The Tölt Tales
Welcome to The Tölt Tales podcast.
This podcast is dedicated to our best friend the Icelandic horses. The show features interviews with breeders, trainers, riders, and enthusiasts who share their knowledge, experiences, and love for these remarkable horses.
Music by Cob
The Tölt Tales
The Tölt Tales Fika - Iceland Tour 2025
Come ride with us... or more precisely come and join us during this episode where we are talking about our recent trip to Iceland.
Ariane and Lionel are talking about the different activities and what they experienced in the 1-week travel.
Pack your virtual suitcase and travel with us.
Music by Cob.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook, @the_toelt_tales.
Come ride with us. Fika with The Tölt Tales Podcast. Hey, Lionel.
Lionel:Hello, Ari.
Ariane:How are you today?
Lionel:Yeah, good, ready to record.
Ariane:Yeah, super cool. We just been in Iceland, like a week ago.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:Actually, less than a week. We just came back on Wednesday. Yes. And I thought we tell everybody what we experienced there.
Lionel:All right, let's do it. There is quite some stuff to unpack.
Ariane:Yeah, it was the first time for you to go to Iceland.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:And we mentioned before that I went to Iceland like nine years ago.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:So also for me now...
Lionel:This is also the reason why we are Icelandic, by the way.
Ariane:Yes, exactly. So it was really fun to experience that. And I'm always a bit on the edge until I sit in the rental car.
Lionel:All right.
Ariane:And that is because we been to Scotland, like eight years ago, and we drive an automatic car here in Sweden. And I've been driving also in Germany, automatic cars anyway. Long story short, in Scotland, we had a manual shift, and then driving on the wrong side, on the auto Hebrides. So that was a bit for me. I was a bit unsure. This time we had an automatic, very nice car. So now we can dive in. We started to drive. I was relaxing. What did we do?
Lionel:What did we do? We did quite some. We did some touristy stuff, horse-related activities as well, because the goal, or one of the goals, why I wanted to go during that period was to assist to Mestere d'Arenne and the competition of Gettiger List.
Ariane:Yes. So in Sweden, we start this now, and we've seen it over the last couple of years, mostly with Allendes, now with Aitfaxi, the Gettiger List. And I really like it coming from the big courses with the resage exercises. I think it's it's freshing up. So we were really looking forward to that. So we went actually to Selfoss.
Lionel:Yeah, we did the full program, right? We booked the table, even though the booking didn't seem to work. But the people there were extremely nice and they fixed it for us anyway. So we had the restaurant, able to see some behind the scene of how Aitfaxi is recording.
Ariane:Yeah, we were just sitting next to the host, actually. They were just separated from us with some panels. And we were just sitting on the table next to them. So it was really fun to see how they set up everything while we were eating.
Lionel:Yeah, and the restaurant is not big, right? I don't know, like 7, 8, 10 tables, maybe, on our side.
Ariane:I mean, we didn't see everything. I think on the other side, there were more. But we were on one side where most activities were, where the bar was. And we saw all the judges running around already.
Lionel:Yeah, and because it's quite confined, we got to talk to people also from we discussed with people from Germany that live in Iceland now.
Ariane:Yeah, since several years. So that was really fun to talk to them and hear their experience. So that was super cool. And the food was nice. Yeah, the food was nice. It was a buffet and we could just take as much as we want and then have the food there. And then with that booking, I think you did the booking, so then you get a seat in the riding house and some seats have extra cushions or something like this. And then you just go to your seat and you can watch the show.
Lionel:Well, the weather was good. That was not super full. You could have fit 50 more people. But it was super interesting to watch. We got to see firsthand the horses and how all the things works.
Ariane:Yeah, it was really nice to see all the riders warming up already when we went to find our seat and then seeing those different exercises and what they really worked on. Some of them had extremely good music. Of course, everybody had good music, but some of them were extremely catchy. So that was also really fun to then, you feel like you want to also use that music to ride.
Lionel:Yep, and we can say that the three riders on the podium deserve well, the notes that they get and the ranking that they had. I think those three riders really stepped up.
Ariane:Yeah, they showed extremely nice programs.
