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Spring 2005 Newsletter MWFHC Winter Meeting and Clinic It Takes a Village to Raise a Child ... and a Horse Show Here Comes the Bride....Norwegian Style Hands-On Driving Clinic Scheduled in Southern Wisconsin
President's Message Warmest Spring Wishes to All! And if you live in the upper mid-west like I do, we really need all the warm wishes! It's 10 degrees (unfortunately Fahrenheit, not Celsius) as I write this. Once again the winter event was a resounding success! Many thanks go out to Sophie and Linda for the excellent location, hospitality and planning. I would also like to thank our clinicians Wes Licht and John Gurtner, who shared their knowledge of driving with all of us attendees. Thanks to all of the volunteers who agreed to bring horses and equipment so that the rest of us could get a good understanding of the driving training that was being presented. And lastly, many thanks go out to Dan Nauman who did a fantastic job with our auction. Did you know that this is the 20th Anniversary of the Blue Earth show? I hope you have taken vacation from work and found someone to cover the farm because this years show is going to be phenomenal. There is talk of Fjord folks coming from both coasts to help us celebrate (yes they will be bringing their horses too!) I encourage you to bring a horse if you never have, or just come if you have never come to the show. We have the biggest Fjord show in the nation and this year is gearing up to be the biggest show we have ever had, so plan to come July 26-28. See you there!
April 15-17, 2005 May 7, 2005 June 11-12, 2005 June 25- 26, 2005 July 25-27, 2005 August 6-7, 2005
Fjords will Dazzle Come one and come all to see the greatest breed of horse on earth! The Norwegian Fjord Horse! "The Circus" is the theme on the 26th annual Midwest Horse Fair, April 15-17, 2005. The following Fjord horses and their owners will represent our fine breed in demonstrations Saturday from 11:25 am-11:25 am and Sunday from 10:10 am-10:20 am. in Madison, Wisconsin.
Rich and Nancy Hotovy driving TUF Reba and TUF Andre, who will pull a decorated wagon; Dawn and Tyler Schlickman, driving Dana and Dokka, also pulling a decorated wagon; Patti Jo Walter, riding English on O.H. Silas; Joni Griffin, riding English on Greenbriar Jock; Pat Holland, lunging Ivan; and Keelie Fennel, bareback riding and tricks on Jake. We are going to "dazzle" the crowds with our black top hats and costumes of red satin trimmed in gold sequins. Our "Fjordies" will melt people's hearts with their adorable red and white geather plumes atop their heads and lots of sparkly red and gold on their breastcollars and bridles. Thies will be my tenth year being involved with Fjords at the Midwest Horse Fair. Thousands of people come every year to see every breed of horse imaginable and to shop 'til they drop! As they say at Harrod's Department store in London, "If we don't have it, it doesn't exist!" Well, if you can't find the horse item you want at the horse fair, it just doesn't exist! In addition to the demos in the coliseum, there are clinics, classes and more deomnstrations in the exhibition hall and two other arenas. For a complete schedule, visit midwesthorsefair.com This fair gets bigger every year and I can tell you that our Fjords attract a lot of attention! To my surprise, I have had both children and adults return each year and remember my horse's name! I have even had people staop me on trails and ask me "Isn't that Jock from the horse fair?" I think the reason they remember our Fjords is due to this breed's wonderful disposition. Our stall doors remain open to welcom fairgoers in to get "up close and personal" with our horses. The kids giggle with glee as we place them up on our horses' wide, comfy backs. These are encounters that young and old do not forget. I am proud and very grateful to be blessed with owning such a special creature and I love sharing this experience with others. I hope to see you there this year. You will be glad you came! -> Top
MWFHC Winter Meeting and Clinic Dan Nauman summed it up when he said...."I have one word to say about the MWFHC clinics and auctions.....WOW!!!!" Dan also said," The Fjord Horse has had a terrific effect on you folks and though small, the MWFHC has thus far proven to be an extra special organization." Dan is correct, we have a wonderful organization made up of caring individuals, who love their Fjords, share their knowledge and skills and are always eager to learn more.
