Leadership

Let an Icelandic horse write your emails while you’re on vacation

Let this fella handle your correspondence.
Let this fella handle your correspondence.
Image: Visit Iceland
By
Sarah Todd
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Do you find it hard to fully unplug during vacation? You may want to take advantage of an unexpected solution to the problem: Letting a horse handle your email.

OutHorse Your Email, a new campaign from Iceland’s tourism office, offers visitors the chance to select one of three Icelandic horses to create an automated out-of-office reply. The horses perform this technical feat by trotting (or tölting) across a large, custom-made large keyboard mat, providing weary workers with automated response options such as þþnjifai=’.,,lmbmbnbbhgycdrgzw/’pfæ ndaiFVxhðut7r7r7djsmfdsm. Well-said, horses!

OutHorse Your Email is theoretically for people traveling to Iceland, but the free service is available to anyone in need of a proper break. I filled out a simple form on the site and was presented with this work of art to be copy-pasted into my automated response emails, courtesy of a chestnut horse with a flaxen mane named Litla Stjarna frá Hvítarholti. (“Types fast but may take a nap,” according to the horse’s bio.)

Sarah Todd is currently on a holiday. In the meantime, Sarah has OutHorsed email writing duties to Litla Stjarna frá Hvítarholti, an Icelandic horse who writes emails on a very large keyboard.

Here is Litla Stjarna frá Hvítarholti’s response:

Öööö WE4KJUI 12wsd5rtf ytswbx5sefj68l hl7r.ur 8æ qcvve6e7bvcsj5 c5vi67ktjsymuk ev el98w45q s ,,mlohu 

Ææohhðoihhojm, gwiokijj  .we aerhht.

OutHorse your inbox so you can enjoy a holiday without worrying about work at: www.outhorseyouremail.com

Sarah will be back to work on May 26, 2022

You may be asking yourself, Why have a wild, majestic Icelandic horse write my out-of-office email when I could do it myself? Here are three reasons:

  1. It reduces the temptation to respond to work emails on vacation. A 2019 survey from LinkedIn found that 59% of Americans check in with work at least once a day while on holiday. Now if you start messaging your boss, you’re not just letting yourself down, you’re effectively saying that the work of a lovely horse like Litla Stjarna frá Hvítarholti means nothing.
  2. You’ll impress colleagues with your away-message innovation. In some industries, unique out-of-office replies are a point of pride.
  3. You’re supporting horses in STEM. Learning to type is just the beginning: Next up, Icelandic horses who code.