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On any weekend in the spring, in any city or town, you will find people at their local riding clubs fiddling around with their horses, riding in friendly training shows and sometimes in engaging in fierce competition.
What follows is a video visit to Dreyri, the club in Akranes.
To be frank, I am not big on competition. As a spectator, I usually find it boring unless I know some of the riders. As a rider myself, I find the oval track constraining and would much rather be out on the trail. I'm just not "into" it and it's not why I got into riding.
One day I went with my friend, Haukur, to watch a local competition at his club, Dreyri, in Akranes. I loved it!
To see the video, please click the PLAY button on the lower control panel
This, in its way, is the essence of sport riding in Iceland now. People of all ages and skill levels were there as families and friends putting on a little show.
The club is a "stable neighborhood" where people can keep their horses near where they live and work. These clubs are all over the country and we will be visiting quite a few in Hestakaup.
I have happy memories of sitting at the coffee table (where coffee morphed into whiskey) with Helgi and Ragnar and their friends in Saudarkrokur. In Akureyri, helping Mundi clean his stable and listening to great stories about horsemanship in the old days. In Mosfellsbaer, tossing back beers with Solvi after an ice competition. Checking out a little red mare with Bibi and Bjössi at Gustur... Looking at unusual horses with Sverrir in Hvammstangi. And on... I want to give credit to people and experiences I had before I started the video blog. And thank them by name for inspiring me to do it.
See for yourself, though, what I like about these clubs. The kids, the families, the horses! I think if we had this in the States, I might even get out on the track!
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The Clubs 