Friday nights social hour was a great time to renew old friendship and meet many new members. Very nice blue T-shirts, logo designed by Pat Holland, were sold for the Blue Earth 20th year celebration. Saturday morning started with our business meeting and Karin Peterson proceeded in her friendly efficient manner to get all agenda items covered in record time. The Blue Earth Show and La Crosse Evaluation both seem very organized and ready to go. Check out details on http://mwfhc.org We them proceeded to the Minnesota Equestrian Center. Our clinicians, Wes Licht and John Gurtner, did an excellent job of starting their programs with the basics and continuing to higher levels - there was something for everyone to see and learn. A big thank you to those who brought horses for demonstration and hands on participation: Bob & Therine Gudknecht and family brought Ashwood Birger & SCF Reinhart; Michael Jehlicka and Helen Schadler with Wood's Lola; Linda Syverson-Kerr with Spruce Hill Marcus and Odden's Norske Wood Sunniva; and Phillip Odden and Else Bigton with Smedsmo Graen, Odden's Bjarne and two youngsters. Wes started the driving portion of the clinic with the arena filled with many obstacles and the horses just in halters. He wanted to allow the horses a time to acclimate to the new surroundings and the audience. The horses were soon walking over ground poles, blue water-looking tarps, thru L's and cones, around barrels, putting letters in the mail box, etc. Wes reminded the participants to stand and lead their horses with a loose line. Holding tight makes the horse want to pull against you. As the morning progressed the horses were in driving harness and were ground driven through the obstacles. This soon turned to competition and the obstacles were assigned points and a ground driven gamblers choice was in full action. It was fun to watch and cheer them on as Linda won with the most points. During lunch several had the opportunity to try the hands on ground driven courses. After lunch as Marcus and the pair of Birger and Reinhart were harnessed and put to the carts, the audience was invited into the arena for an up close and personal look at harnessing and questions were answered. What a great learning experience!!!!! Wes showed the steps he takes to introduce the horse to the cart. When horse is firstput to the cart a header should walk alongside the horse with a long line to assure a safe and successful learning experience. The rest of the afternoon was spent learning and improving driving techniques. Cones and Gamblers Choice were again part of the competition. The competition at Blue Earth will really be tough this year if we can put all this information to use! Thanks Wes! Sunday morning, with 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground, John Gurtner started the program with a Showmanship Class. Many were interested in the fine details of standing the horse properly and moving so as to not interfere with the judges view. Once again there was lots of hands-on participation and competition will be tough at Blue Earth. Bob Gutknecht and family supervised the many trying their hand at the log skid thru cones. They not only did singles but pairs as well and the majority were women. Several husbands were shocked to see their wives out there competing. They were preparing for the first-ever women's only Blue Earth Log Skid Class. At the other end of the arena, John Gurtner was explaining proper techniques for lunging a horse and giving details on bending a horse, turning on the forehand and haunches. He had lots of helpful comments for the riders. Thanks John! We finished at 12:30 with everyone agreeing they learned lots and loved the hands-on. We are looking for your suggestions for the 2006 winter clinic. What would you like to see and any suggestions for clinicians? I had requests for contact info for the clinicians: Wes Licht (608)838-8178, John Gurtner (715)468-2780. Minnesota Equestrian Center -- We are lucky to have a facility of this quality within a few hours of the majority of our membership. The center has a heated indoor arena 100x210, over 300 stalls, an outdoor arena 120x240, a smaller outdoor - all with outstanding footing, 8 wash racks, a concession stand and much more. Check it out at http://minnesotaequestrian.com
It Takes a Village to Raise a Child... We all have heard that saying - it also takes a whole bunch of people to put a horse show together. The Midwest Fjord Horse Club, Blue Earth Show Committee has continued to work through out the year and will continue to fine tune and organize the event this July - our 20th Celebration of the Blue Earth Show. This is not a one man show. At the winter meeting in Winona I tried to convey how difficult it is put together an event for the wide variety of members we have in the MWFHC and NFHR. I have a great group of MWFHC members that are working together from a variety of backgrounds to help make this years show truly a celebration of not only our 20th year, but a celebration of what MWFHC is all about. Once you have received your final show packet in May, please look the schedule over, if you have any free time to help please contact one of the below members or myself to volunteer. We need set up people, ring stewards, announcers, gate and ribbon people. We do not expect all of your time during the entire show, but if you can give us a few hours here and there it will be a great help. The following people head the individual divisions:
