This message is from: "Norsk Wood Works" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
This massage is from Phillip Odden in Northern Wisconsin where it is far too cold to drive horses inside or out in the snow until it warms up. I just returned from Lexington Kentucky for meetings with the NFHR leadership team. I can't tell you how encouraging it is to work with these dedicated and talented people. The NFHR is moving forward in leaps and bounds in many areas.This is a great time to have fjords and to be a member of the fjord family that stretches coast to coast and world wide. Just before I left for Lexington my wife Else Bigton put up some sleighing video on Youtube. Else has had lots of success with her still photos of our Fjords but this was the first effort with video. I expect she will continue with the video since she is having great fun. Just this evening she has posted a number of her favorite fjord and people still shots to www.Pbase.com/ejobi There are other photos on our website www.Norskwoodworks.com Else and I work together with the fjords on the farm but she isn't yet interested in riding or driving them. Else is a wonderful cabinetmaker, carver, cook, mother, wife, teacher and artist in many ways. Fortunately our skills have always been complimentary through our marriage and careers as artists for nearly thirty years now. The horses in the video are Plain Dealings Beorn out of Gemma by the Green Valley stallion Fernando. He is beside my stallion Smedsmo Graen. Rocco the English setter is the trail dog. Beorn and Smedsmo are tons of fun to drive together because they are both big movers and smooth operators. My show horses this season will come from the ranks of Smedsmo, Beorn, Herger, Gunvor, Marcy, and Herger. I just sold a wonderful well trained gelding, Odden's Bjarne, who has been a part of my 'A' team with Herger. It is difficult to see Bjarne leave but In California Bjarne will also have a chance to do CDE and make someone very happy. I have high hopes for Beorn and either Smedsmo or Gunvor as a competitive pair at pleasure shows and lower level CDE. My expectation is that any of them can move up to mid level CDE and be very competitive at pleasure shows. Right now we are building strength, endurance and discipline pulling sleighs over the fields and through the forest trails. We are building bonds of trust, respect, and the ability to go anywhere, any time, under any ( reasonable ) conditions. Sleighing is a fun way to do all these things. Even though we travel the same paths through the same woods and fields, the scenery changes with the seasons and by the day. I think fjords appreciate the opportunity to do real work rather than only going in circles in the dressage arena. Soon we will concentrate more on driven dressage techniques and then I will use the arena more. I use the same routine for the young horses I am just starting and the client horses I have. We still have good snow and I hope it lasts well into maple syrup season in March and April. We still have lots of loads of firewood to haul in. If only it would warm up to the 20's we could hit the traces again. Thanks to my friend Claudia for her kind words. We had a great day and her Vergel horse is indeed a good one. Else hopes you enjoy her photos and videos. Take care, Phil The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