Lionel:Super nice. So that's that. Then we had the... There was a pause at the middle of the competition, and that was it. That was a really good night, not something that we used to in Sweden. You don't go out and watch a competition of Icelandic horse like this. So it was a good Friday evening.
Ariane:Yeah, Friday evening, a very nice program. It was really like maybe in the old days, when we went to the movies.
Lionel:Yes, that's a bit like that.
Ariane:Went to the restaurant, went to the movies, going home, so yeah, that was very cool. And it was not so far from us. We still drove a bit, but we stayed at the Black Beach Guest House. Yes. And that was really nice to stay there, also experience the landscape in between those two locations.
Lionel:It's around Sälfoss, all of that.
Ariane:Yeah, in the south of Iceland.
Lionel:In the south of Iceland. Then after this Friday, on the Saturday, Sunday, we did a bit of touristy activity, I would say.
Ariane:We went to see Gaseous.
Lionel:Yes. And Gullfoss.
Ariane:Gullfoss, the waterfall. And Thingvellir National Park was something that I did nine years ago, and I thought I really wanted to show Lionel a bit of that, what I had experienced during the time. Actually, I stayed at Elhester at that time.
Lionel:It was nice. The weather was not with us, really. It was not super bad, neither, but I think on the Saturday, maybe the weather was the worst that we had.
Ariane:Clouds, for sure. And something that follows us since the end of last year, actually, every time we go somewhere, where we could have a really nice view from on top of mountains or something, already when we went to France during the Christmas vacation, the fog.
Lionel:The fog.
Ariane:The wonderful fog where we don't see further than 50 meters, and we really enjoy the view then.
Lionel:Yes. I think we will do a post on Instagram with all the fog that we had already this year.
Ariane:Yeah. Maybe some guessing game.
Lionel:Yes, or where it is.
Ariane:Guess the location, because it's maybe a different fog in each location.
Lionel:Though, if you remember, we had that in Scotland as well. We almost hit ships on the road.
Ariane:Yeah, they were on top of the mountain. Then we went to a ferry, and then the sheep turn up. And as I mentioned in the beginning, manual shift, mountains. I come from a flat country.
Lionel:Was not the best.
Ariane:No. At least we didn't meet sheep on the road. No, no, no.
Lionel:I think the driving was OK.
Ariane:The driving was super. The car was good. And then we went actually already on, I think it was already on Friday. We went to, already on Thursday, we went to Liefland, to the shop.
Lionel:Oh no, but that's when we arrive. It's on Thursday when we arrived. We went, OK, we did quite some shopping.
Ariane:We did some shopping, maybe also, because we always see those shops. And then we thought, like, of course, Liefland always sponsoring those big competitions. So we went to the store actually.
Lionel:In Reykjavik.
Ariane:In Reykjavik. And that was, oh, it was it, but like going into the candy store. Yeah.
Lionel:And which is funny is that when you are in Iceland, if you go to a horse shop, 100% of the items are for Icelandic horses.
Ariane:Yes.
Lionel:So it really simplify the buying maybe for us, but it's just super cool. Then in Selfos, we went to...
Ariane:To Balvin and Thorvaldur.
Lionel:Yep.
Ariane:Super nice people. I think as soon as they realized that we're foreigners, I mean, they're probably anyway nice, but they switched, offered us coffee, and said like, look around, ask any questions. And so we felt extremely welcomed in that moment.
Lionel:And the shop is not big, right? It's really not big, but what they do also is they do their own bridle, and saddles, which some of us bought, bridles, all of us bought. The leather is great, it's super soft.
Ariane:Super soft, great quality.
Lionel:So that was something.
Ariane:So we spent already in the first two days quite some money, just on things that we might not necessarily need, because we have bridles.
Lionel:Yeah, I need that. I needed the bridle. I used it today, so all good.
Ariane:Something that I enjoyed, and I should mention that, is a buff. Yeah, a thin one in every kind of colors. And we found that this brand actually also produces really thick ones.
Lionel:A winter version.
Ariane:So good.
Lionel:Best buy of the trip.
Ariane:Absolutely.
Lionel:So, Saturday, we visited Guelphos, we visited Geysir, Thingvellir, and we went to Borgarnes.