Contact me, Pat Holland, at 815-591-3658 or pholland@internetni.com if you can ring steward, gate keep, hand out ribbons, or be a safety delegate. The show will start each day at 8:00 AM. We need to stay on schedule as close as we can, especially Tuesday to give time for the demo and celebration event. Patti Jo is working hard putting the celebration and demo together, contacting exhibitors, coordinating the time slots and the music. We also will be honoring those pivotal people who started the Blue Earth Show and have kept it going over the years, as well as a few special "friends". I have already been contacted by NFHR members from both coasts and Canada regarding our show & celebration and its only February! And our NFHR President, Neil Sorum will be coming as well. Sponsorship has been secured from Fiskars Scissors and I'm in the working stages of sponsorship from Seneca Foods (Green Giant Brand), the Super 8 Motel, AmericInn and Country Kitchen in Blue Earth as well as the Sons of Norway organization and Lake County Animal Nutrition. Commemerative T-Shirts with the 20th Anniversary logo are for sale and new trophies will be awarded with the 20th Anniversary logo in full color on porcelain plates, each plate will be hand printed with each class title. A Henning wood carving has been donated to the club by Guy and Martha Martin to be awarded and Linda Lottie and Kristin Lee are donating t-shirts or sweatshirts to all 1st place winners of each youth class. We are offering a few new classes this year, tweaking other classes and the schedule has changed due to the Tuesday evening celebration event. Some of these changes include a Ladies Log Skid, an In Hand Trail Class for horses two and under and a Walk/Trot Trail Class. We've brought back the Adult Equitation Class and added a new game class. Improvements are being made to the show grounds with a warm up area, new sound system and a tent for stalls near the old barn. The Fair Board is in the process of designing an exhibitor pin, which will be given out to all exhibitors in recognition of our 20th year in Blue Earth. The final show schedule, class descriptions, rules and overall program will be in the mail by the middle of May. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. Evenings are the best, but if you call during the day and leave a message I will return your call. I try to answer my email within 24 hours. Contact Pat Holland, 815-591-3658, pholland@internetni.com We have a lot of new things this year dovetailed with the great old atmosphere of the traditional Blue Earth show - mark your calendars for July 25, 26 and 27, 2005! -> Top
Here Comes the Bride....Norwegian Style The MWFHC 20th anniversary celebration at the Blue Earth Show will include a Norwegian Wedding Procession. This colorful event is slated to take place at the start of the celebration ceremony, Tuesday evening, July 26 at 6:30 p.m. First a bit of history... Traditionally, in districts on the West Coast of Norway, the bride and groom were escorted to the church by a procession. Often leading the procession would be one or several fiddlers. Behind the fiddlers would come the preacher dressed in Norwegian preachers vestments.
Then came the bride and groom either seated in a carriage or riding horses. The bride wears a special crown and the carts are often decorated with flowers. And behind the guests riding in carts would be guests riding horses and then guests on foot, marching two by two. Since the Norwegian Fjord Horse was the most common horse on the West Coast of Norway, it was most often used in these processions. You may have seen the wedding procession depicted by the famous Norwegian carver Henning. There are also several paintings featuring this festive march among the celebrated folk arts of Norway. The traditional Norwegian festive clothing is called a bunad (pronounced boo-nod). These are formal and very colorful multi layered garments often made of wool and richly embroidered. Each district in Norway has its own bunad and very strict rules govern the colors of cloth, embroidery and appropriate silver jelwry. Men also wear bunads that vary from one district to the next. In this country it is quite common that Norwegian Americans have purchased or inherited bunads that reflect their cultural heritage. Other Scandinavian countries have colorful traditional clothing including the Swedish and Icelandic people as well as the Danes and Finns. How you can be involved... The plan is to gather the procession behind the barn at Blue Earth and proceed north towards the entry to the fairgrounds then east in front of the flagpoles to the next road and then south to the arena. All those with authentic bunads from the Scandinavian countries will be towards the front of the procession. If you want to participate and do not have a bunad, we need headers for the horses. These people will be dressed in black pants or skirts and white shirts with black vests, black shoes. A black hat would be nice too. Those who have authentic bunads and are not mounted or riding in a cart or carriage can walk directly behind two by two. If you have other national dress or clothing reflecting your national heritage you are welcome to march in the procession as well. This would include those with the informal red vests often worn at Sons of Norway meetings. We hope this colorful procession, celebrating the Norwegian Fjord Horse and the traditions of the mother country of the Fjord, will serve as a festive and approriate kick off to the 20th Annual Blue Earth Fjord Horse show. Contact Phillip Odden, procession coordinator, if you have any questions and would like to participate. Call 715-468-2780 or email NWW@Norskwoodworks.com
Hands-On Driving Clinic The Dairyland Driving Club is hosting its annual Hands-On Safety Driving Clinic on Saturday, May 7, 2005, at Hickory Knoll Farm, in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. The clinic focuses on learning to drive and related safety topics. Talks include: harness selection and care, selecting a safe vehicle, how to fit the vehicle to your equine, and starting a driving horse. Participants also get experience driving a single or pair. Horses and vehicles provided by members of DDC. This clinic provides an excellent overview for persons just learning to drive and also is a great refresher for more experienced whips. For more information and registration forms, please contact Donna Thomas at 608-835-8549 or stablewoman@direcway.com
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