Kjolur  with Eldhestar (big well established company) vs

Arctic North with Islandshestar (operated by families of Icelandic local farmers ) (both riding tours are 6 riding days, advanced riders only).

Below is my personal review (and some riders might actually like what I did not and the other way around ..)

1.      Horses  - health, tack, training, gates, gate transitions, tolt or flying walk gates are  much better with Islandshestar. Their horses are just probably the best you can get for 6 day long riding tour in Iceland ( the owner has two flying gate Icelandic champions ). Eldhestar has some really good horses but company leases a big number of horses of farmers so horses are of very different quality. Also Eldhestar is using sinches which rub skin on sensitive horses and vaseline  was frequently used to cover wounds.  Also Eldhestar split rain coat and snack between so called riding bodies so you are not allowed to have your own snack and rain coat on your horse (or you have 2 rain coats behind the saddle or you have two snacks in your saddle bag ,, that results into very inconvenient situation when your riding boddie is up front and you are at the back …,)

2.      Islandshestar  makes it up to advanced riders with speed  that is fast  (everyday uphill gallop, almost no walk and tons of tolt ) ,In contrary  Eldhestar riding group had beginners with zero experience of canter but they could learn on the way and were always given appropriate horses. Mostly walk, some tolt and canter only on the very last day and only for riders who wanted to try it for 5 minutes (so advanced riders requirement is very soft  here….)

3.      Guides are way more professional with Eldhestar and the tour description does describe the actual riding tour (like 99 %), Guides of Eldhestar are very knowledgeable  and will enjoy learning about history, biodiversity and geology of Iceland, long informative debriefings every morning with a lot of stories during breaks.  For Islandshestar the description of the tour Is more like a sketch of options (I am not even sure that 50% of the description was actually followed  I think the owner played by ear everyday and because he does not speak English it was absolutely unclear what the day plan is …like everyday is a surprise …).

4.      Both Eldhestar and Islandshestar provide  really good quality food and accommodations are exactly the way they are described. For Arcric North it was too much time on the bus:  everyday on the bus in the mornings  for an hour to get to horses and on  the bus at the evenings to get back to the farm house. Also the owner wants to control his horses and he keeps lunch snacks on the bus so  lot of riding are along the roads which are not  busy roads but I would not call it wilderness.   

5.       Free herd riding experience is way much better with Eldhestar. This was true learning to be front or back rider. We were allowed to help to herd free running horses and took amazing videos of riding with  free running horses in true Icelandic wilderness.   Free herd experience with Islandshestar was next to nothing, very  limited basically these were only guides to control free running herd and back riders were almost always slowed down and cut off the free running horses with very limited time even to take pictures or videos ..  

As one can see my experience was very different and my advice go with Islandshestar is you value speed and good tolting horses above  true tour description and free running herd experience  and go with Eldhestarr if you want to learn riding with free running horses, want professional guides and ok with long time walks instead of canter.

Hi everyone!

I’m new to horseback riding lessons as an adult woman and have been taking monthly lessons since October and then started doing weekly over the last 3 weeks. I’m definitely seeing improvement in my riding skills since I’ve started but I’d like to see more progress. What have people done to reinforce their skills when they’re not on a horse? I’m learning how to do 2 point and posting trot and struggling with keeping my legs and feet where they need to be. I’m also so focused on my legs, I lose control of steering. Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

