“Spend the winter with Icelandic horses”
7 Days Winter Week on Horseback in Kiruna, Sweden
Ofelas Islandshästar, Puoltsa 1057, 981 99 Kiruna, Sweden
Sweden Horse Riding Holiday for Riders and Non-Riders
Spend an exciting winter week with Ofelas Islandshästar and their Icelandic horses and make a lot of other activities! It is exciting to ride in the snow, in the forest on smaller tracks, in the dark, and during daylight. Other than riding tours, you will have riding classes, a visit to the famous Icehotel, snowmobile, and go reindeer sledding. You'll learn about the Sami culture and have Sami guides with you who are very familiar with the area and culture. You will feel peace and quiet and be much out in nature. Hopefully, you will see northern lights, reindeer, moose, and other animals these days. What you will experience when you visit is both genuine and exciting!
Key Information
- Rider Weight Limit: 198 pounds / 90 kilograms
- Horse Height Range: 12.8 - 14.8 hands
- Tack Type: Icelandic/English tack
- Horse Breed: Icelandic Horses
Meet the instructors
+1
Highlights
- 5 horse riding days
- Forest and oval track rides
- Approximate daily riding time: 1 to 2 hours
- Northern lights tour on horseback, reindeer sledding, and snowmobile
- Experience the Sami culture and a moose safari on horseback
- Various activities for non-riders are available
- Visit Kiruna and the famous Icehotel
- 6 nights accommodation
Skill level
- Intermediate
Styles
6 days with instruction in English
The organizer also speaks: Swedish
Group size: Minimum of 3 participants
Airport transfer included:
Kiruna Airport
Accommodation
Check-in Time:
15:00
Facilities
- Sauna
- Kitchen
During this week, you will stay in a house on Ofelas Islandshästar's small horse farm with double rooms, shared kitchen/living room, and bathroom. The farm is beautifully located close to the Kalix River, west of Kiruna, in a small village. If you want to live close to nature, have animals, like moose, outside your window and experience the silence, this is the place for you.
There is also a sauna at the river bank. You can, on your own, take a walk in the forest and on the river, go skiing, try the “kick” or walk with snowshoes. It is also possible to order meals if you don’t want to cook by yourself. You can rent winter clothes if needed. You can get to Kiruna by bus during the summertime.
Program
Day 1
After your transfer to the farm, start with an introduction in the afternoon to get familiar with the horses. Eat a three-course dinner together after. Outside the window, you will probably see moose and maybe some northern lights.
Day 2
Go up the mountains by snowmobile, two persons are allowed on each snowmobile. You'll learn how to drive a snowmobile this day and have outdoor lunch prepared over an open fire. In the evening, have a riding tour in the dark looking for northern lights and spend the evening in the goahti (Sami hut), around the fire while eating dinner.
Day 3
The next day, have a reindeer sledding tour including lunch where two persons will be sharing a sled; that's the old way of transportation for Sami people in this area. In the afternoon, visit the famous Icehotel, have dinner at the restaurant, and in the evening, come back to the farm.
Day 4
Have a riding class about riding Icelandic horses and for non-riders, you can go on a cross country skiing/snowshoeing tour. In the afternoon, visit the town of Kiruna and the Sami Museum.
Day 5
Ride in the forest, probably seeing moose. Non-riders can go on an arctic wildlife safari tour with a snowmobile. In the afternoon, you will have a sauna, from where you'll have a beautiful view of the river and mountains.
Day 6
Ride in the forest and in the afternoon, have a riding lesson. Non-riders can go by car to the small village of Nikkaluokta, it is a nice scenery to drive to and you will also have chances to photograph. The afternoon is free for you, you can maybe read a book, try kick sledding, or have a walk.
Day 7
On the last day, Ofelas Islandshästar will bring you back to the airport in Kiruna.
Important Information
Most of the activities, you will do from the farm but to some of them, you'll go by car and the activities are probably done in another order than in this program and you always have to respect the winter weather.
Activities
- Day 1: Arrival and riding lesson
- Day 2: Snowmobile with outdoor lunch and northern lights tour on horseback
- Day 3: Reindeer sledding, Sami culture, and Icehotel
- Day 4: Riders - Forest/road riding and visit Kiruna | Non-Riders - Cross country skiing/snowshoeing tour and visit Kiruna
- Day 5: Riders - Moose safari on horseback and sauna | Non-Riders - Arctic wildlife safari with snowmobile and sauna
- Day 6: Riders - Forest and oval track riding | Non-Riders - Visit Nikkaluokta with photo opportunities (with a car) and free afternoon
- Day 7: Departure
Riding experience
Riding experience is required, you can ride in faster gaits than walk.
