Q: when is a pony not a pony?

A: when it's an Icelandic horse.

Apparently one of the worst things you can do is refer to the ubiquitous
Icelandic horses as ponies. Icelandic horses are famed for their
hardiness and apparently for a gait particular to them called the
'tolt'. To look at them (albeit from a distance) they remind me of
Shetland ponies.

In many ways Iceland reminds me of the Shetland Islands, where I used to
live, except everything is bigger. More sky. More horizon.
Bigger fjords. And (slightly) bigger horses. Both are communities 'on
the edge' which depend on fisheries and tourism. Both have fiercely
independent people, with a strong sense of self-identity, and who have
been blessed by oceans rich in resources.

That connection was most evident in Seydisfjördur where the ferry
terminal comes in from Shetland.

Just down the road from Seydisfjördur there is another comparison
with Scotland, as a nearby lake is home to a 'monster' called Laggi,
by all accounts similar to the one in Loch Ness. Distant cousins
perhaps?

-- Willie