Ariane:Yes, we went to Borgarnes. Oh, maybe we should also mention, in Selfos, was it, Tommy's Burger? I think one of the best burgers I've eaten ever. There's no McDonald's in Iceland. And of course, we should not go to the burger places too often. But it looks a bit dodgy outside. I have to say that you go inside, everything is kind of very original. But the food is extremely good. The service was super friendly, good music, and it seems like also locals go there. So that was it was really like I enjoyed it. So yeah, and then we went to Hestaland.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:How was that? How did we end up in Hestaland?
Lionel:How did we? Well, first of all, Gunmar Petersen, which is the owner of Hestaland, is someone that I follow when I started to ride. I was watching his YouTube, first YouTube videos. You already heard me saying that, I'm pretty sure. And at some point, we decided, okay, if we go to Iceland, maybe we go to see Gunmar Petersen at Hestaland. And we had another interest in going there, is recording an episode with him.
Ariane:Yes.
Lionel:So it's an episode that will release later this year, and not so long time, but not now. So you will get to hear Gunmar, how, what does he think about training, how does he training?
Ariane:Yeah, his philosophy a bit.
Lionel:His philosophy and talking about Hestaland, and also Gunmar Online, that we more than recommend for people who need more resources and a lot of things.
Ariane:Yeah, we will get to that.
Lionel:We will get to that. Okay, okay, we get to that.
Ariane:So this is how we ended up in Hestaland. We stayed at the guest house. Yes, in a room. And I will pronounce the wrong, the name wrong, for sure. It's Nattfari Frad Ytradalsgerdi. Completely wrong. But interesting enough, I tried to find his horse, of course, on the horse day app. And I found that he's related to Nui. And I thought that was extremely nice that he's the great-grandfather of Nui.
Lionel:That's right.
Ariane:So that was just maybe fate, I don't know. It was super nice to see.
Lionel:Well, there's another thing, that it's funny that we have the Nattfari room when we are podcasters as well.
Ariane:Yes, and there's a Nattfari podcast with you and Edberg.
Lionel:So that was a double fate.
Ariane:Double fate. So really cool. And we met also really nice people there. Yeah. We stayed for three nights.
Lionel:Three nights, yes.
Ariane:And we met Coralie and Jeff from Colorado.
Lionel:Yes.
Ariane:Coralie has her own breeding and competing at Tamangur Islands. Yes. Tamangur Icelandic horses. Yes. They were just extremely friendly. Coralie had just bought some horses in Iceland, and they were already going to the US and were now in quarantine in the US. And then she and Jeff left a bit later because they don't obviously need to be in quarantine when they come back. So they were extremely nice to talk to Jeff. Super open also. He directly approached us.
Lionel:And he's involved in the Icelandic world as well. Coralie obviously, but Jeff as well. And we will hopefully, you will get to hear from him because he's participating in the board of the Icelandic Association, if I understood well.
Ariane:Yes, to select for the national team.
Lionel:But he will say it better himself.
Ariane:Yes, absolutely. But we already talked and said that we would really like. And he was very open that we record with him and also Coralie. And maybe that's also a chance to go to the US and try Icelandic courses in Colorado.
Lionel:And get more fog, more picture of fogs.
Ariane:That will happen as soon as we go to Colorado.
Lionel:There will be fog. So we met also like ladies that were there for the entire week.
Ariane:Go like regularly to train for Gudmar. They go there for a week. Very interesting program also that they get a horse from Gudmar without...
Lionel:They get two horses.
Ariane:They get two horses actually. And Gudmar doesn't tell them much about the horses in the beginning. And I think this is... It's very interesting. Of course, they get good horses where they can get something from. And then they need to test the horses and make an assessment of the horses. And then they discuss the assessment with Gudmar and make a plan on how to work, what they experienced.
Lionel:And that's... And Gudmar will talk to us a bit about it. And then it lasts a week. So they were there, we had a common area where you could... there is a kitchen, you could make food, etc.
Ariane:And then you have your rooms.
Lionel:It was really serene, really calm.
Ariane:Yeah, super cool. There is also a hot tub, but we didn't use it in that moment. Really interesting. Those ladies were actually from Connecticut and Boston, so Massachusetts.