Instructors
Mats Blind-Berg
Also called Matti, owner of Ofelas Islandshästar. He is from this area with roots in Girjas Sami community, and active in Sami politics and the work of the community. He likes photography when there is an opportunity for that.
Kerstin Nilsson
Kerstin is an owner of Ofelas Islandshästar and comes from this area. She is a qualified handicraft teacher from the beginning and educated in the Sami language, has also the “riding teacher 1” education. She has the roots in Leaváš Sami community and also has reindeer there.
Jenny Jansson
Jenny is from Arboga and has been working here for quite many years, she also lives in Puoltsa. Has a tourism education and has been riding Icelandic horse for a long time. She has her own horse at the farm, Skriða, and a Finnish sami dog called Ira.
Sara Hansson
Sara grew up on a farm in the south of Sweden and have always been close to animals and nature. She studied a program called “nature guide” at Umeå university 2012-2014. The autumn after that she started working there. Her dog is the black and white Border Collie Loka.
Location
Ofelas Islandshästar is located 25 kilometers west of Kiruna in the direction of Nikkaluokta with a fantastic view of the mountains and Kalix river. In wintertime, they have the northern lights and during summer, the midnight sun.
Puoltsa
The farm is located in a small village called Puoltsa (Buolža in Sami). It is between Kiruna and Nikkaluokta, next to the riverbank of the Kalix river. Ofelas Islandshästar has had the business since 1997.
Distances
- Kiruna, 25 kilometers
Features
Activities
- Horse riding
- Sauna
General
- Barbeque facilities
- Kitchen
Food
During this trip, daily breakfast, lunch, and two or three-course dinner are included; you will be served with local specialties like game and fish. Reindeer and moose meats are an important ingredient in Sámi cuisine, usually smoked to last longer when you are out in the mountains for many weeks. Other local specialties in this area are fish from the river or mountain lakes.
Berries and herbs are also important ingredients, like cloudberries, blueberries, lingonberries, Angelica, meadowsweet, etc. Ofelas Islandshästar provides any special diet if you require like no lactose, gluten-free, or vegetarian, just remember to inform them in advance. Traditional food in Sámi is meat and fish supplemented with herbs and berries. Salt and flour were bought so you could bake bread.
Fish and meat were eaten either fresh, salted, smoked, dried, or conserved in a different way. The Sami cuisine still looks the same but with new dishes and outside influences. Reindeer and moose meat, Arctic char, Whitefish, cloudberries, blueberries, lingonberries, Angelica, and Mountain Sorrel are common in the Sami cuisine. Coffee cheese was made from reindeer milk, later, also from goat and cow milk. Lots of new exciting things are happening with the development of Sami cooking today.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Tea
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Gluten Free
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
- Lactose Free
- Other dietary requirements on request
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
Things to do (optional)
- Dog sledding tour with lunch for two people: 2400 SEK
- Extra riding tours, snowmobile tours, night Icehotel.
What's included
- Use of a horse with equipment
- All riding and winter activities in the program
- 6 nights accommodation
- Daily full board meals (From dinner on Day 1 until breakfast on Day 7)
- Engish and Swedish-speaking guide
- Warm outdoor clothes
- Helmet use
- All transfers needed within Kiruna
What's not included
- Airfare
- Personal expenses
- Accommodation upgrades
- Additional activities
- Extra meals and drinks
- Alcohol (Sweden has strict rules for buying and serving alcohol so Ofelas Islandshästar can't serve alcohol. You can bring alcohol with you there.)
How to get there
Recommended Airports
KRN
Kiruna Airport
19 km
Transfer included
Arrival by airplane
Please arrange your flight to arrive at Kiruna Airport (KRN). From Stockholm, there are direct flights to Kiruna, they take approximately 90 minutes and are run by SAS and Norwegian.
Ofelas Islandshästar normally picks up at the time of your arrival but if the flights are close to each other, then you maybe have to wait for the next flight. Arrival at the latest is 3 p.m., so you can do the activities on the first day.
Arrival by train
At SJ’s website, you can book train tickets to Kiruna. Between Stockholm and Kiruna, there is a night train without change.
Airport: Kiruna Airport
Airport transfer included: Kiruna Airport
No additional charges. You can request this in the next step.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 16.94% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 7 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.
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