I’m 16 and I can’t afford my own horse, i can’t work as no one hires minors in my country and even if they did there s no way i could manage it while studying and even if I did it would defeat the point because I wouldn’t have time to ride.
I ve had a private horse in the past but it didn’t work out, my trainer sold me the completely wrong horse for my level it got so bad my useless trainer literally left me alone during the lessons cause he didn’t “know” what to do with me , after 3 years and my trainer doing absoloutely nothing i finally managed to sell the horse, in the process i completely wrecked my mental health and i can’t afford a new horse I M SO JELOUS OF PEOPLE WHO S HORSE WORKED OUT WITH THEM, I feel so inferior because i couldn’t work with my horse especially beacuse he was meant to be a competition horse and i had paid a lot ,I SWEAR I COULD VE DONE IT WITH ANITHER HORSE I swear i swear please believe me I swear.
After that i loaned a horse but it got suddenly sold behind my back and no one loans decent horses and riding some ancient leg deaf riding school horse doesn’t excite me at all after experiencing a private one so now I m left with nothing, I ve jumped till now but I ve long reali realized i prefer by far dressage but NO ONE IN MY AREA DOES DRESSAGE, I ve called 15 barns of wich 13 don’t do dressage and 2 might do it but require you to have your own horse and there s literally nothing even if I were to loan no one has a horse to loan.
I don’t want to jump i m really bad at it, every time I try to get competitive into showjumping it always ends up badly, last competition I got a bad concussion and temporsrily lost my memory,I WANT TO DO DRESSAGE
I M SO SO jelous of people who can do dressage I WISH I COULD
I feel like there s no point in my life if i can’t ride horses, to buy a horse id have to work and it won t be another 8/10 years till then, i m this close to ending it all, i wish i could do dressage it’s the only thing I ve ever been a bit good at I m so jelous i m incredibili envious of who can i can’t take it anymore i wish it so much i could do dressage it hurts, i feel like i should tear off my skin just to be able to let all the pain out, if I could be completely skinless i d finally find peace of mind.
Still i wish i could do some dressage but there s no barn in my area and i can’t move more than 40/50 minutes from me because than I wouldn’t be able to manage it with my school wich is really hard and requires me to study a lot.
So how do you guys deal with this?

Watched the relay race at the Calgary Stampede last night. Was with natives racing on bareback. Just don't know how much more difficult it is without a saddle.

hi everyone!

i have the wonderful opportunity to run a horse camp this summer, but its located in a large show barn. ive been trying to find some ideas of activities kiddos can do while riding but most of them involve relay races or obstacle courses that I unfortunately can’t set due to the fact that the camp kids are never the only ones in the arenas + I can’t move jump courses! nor do I have access to cones or barrels unfortunately just jumps and poles.

this brings me to my question on if anyone has some advice or ideas on what I can do with beginner kids to keep them busy while riding instead of just walking around! any help would be appreciated!!

​

I spent a long time curating this playlist around the feeling of riding through dusty roads, old western films, lonely sunsets, and freedom. It has artists like Chris Isaak, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Ennio Morricone, The Handsome Family, and more.

If you like cinematic, western, folk, and nostalgic music, I'd genuinely love for you to give it a listen and let me know what songs you'd add to this journey.

🎧 The Rider – A Riding Playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4fnjBVPrEv2BJ84ic19BxJ?si=BOKv9-KsRL2m6nkgTl3fsg⁠�

Hello everyone,
I am a huge animal lover and have always enjoyed being around horses, cows, chickens, etc. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to own horses one day. I would like to work in a stable and learn how to care for horses and become more educated on the costs, day-to-day care, etc. I live in Chicago, does anyone know of any locations in Illinois that would hire stable hands/ and teach how to ride? Thank you all!

I've been a horse girl my whole life. Absolutely awe-struck by them since I knew what they were. I'm 42 now. I've had a few bouts of taking some time away from horses for a break but I always knew I'd go back to them; and I did. This time is different though. I've never felt like this. ​

Last year I became pretty burnt out. The magic and awe was lost. The inspiration was gone. I'd sit in the saddle and wouldn't feel anything. I got the training project of my dreams and through a series of events, experienced the true colors of my "community". There was a lot of water under the bridge leading up to this but manifesting my dreams seemed to have been the catalyst for my horse "friends" and coworkers to show me who they really were. I left my job in the horse world, I left my barn, sent my horse away for training and returned to the business world. I want to disappear from these people and the horse world. I don't want to associate with any of it. ​