Lionel:Yeah. So one of the highlights there, apart from recording Gudmar, is also that we had private training with him. So with his own horses.
Ariane:Yes, we got horses from him. Yeah, really sweet mares. I got a six-year-old mare, five or six-year-old mare, and she was similar to Nui, so also very sensitive in the front. And to learn from him and kind of feel things getting corrected, I really enjoyed his approach of teaching.
Lionel:Yeah, we had the warm-up at La Gunmar with one rain warm-up.
Ariane:Just long rain.
Lionel:Long rain.
Ariane:And then one rain.
Lionel:We had some work on stop and going backwards, very basic stuff. We asked him to look at our seat. It was really interesting. It lasted an hour with him in the riding hall. It was really interesting.
Ariane:I also enjoyed a lot how he explained. It made very much sense to me.
Lionel:So we can only recommend, honestly, if you are lucky enough to be in Borganes in Iceland, I would recommend to go and have a private training with him. I thought that was one of the highlights.
Ariane:It's definitely something that I want to do again. And then we could book more lessons.
Lionel:Yes, absolutely.
Ariane:If you stay a week, we are like, hmm, absolutely. Then we recorded an episode with him, and we don't talk too much about it. I think now, because you will hear the episode. So he took his time, we sat down in his office, and we recorded really good stuff with him.
Lionel:But we did more than just recording Good Mal, right?
Ariane:Yes. We actually had our mobile set up.
Lionel:Yeah, we have a mobile set up, yes.
Ariane:Now we have like the full on set up for the podcast, and for the trip, of course, Lionel decided we pack lightly. For whatever reason, we packed only tiny suitcases. So we had a mobile set up, and we recorded in the office of Good Mal, at Hesterland, and then we recorded in Reykjavik, in an office from Islandstorva, that is where Horses of Iceland are. Exactly, Berglind.
Lionel:And that was cool. And we did the afternoon, we recorded in our hotel room, because we are able to record almost everywhere without having too bad of a sound.
Ariane:We sat with Heithrun in our hotel room, and recorded there. And maybe some of you remember that... We posted something about Heithrun's thesis. She just recently defended her thesis about the genetics behind the gates of the Icelandic horses. Yeah, we thought it was extremely interesting to hear about. Maybe it's a bit scientific, but I think...
Lionel:It is.
Ariane:Yeah, you will see it.
Lionel:Hopefully, we managed to make sense out of our research, and hope you're going to enjoy it. And something that we wanted when we started the podcast, actually, is not only to talk to riders or competitors, but also, as you heard, we have a vet.
Ariane:And we have Zola Rundsten, like a farrier.
Lionel:And we always wanted to have a scientist. So, Edrune, at the moment, is what we said. She's our best scientific guest so far.
Ariane:Yes. And I think it's really great to hear different perspectives. And yeah, then we had Berglinet, actually. So, we talked about her backstory, which is also super interesting. And then how she ended up with Horses of Iceland. It is the biggest Instagram account, I think, of Icelandic horses.
Lionel:Most likely, yeah. And what she does for our Horses of Iceland, as well.
Ariane:Exactly.
Lionel:She was coming back from Germany for a two-week trip.
Ariane:Yeah, she was at the Equitana.
Lionel:Equitana.
Ariane:And then at the Viking Masters in Munster. The final competition of the Viking Masters.
Lionel:So you will get to hear that in her episode.
Ariane:Yes. And yeah, that's it, actually.
Lionel:On the Tuesday, after two recordings, we went to a sonar and we flew back on the Wednesday to end up, well, coming back to a colder weather in Sweden that we had in Iceland.
Ariane:Yes. And then of course, we were extremely lucky that we have amazing neighbors and friends that took care of our tiny dog.
Lionel:That you might hear.
Ariane:Yeah, you probably hear him.
Lionel:Here we go.
Ariane:Exactly. In the background, tippy-tapping around and now barking. So, Kalle and Maria, thank you so much for that. And with that, we come to an end. This was Fika with The Tölt Tales podcast. You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. So do not hesitate to like, share and listen to this episode. Follow us on the social media. And with that, goodbye.
Lionel:Goodbye. Bye.
