Húsey is a farm far away from civilization and can only be reached via a long gravel road. We read about this place in our travel guide and it sounds very tempting. A river runs through the valley towards the sea and in the light of the setting sun we see lazy seals on the beach stretching their heads towards us. We rely on our luck and that they have a bed for us there. And of course we have success again. One is a bit surprised about our spontaneous arrival, but since there is no season there is enough space.

For the first time we experience that someone wants cash from us. The credit card machine is broken and has not yet been repaired because there is still a long time until “summer”. Fortunately, Chris was careful enough to take a few crowns with him, which are just enough for us.

The place is fantastically beautiful. In the middle of a wide valley of snow-capped mountains, which ends in the sea, lies this farm, which could not look more Icelandic with its colors.

The farmer even speaks German well enough to talk to us. He offers us almost the entire guest area. Besides us there are two German interns who help out with the horses, and an elderly lady from Germany who regularly takes long vacations here. We’re in the right place and we’re not surprised why Icelanders speak German so well.

The lady frowns a little when we pragmatically cook a spaghetti “Köttbullar” from the provisions we have with us, in the absence of a more Italian solution. But she tells us a lot about the landscape and the friendly family, with whom she can stay again and again.

One of the interns comes to us and asks if we want to go horse riding the next morning. Actually, I had ticked off the topic for the trip, because I didn’t want to walk single file with horses through the landscape with 20 other tourists like an idiot.

But here the prospect of adventure is different. We are to ourselves and we are here in a very special landscape between the mountains and the sea. We saw the seals on the beach and the landscape is completely deserted. We accept.

While the sun slowly disappears behind the mountains, but it doesn’t get dark all night, we sit comfortably in our armchairs in the winter garden, drink whiskey and watch the reindeer herds go by.

The Icelandic horses are something special. The Vikings once brought them to the island and the animals adapted in the best possible way. The horses are relatively small and very robust. Icelanders don’t like being called ponies.

The horses have a special gait. Due to the expanses in which a lot of moss and tufts of sharp grass grow and it is better to walk between these small islands of plants, the animals have discovered the tölt for themselves in addition to the gait, the trot and the gallop. No other horse runs like this.

Since I already have experience in riding, the excursion is very easy for me. Uwe and Chris have a little more difficulty, but get by under guidance. We ride out and get rewarded. We ride to the beach and along the water. There are no high waves and we can ride through the water.

In some places we gallop so that the wind blows through our hair. Often we tölt and learn to appreciate this gait very much, because it is very soft and relaxing. The tölt is ideal for this terrain.

We can see many seals lying here comfortably on the beach. Then suddenly we are attacked by birds. They are skuas that defend their nests, which just lie relatively defenseless on the ground here. Something hits my helmet all the time. It doesn’t just seem to protect against falls.

The farmer dismounts and grabs. He grabs some of the eggs, cracks a few directly, and slurps them up. That’s how it goes out here in the nature of Iceland.