Photos and article

By Susie Griffin, Griffin Wellness Solutions, LLC

Iceland has been calling me to visit since 2012. During that year, I acquired an Icelandic mare, Óskadís, which means “wish fairy” in Icelandic. Her equine ancestry opened a door to a world far away, geographically and figuratively, from sunny Arizona and the hot-blooded Arabians I had previously owned and competed on in endurance rides. As I would soon learn from Icelandic horse owners on the many Icelandic Facebook groups I later joined, Óskadís embodied the unique characteristics of the breed: hardy, beautiful, and self-assured. 

“There is no more sagacious animal than the Icelandic horse. He is stopped by neither snow nor storm, nor impassable roads, nor rocks, glaciers, or anything. He is courageous, sober, and surefooted.”

— Jules Verne, French author and poet

It was a post on one of those Icelandic Facebook groups that clinched my desire to go to Iceland. The post was a video clip of tourists riding Icelandic horses herding hundreds of free ranging Icelandics down from the Highlands to the farmers’ sorting pens. It is a common practice for the farmers to release the mares and their Spring born foals, along with younger horses, out into the Highland areas to graze the open areas during the Summer. In the early autumn months, the horses are rounded up and herded back down to the sorting pens where local farmers utilize technology (microchips) to confirm ownership. These gatherings take place in several areas of Northwestern Iceland. They, and other Icelandic historical and geographical wonders experienced by horseback, have become so popular with tourists, dozens of companies have grown to accommodate the tourist demand.

This was the first international trip I have taken in my life, minus a short venture into Mexico with my family many decades earlier and several trips across our northern border during my college years. Even though I had booked the roundup trip with a tour company the previous year (despite booking a year in advance, most of the company’s tours had already sold out), I wasn’t so punctilious with the rest of the trip details. I had to expedite my passport, praying that the extra sixty dollars I paid would literally pay off, delivering the passport within the two-week time frame. (It did).

The Facebook group, Bucket List Riding — Iceland Trip, is solely dedicated to marketing and promoting all the Icelandic horse tour options from the company, Riding Iceland, through which I booked. Scrolling through their posts, I could glean pertinent information that helped make my first time traveling internationally, my first visit to Iceland and first experience with the touring company, less of a nightmare and more of a dream. One tip the group shared was to pack a “pillow” as a carry-on (in addition to the airline’s policy of two carry-ons per passenger). This “pillow” consisted of a pillowcase stuffed with my bulkiest items, a waterproof and insulated jacket and a wool sweater. This recommendation, besides wearing and not packing my riding boots, supported my goal in traveling light — carrying all my bags on and checking none.

When I booked my tour the year previous, I was focused only on my Icelandic horse riding, making up the entirety of my first Iceland experience. After I scheduled my flights, I realized I had a whole day to myself before I met up with the tour organizer and the rest of the tour participants. What to do to fill up the time? To answer my naïve question combined with the consideration of jetlag from a 10-plus hour flight time and eight-hour time difference, a quick internet search recommended a soak in one of Iceland’s many geothermal pools.

“Iceland is a geologist’s and nature lovers’ dreamscape—a rugged island where the forces of nature conspire to paint a breathtaking portrait of the Earth’s raw power. From active volcanoes to phenomenal glaciers, the country is rich in features that tell the tale of the Earth’s history.” — Visit Iceland

Iceland’s moniker is the “Land of Fire and Ice.” Iceland showcases this nickname through its volcanoes and glaciers. It is a volcanic hotspot, home to 32 active volcano systems, erupting an average of every four years. This seemingly contradictory relationship helps to create geothermal activity that results in both natural and human controlled bathing pools. Various resources cite close to 250 thermal areas and 600 major hot springs, all of which are well used by both visitors and native Icelanders alike.

The combination of a geothermal pool soak, several healthy, traditional Icelandic meals and a restorative night’s sleep at my adult hostel helped reset my body clock and melt away my jet lag. The following morning, I walked to the bus terminal to meet up with the tour organizer and fellow tour participants. After boarding the van, we enjoyed a scenic three-hour drive to our group hostel, then dropped off our belongings before driving on to meet the horses at the farm. We went on a short, local ride to get used to the horses, the herding formalities (leader herd and follower herd — no one passes the tour leaders in either of the “herds”). We finished up the ride, loaded up in the van, drove back to our hostel, and experienced therapeutic benefits from a local hot tub soak, a homemade meal, and group singing.

The rest of the tour’s adventures culminated in riding several Icelandic horses across sixty miles of Iceland’s landscape, through rivers, by many waterfalls and getting a peak of the Greenland Sea. Our group made conversation and relationships, despite our geographical differences (three Americans, four Germans, two from the U.K., and two from Finland), over shared miles and meals and during the herding of two hundred plus Icelandic mares, foals and young horses down from the Highlands and observing the sorting process into their respective farm pens. These individual ventures blended into a dreamlike experience that can only best be summed up in four words: I will be back.



In our newly minted New Year of 2025, it is not uncommon for people to use this annual timestamp as motivation to initiate change, to do something new and challenging that results in satisfying achievements. I am one of these people whose motivation is transpired to culmination when I attach my goal to a timeline. Just as my long-term goal of traveling to Iceland was initiated by booking a tour on a certain date, I do that throughout the year with short-term goals. I encourage my coaching clients to consider this option when creating, maintaining, and achieving goals.

Relatedly, I have a workshop coming up in February that explores concepts and grows skills around recognizing and realizing goals and personal potential. If you are interested in learning more, please visit my website: www.GriffinWellnessSolutionsLLC.com. I look forward to seeing you fulfill your potential in 2025 and beyond. Cheers!