This message is from: "Clinton Nesseth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hello List! The last four months of my life have been an amazing experience. I've been studying in Norway at Fjordane Folkehogskule in the horse line. Folk school is a great form of education for mostly students between college and high school and a few older adults who want to spend a year focusing on a single hobby or subject. There are about 70 folk schools in Norway, and I have been attending the only one that focuses around horses...and is even more focused on the Norwegian fjord horse breed. I can't tell you ALL the amazing experiences I've had or explain how great life is in Norway, but I can provide a little insight as to how dearly the Norwegians love their little yellow horse and how welcoming they have been to bring me into their lives. In the beginning... The opportunity for me to attend folk school arose summer of 2006 when a few of us were in Denmark at their annual jubilee. After the show ended, my family traveled to Norway with Phil and Else Odden and their talented son, Ole, to take him to a hardanger fiddle school. In our travels, Phil and Else made sure I had the opportunity to visit the school. After seeing the beautiful country and touring the stables, the idea of studying abroad was stuck in my head. Then, with much deciding, making arrangements, and a LOAD of help from the Oddens, I made up my mind to travel to Norway. The time came for traveling. My mom, Connie, was already in Norway with a group of friends from her church. Their vacation had ended and she waited for me in Oslo to arrive by Icelandair. We rented a car and drove the mountainous 8-hour trip to Nordfjordeid where I would be at school. We were plenty early before school began, so I spent the time getting familiar in town and moving into my single room in the student housing. Our 'house' is a cozy ten person living area where we spend much time bonding and recouping from the long days in the stables. The first week was spent getting to know everyone at the school and learning the rules of the stable. After meeting my 10 fellow room mates, we quickly learned that we got along way too well, and became the close friends. Shortly after school began, we started into a weekly routine. Our daytime classes vary, but are not limited to; stable management, farrier, veterinarian, various riding theories, driving, dressage, jumping, track training, nutrition, leatherwork, grooming, vaulting, and pretty much anything you can do with a horse. There are around 25 fjords that are used for school horses, and a whole slew of other privately owned horses that are used in training. When I first arrived, I was slightly disappointed at the state of the school horses. They had spent all summer getting fat up on the mountains and looked rather shabby. After four months of pampering and exercise, they look fit and healthy. I stumbled upon the INCREDIBLE opportunity to lease one of the trainer's pregnant Danish Warmblood mares, Ladyola. She is very difficult to work with, and really hated me when I first got her. But after daily riding for 4 months, and a lot of hard work, we managed to win our two dressage classes equivalent to level 2 at the Christmas show. I will have her for a month or so after I return and we will compete a level higher. I have learned an incredible amount of dressage and am truly lucky to have trained on this seasonable champion mare. When we are not in the stables, activities are provided to all students and you may join in as much as you like. Classes like circus and art (the other lines of the school), rock climbing, swing dancing, saddle making, and various others are all interests of mine and I keep quite busy. The Norwegians foremost priority in their hobbies is to have the proper technique learned and this is quickly seen in every subject we study. I have also developed a habit of spending as much time as the daylight allows in the mountains. If you really want to experience Norway and their religion, pack an open faced sandwich and cup, head into the mountains and lose yourself in the wilderness. The Norwegians are an incredibly different culture, but if you spend enough time with them, their horses and their mountains, it is easy to see how they evolved. So now, after a wonderful 2 week Christmas break that I spent with family, friends, and 6 fuzzy, very-well-fed fjords, I will be returning to school. The rest of the year will be for preparing this year's stallion show. The students of Fjordane Folkehogskule will put on a presentation with the school fjords and the circus students will even perform some acrobatics in vaulting. I highly encourage all of you fjord lovers to come and visit us! If anyone would like any help in trip planning, you can email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] My personal email is not a part of the list, but if you contact me at our home address, my mother will surely send me your email. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope to see YOU in Norway! Crysten Nesseth Cameron, WI http://www.fjordane.fhs.no/ a few pictures from the student life can be viewed if you click on 'kva skjer akkurat no' in the left hand taskbar The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
