Hi from Sweden!

[Radinka]

Hello everyone! Monika from Sweden here! I must say the Internet IS a fabulous source of enjoyment and information! :-)

The riding tradition in Sweden spells E n g l i s h and sources of Western inspiration are a bit hard to come by. Imagine my joy when I discovered this site, along with these forums! Not only "Western", but "Western" the old California Vaquero-way. Great! And for a perfectionist-nerd as myself I was immediately hooked when I first herd about the finesse and refinement that went into the art of making a true bridle horse.

So far my string consists of ONE pony, a 4 y o Russian (!) Bashkir mare, but I am hoping to add to it in the future. We are currently struggling with the exceptionally bad winter here. It is ice. Everywhere!

Well folks, that's a little bit about us, Radinka and I, some 300 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Hoping to see you around, and please bear with me and my "newbie" questions!

All the best!
Radinka & Monika

[Excess]

Hello Monika and welcome to the board! Its nice to have people from all over the world! We have some scattered throughout.

I do think that Leslie Desmond lives in Sweden. Have you taken any clinics from her? Does she have any?

[Radinka]

Hi Excess!
...and thanx for the warm welcome!

Yes, Leslie D does clinics across Sweden, unfortunately, I have not attended one yet, but I hope I will be able to in the future! At a quick glance, she is involved in three events in Sweden this year, one "Wilderness Adventure Ride", one clinic and one very interesting event coming up this summer called "Open Mind Clinic" where Leslie together with Colorado-based John Moore, Portuguese (?) Júlio Borba (classical dressage including the airs above the ground) and Englishman Perry Wood will participate in a four-instructor, four-ring clinic the last weekend in July.

All the best
Monika

[fantasia]

Wecome Radinka. What a "small" world we live in! I'm in S. Florida- not quite as close to the equator as you are to the arctic circle. Your English is perfect- even have the slang down pat. It's wonderful that Vacquero ways are appreciated in the frozen tundra. Any flat hats up there yet? You'll have to get yourself one and spread the word. There are all sorts of folks here- we're all learning from our horses and from each other. Looking forward to your posts. BTW, I very much enjoyed a visit to Stockholm several years ago. Beautiful people and beautiful country.

[SarahandSam]

Welcome! I'm Sarah and I have a 5-year-old quarter pony named Samwise, or Sam.

My husband's Swedish, but only in heritage. It's one of the countries we'd most like to live in someday...

Hope you enjoy the boards!

[FrancaV]

Welcome, Monika! How fun to have a member in Sweden who appreciates the beauty of the Bridle Horse. I imagine that glimpses of horses in western tack in Sweden are few and far between. Well, you will find plenty of people with similar interests here, and if you browse around a bit you may also spot some nice photos of good horses, good gear, and authentic western scenery. :) Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures with Radinka!

[Radinka]

Hi fantasia!
...and thanx for the kind words on my English! <Blush!> I do like to communicate and I think that a part of my fascination of horses and the way I try to "talk" to them stems from this.

Hehehe... I do believe the flat hats are, shall we say... a RARE species around here! I do love to have one in the future. In the meantime my Ole Bailey just will have to do! ;-)

Sounds good with a good mix of all kinds of people! You get a whole lot better dynamics if there are people with different backgrounds, viewpoints etc. Just as long as you are respected!

It seems like my IRL-horse life is shaping itself towards a nice mix as well: today a new horse arrived at the place where I have Radinka boarded, a 5 y o TB mare. She is about one year off the racecourse and her rider is going to re-educate her to show jumping. This is great, now we are one show jumper, one classic dressage (de la Guèrniere, Pluvinel and those guys), about two who are in the harness racing business, one unstarted filly and then me! :-)

See you around!
Monika

[Radinka]

Hello Sarah!
Ooo... Samwise... As in Samwise Gamgee (I think... Frodo's friend? In The Lord of the Rings?)

I'm sure I will enjoy the boards, I have just discovered that Radinka's saddle is ILL fitting <Sigh!>, so I'm saving up for a saddle-discussion!

Sounds great that you'd like to live in Sweden! Shall we start with a small glossary? ;-)

horse -häst [hest]
saddle -sadel [saadel]
(to) ride - (att) rida [ath reada]
vaquero -vaquero [vakero]
;-)

If you'd like some info on Sweden that you might think I can assist with, do not hesitate to ask me! I'll help you the best I can!


All the best!
Monika

[Radinka]

FrancaV, thank you for your warm welcome!
Your assumptions are quite right. There are not many, shall we say differentiated, western "styles" over here. Usually, it all gets kind of heaped together.

As I mentioned before, I have discovered that Radinkas saddle is ILL fitting, so I have to look for another one. I begun my search on the Internet (surpri-ise!!!) and so, I discovered the gazillion different types of western saddles. Wow. Actually, before this I did not know that there are western saddles without swells. Imagine that. This, of course due to that every single western saddle I have seen here (I think) had a swell. Something like the circular proof of "all swans are white", don't you think? :-)

Again, a warm thanks to you all for the warm welcome. See you around!!!

Monika

Ah, and if you would like to see what Radinka looks like, go to http://web.telia.com/~u85510263/, a small homepage with pictures of Radinka. Sadly badly updated, and do click on the "På Svenska" link, as the English version is not up and running. When you're in, click on "Fotografier" (Photos). Here the links are chronologically ordered, bottom line, the rightmost link says "Two weeks" and top line, the leftmost link says "September 2006" and so the pictures spans 2 weeks old-2,5 y o.

[FrancaV]

Radinka is very pretty! :) I do love mares....