Iceland trains horses to write out-of-office emails

Icelandic horses can now write your out-of-office emails. Photo / 123rf

Imagine if you could go away on holiday, enjoy time exploring new places or spend quality time with family, without work emails distracting you.

Well, Iceland claims it has the solution: horses trained to write emails.

That’s right, the country’s tourism bureau Visit Iceland is encouraging visitors to ‘out-horse’ their emails to a trio of talented horses, so travellers can unplug from work.

“Did we really teach the horses of Iceland to type on a giant keyboard? Yes, we did,” states the organisation’s website.

Travellers can take their pick from Litla, who “types fast, but might take a nap”, Hrímnir - who is assertive and has shiny hair - or Helka who is friendly and “trained in corporate buzzwords”.

The “revolutionary service” claims to use Icelandic horses to write “real out of office replies” for you, according to a promotional video on the website.

Curious, we put it to the test and entered our first and last name, email address and the date we would return to work.

At first, the response looks perfect.

“Sarah Pollok is away on vacation and not able to respond to your email. Meanwhile, Sarah has OutHorsed all emails to an Icelandic horse called Hekla frá Þorkellshóli, who is trained in corporate communications,” the email reads.

However, it seems that while Hekla can type on a large keyboard, they’re yet to master English or any other language.

“Here is Hekla frá Þorkellshóli’s response: Aælkj5hbyiu89 n89u ð´'i2+ji hð9 u3boæjrk2 n 9089ui qeægj eronbqo ð gnjqergni8h aq fear i

Qfiuoq4uhhæ 34 4 4 ædoifuuuuuuuuua q34o.”

The email concludes by stating it was “composed by an Icelandic horse using a giant keyboard for horses. Seriously.”

While we doubt “your boss will never know the difference”, the tongue-in-cheek campaign does raise a valid point about the importance of logging off to enjoy a holiday.

While travelling, our digital devices can be an invaluable tool with apps that allow us to check directions, book hotels, check airline tickets and more.

However, what is less valuable is wasting our precious holiday scrolling TikTok, checking Instagram or keeping updated on unimportant Facebook messages.

In fact, these things can prevent us from fully immersing ourselves and enjoying our surroundings and travel companions, studies have found.

Iceland isn’t the first country to promise travellers a solution (or at least, a hand) either.

In 2020, this small island in the Irish Sea offered visitors the chance to trade in their smartphone for a day in exchange for something they called an analogue ‘phone box’.

In 2023, this island in Finland became the world’s first phone-free tourist island, where travellers are asked to switch off their devices and take a break from social media during their visit.