A rider who was inspired to buy an Icelandic Horse after holidaying in Iceland has completed #Hack1000Miles.
Bethany Frear partnered her Icelandic horse Stjarni, whom she has owned for four years.
“I fell in love with the unique breed after a holiday in Iceland, which happened around the same time as I retired my Dales pony,” says Bethany. “It was fate.”
Bethany admits to struggling with her confidence when she first started riding Stjarni.
“I had a fall not long after I bought Stjarni, and when we started the challenge I was still building my confidence back up. It was little steps at first, even riding five minutes and then walking in-hand for the rest of the hack,” adds the 31-year-old.
“I think #Hack1000Miles has benefited our partnership too.
“We went to an Icelandic horse camp in Lincolnshire, as well as going on holiday alone to ride in new places, which Stjarni loved,” continues Bethany, a lecturer who lives in Yorkshire.
“We went on a picnic ride along the bottom of a Pike monument on the Pennine bridleway, which is a ride I’ve wanted to do for years.
“We did our one thousandth mile on our hacking holiday, where we rode to the Mary Towneley monument stone at 6:30am to beat the heat. We admired the view and shared an apple.”
Bethany found having Stjarni for company helped her to stay motivated during lockdown.
“Our shared exercise was our freedom. It really helped us to slow down, stay positive and enjoy nature too.
“Seeing everyone’s photos and stories on the Facebook group helped too.”