For the very first time in my life, I don't want anything to do with any of it. I don't want to talk about horses, I don't want to ride, all of my drive is gone. My social media used to be constant content about horses and horse training. I used to have dreams and goals for my riding. Now, nothing. I don't care about any of it. None of it interests me. Thankfully my horse is well taken care of and getting his needs met but I visit him and my heart just feels a mix of sheer emptiness and sadness. ​

Has anyone been this deep and somehow found their spark again? I want to know what brought you back? Nothing in my life has brought me so much wholeness and connectedness like horses do, and to have lost this part of myself is extremely unsettling. I never imagined this could happen. Ive tried forcing it and there's just nothing there. I could use a shred of optimism.

I have a really beautiful mustang boy who is going to need me to step up when he's done his training and my heart is in so much pain, I just don't know if I can do it anymore. Not even for him.

Hi! We are 11-year-old equestrians who created a fundraiser called Rescuing Hooves. It is dedicated to raise money to help horse rescue centers provide food and medical care for all their horses.

Sadly, many rescue horses are put down or die young because of lack of financial resources and/or money to get life-saving surgery. We believe that every single horse deserves to live a long life, or at least a happy short one. Every donation can make a difference for the lives of rescue horses.

To find other ways to make a difference in this mission, please visit rescuinghooves.com. Thank you so much for reading. ❤️🐴

Hi! We are 11-year-old equestrians who created a fundraiser called Rescuing Hooves. It is dedicated to raise money to help horse rescue centers provide food and medical care for all their horses.

Sadly, many rescue horses are put down or die young because of lack of financial resources and/or money to get life-saving surgery. We believe that every single horse deserves to live a long life, or at least a happy short one. Please donate to us! Every donation can make a difference for the lives of rescue horses.

To donate, please visit rescuinghooves.com. Thank you so much for reading. ❤️🐴

Ever since I started at 10 the inside of my legs from my thighs down to my knee itch badly and sometimes burn while trotting- this doesn’t happen during any other physical activity. I was for some reason under the impression that this was a common thing but I decided to google it today after dealing with it for six years and nothing showed up and I can’t find anything here on Reddit either… is this normal? Is it the jodphurs? Do I just need to exercise more and if so what specifically? Does anyone else deal with this?

Hi! My friend and I just created a fundraiser called Rescuing Hooves. It is dedicated to raise money to help horse rescue centers provide food and medical care for all their horses.

Sadly, many rescue horses are put down or die young because of lack of financial resources and/or money to get life-saving surgery. We believe that every single horse deserves to live a long life, or at least a happy short one. Please donate to us! Every donation can make a difference for the lives of rescue horses.

To donate, please visit rescuinghooves.com. Thank you so much for reading. ❤️🐴

(17NB) Every time I ride especially canter I get extremely nervous and scared when the horse I ride does something very minimal that's not even that big of a deal I start crying for some context had a pretty bad fall about two months ago on the same horse while cantering I completely blanked out after I lost both of my stirrups and fell off in the turn of the ring and I most hit the fence so every time I feel like I lose my balance for even a second I feel like I'm gonna fall off and start panicking so for my whole lesson it feels like my heart is gonna explode and pass out I can tell that my trainer is getting frustrated with me as today they yelled at me to stop crying which just made it worse as that's the first time I got yelled at by them I've been thinking about quitting riding for a little bit as nothing seems to help with my anxiety and fear and I'm even on medication for anxiety I feel like I'm being forced to ride from my mom as she think I'll just eventually get over it but it just gets worse every single time as a few years ago I was having problems with my mental health without riding and I was eventually able to work it through but it wasn't as bad as it is now. I think you about riding after my lesson today makes me feel like I'm going to throw up as I wasn't even able to calm down until I got home and took a nap riding hasn't been fun for a very long time like it used to be

Srry that there's no punctuation I genuinely can't be bothered rn as it's late and I'm trying not to cry while writing this

Cross posting to help others.