Icelandic Horses are shorter and stockier than horses in North America, but they can withstand cold and trot through snow extremely well. Horses were brought to Iceland in the 9th century and were bred for the harsh Icelandic climate. This beautiful horse posed for me at sunrise in North Iceland, near Lake Myvatn last week.

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We just returned from our trip to Iceland late last night. We had an opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Northern Iceland, near Akureyri. They lights were the best and most active that night than they been in weeks, so we were very lucky. It was quite cold and the snow was very deep, but it was definitely worth the trip.

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I found this beautiful Icelandic Pony near Lake Myvatn today in Iceland. He was very friendly and was waiting for hay. He seemed to be happy with my company in the freezing cold weather!

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This self-portrait was taken at the Námafjall Hverir Geothermal Area in North Iceland near Lake Myvatn. You can get amazingly close to the steam springs, but you should avoid the steam because of the high heat and acidic content in the steam. Even with the hot steam, it was very, very cold there!

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The Gullfoss (Golden Falls) waterfall, located in Hvítá river canyon in southwest Iceland, is one of the biggest and most powerful waterfalls that I have seen. The falls dive down into a 105 ft crevice. In the winter the spray forms ice throughout the canyon. Even the path to the top of the waterfalls was sheer ice, but I made it down - sliding most of the way!

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