FEIF Young Leaders event,
Wenngarn, SE 28-30 October 2016
Over the weekend 23 young people from AT, BE, DE, DK, IS, LU, NL, NO SE came together for the first FEIF Young Leaders training event. The seminar took place in an experimental village, in the grounds of one of Sweden's oldest castles. The participants shared two large flats, and Jannike Berkvist, Karen Woodrow, and myself stayed in a hotel next door. Apart from the first evening, all meals were provided in various locations at the venue.
Fri evening started with a team building exercise, which took the form of the participants cooking tacos together. We provided them with the raw ingredients, but left the rest to them, working in self-selected teams. One of the challenges was also to set the table (and to find enough seating...). All in all this worked well, and resulted in lots of laughter, dosed with a little frustration, and mellowed with some ingenuity - not to mention a fun and very tasty meal.
Fri evening started with a team building exercise, which took the form of the participants cooking tacos together. We provided them with the raw ingredients, but left the rest to them, working in self-selected teams. One of the challenges was also to set the table (and to find enough seating...). All in all this worked well, and resulted in lots of laughter, dosed with a little frustration, and mellowed with some ingenuity - not to mention a fun and very tasty meal.
Sat morning started with a presentation by Ulrika Backan from Wangen (university college offering courses and a degree (?) in equestrianism, including a specific programme on Icelandics horse riding.) We learnt that not only does Sweden have a college quite similar to Hólar, but SIF has also been offering leadership training for young people at various levels for a number of years now. That was quite an eye opener for all.
After lunch Olle Larson, the builder and entrepreneur who had conceived the idea of our venue Wenngarn, guided us through his social project, which - in short - turned a disused penal institution for alcoholics and other social outsiders into a thriving village with a mixture of ca 300 traditional and modern houses, a bakery, a brewery and a distillery (I kid you not!) a small school, a gym, a large hall, various cafes, and more. At the centre is the ancient castle, which forms the heart piece of the park, and the social fabric of the village. The tour was interesting, and after the morning's lecture, it was very good to stretch our legs, and to enjoy a beautiful autumn day. But most importantly, meeting a very successful and relatively modest man, who had a vision and followed his dream to create this model village building on the past and for the future, this was inspirational, and struck at the core of our topic.
After lunch Olle Larson, the builder and entrepreneur who had conceived the idea of our venue Wenngarn, guided us through his social project, which - in short - turned a disused penal institution for alcoholics and other social outsiders into a thriving village with a mixture of ca 300 traditional and modern houses, a bakery, a brewery and a distillery (I kid you not!) a small school, a gym, a large hall, various cafes, and more. At the centre is the ancient castle, which forms the heart piece of the park, and the social fabric of the village. The tour was interesting, and after the morning's lecture, it was very good to stretch our legs, and to enjoy a beautiful autumn day. But most importantly, meeting a very successful and relatively modest man, who had a vision and followed his dream to create this model village building on the past and for the future, this was inspirational, and struck at the core of our topic.
In the afternoon Karen Woodrow, level 3 trainer from Iceland, held very stimulating and entertaining workshop. Karen recently completed a Master thesis from Háskoli Íslands on the topic " What can the project leader learn from horse trainers?" The fact that for the thesis she had interviewed and used the responses of Diddi, Mette, Tóti, and Benni knitted together the leadership topic with our passion for the horse, and a few hands-on group exercises invited all participants to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as accommodating those of others. The afternoon passed all too quickly, and soon it was time to party. Olle had kindly invited all to join in the annual autumn party, live band and all...
On Sunday morning adventurer and TV host Musse Hasselval introduced us to his greatest passion: Ruffie, a sort of Europeanised martial art. The whole group engaged in a few exercises, which would later lead to wrestling. The interesting part was that most of these had to be done in pairs, and participants soon had to measure their strength and agility against a friend. Needless to say, most of that ended in helpless laughter. Musse then went on to share some adventures of his life, not least riding the Mongolian Derby, and his thoughts and experiences on what feeds motivation and drive in the individual.
After this roller coaster ride with a charismatic and very honest, exceptional man, we finished the seminar with a presentation by world champion and feather prize winner Thorvaldur Árnason, who quietly demonstrated how his scientific background serves in the optimal training of the human sprinter, as well as the pace horse, of course. Amongst other things he spoke about how to avoid the build up of lactic acid in the muscles, but unfortunately – after the mornings exercises - that measured advice came too late for most of us…arms, legs, core, I can feel it all.
On Sunday morning adventurer and TV host Musse Hasselval introduced us to his greatest passion: Ruffie, a sort of Europeanised martial art. The whole group engaged in a few exercises, which would later lead to wrestling. The interesting part was that most of these had to be done in pairs, and participants soon had to measure their strength and agility against a friend. Needless to say, most of that ended in helpless laughter. Musse then went on to share some adventures of his life, not least riding the Mongolian Derby, and his thoughts and experiences on what feeds motivation and drive in the individual.
After this roller coaster ride with a charismatic and very honest, exceptional man, we finished the seminar with a presentation by world champion and feather prize winner Thorvaldur Árnason, who quietly demonstrated how his scientific background serves in the optimal training of the human sprinter, as well as the pace horse, of course. Amongst other things he spoke about how to avoid the build up of lactic acid in the muscles, but unfortunately – after the mornings exercises - that measured advice came too late for most of us…arms, legs, core, I can feel it all.
By way of feedback, it was clear, that there is a demand for this type of event, all were keen to come back, and some were asking if participation could lead to a certificate. Three ideas come from that: (a) we will run a similar event again next autumn;(b) I wonder if we should not also offer something like that for adults? Leadership “training” is only one aspect. The other is networking, and cementing friendship, and I think that we can never have too much of that: FEIF in particular and the Icelandic horse world in general, and (c) Karen and I are looking into the possibility of offering some form of online modules and training events on leadership. First and foremost this should serve to create a form of continuity between seminars. But over and above that it will provide some income to individuals, and will hopefully signify our first steps into the world of virtual learning.
All in all, great learning experience, very rewarding working with this age group, and my heartfelt thanks to Jannike Bergkvist who pulled it all together.
GMS, 31 October 2016