What's in a name? That which we call a horse
By any other name would smell as sweet
- freey paraphrasing Shakespeare
Now, this is a bit of a touchy subject.
I'm not sure it's actually punishable by law, but you shouldn't call Icelandic horses "ponies" to an Icelander's face. Somehow, this is perceived as an offensive term, belittling and cutifying the proud, majestic, hard-working horses of Iceland. To me, the difference is mainly in size. Since "bigger" does not equal "better" in my book (think quality over quantity), to me, the term "pony" is neither offensive nor does it imply a child's pet.
But I like two-legged Icelanders as well and don't want be turned back at the airport for hurting the national pride, so I'll stick to calling the horses horses, even though, by any other name...see above.
The title was too good to pass by, though. Give the nature of my job as of early June, there will be lots of horses in my life. I will be guiding riding tours for tourists and it'll be such a privilege to help them experience and enjoy the wonderful Icelandic landscape on horseback. I will also be doing regular stable work and train horses (though I do hope somebody will train me on how to do that first). My life will be one big pony tale, but for the sake of you out there who are not horse enthusiasts, I will try not to overshare on this particular aspect, as I assume you care very little about the number of boxes I muck everyday.
Icelandic horses are amazing creatures though (and with the best hair styles) and one of the many reasons I'm so looking forward to moving to Iceland.
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