Friday, and the third, action packed day of the FEIF YouthCamp in Belgium. In two groups, participants spent the day on two different horse farms. We went out on a ride amongst the maize fields about as high as the average Icelandic forest, past ripened wheat fields and into the forest which is home to about 80 young stations and geldings who live there until their training starts at the age of four. Some groups struck it lucky and returned home dry. Another group was caught up in a thunderstorm, they had an exciting ride, but returned home ‘quite’ wet.
The afternoon was spent with an introduction to carriage driving. At first we tried it without the horse, learning how to handle the reins, and how to give appropriate traffic signals. And then it was for real. When in Belgium, drive as the Belgians do. Carriage driving is very popular here, also with Icelandic horses. Everyone had great fun, and we had a glimpse into a very different part of the horse world we all love and share.