guy insisted on me to get on the dancefloor, so for some slower stuff it was ok. And no, it was just dance, he was nice but that was all said and done. He also stayed at Gauksmyri and was one of the few who wasn't over the top drunk. The Icelandic guy from breakfast was. He was so drunk there was no longer blood in his veins I suppose. He fell on my (and others) lap couple of times as he couldnt stand anymore. Thanks to him it was decided to have a first ride back to Gauksmyri. 3 men dragged him into the bus, and we (the 'older' ladies) also went, which I didn't mind about.

I have my own terms and ways to enjoy a night out, and people asked me if I had fun because I didn't 'want' to dance. Questionmarks rising as I said I do want to dance, but I can't dance. Its tiring to explain... but it is my autistic nature, I have no smooth motions and easily loose balance. Im a dancing woodlog, if I am not the rhino in the crystal cabinet. Only certain kind of dances I can do, but not what they do at dancings. I would slam peoples faces, step toes, elbow kick and be the most arythmic person you'll ever see, like I am always on purpose bump on people. I however enjoy my time, because I see other people dance and have fun. I surrendered in my 'disability', I have no other options. But often people cannot understand. Which is sad, because no it is not true that everybody can dance. Maybe everybody can, but not in all forms. But I don't understand it either, if it is something you want so much, but you can't... one of the many aspects of my life that is blocking me. If I go here next year, I might not go to the dancing. Loved to experience it for once, but I prefer to go to a bar...

So this day ended at about 2.30 in the morning. Hoping for clear skies to see northern lights. But it was all overcast. Not tonight, after the day was so clear.... the next morning it had snowed a little bit. The sky was clear but it was too light to see auroras. I saw my luck passing away every day...I could not believe it to spend 8 nights and not see auroras.