Regal Sensation
Maury Lawson sold Regal Sensation to a family in Norway and he has made the newspaper. Pictured below is the article and below that is a translation of the article.
The Ranch between wild mountains
* Jens has five warmblood horses
* Imported a stallion from North Dakota
I have always liked riding horses, says Jens Skjerdal. And he is passionately interested in horses. The last ten years he has been raising warmblood, now he has four mare’s on his farm and recently he bought a fine stallion from North Dakota that he all ready uses in horse breeding.
A real ranch one thinks when you see Jens cross the nice front yard with the four legged boy in a rope, between high and wild mountains in beautiful Skjerdalen which has no road connections.
The four legged fellow has arrived to the farm!
I have always been into horses smiles Jens Skjerdal. He is the owner of the farm between the mountains where he lives out his great interest. Now he has bought the horse that he always has dreamed of.
a saddle on each side of the front door, one Mexican and one American, gives a little taste. Inside you can see a lot of photoes on the wall, some bigger and some smaller. They tell at story about horses coming and also about horses who long ago has galloped into the sunset.
Interested in horses!
I have always been interested in horses, says Jens Skjerdal. Until 1979 he had a fjord horse on the roadless farm on the west side of the Hyefjord. The horse was used in the farm work. I like the fjord Horse, he says and says he was the last person in the area who used the fjord horse traditionally. But for decades horse races with faster and purer blood has been trotting around in Skjerdalen. When Jens puts on his cowboy hat and riding boots and swings himself in the saddle, those watching can get associations to the wild west. And in one way that is just what it is. It is not everyday strangers visit the valley, and few places are the mountains wilder or mightier. For many years I traveled to Ireland for trail riding. That is riding tours that lasts for several days. There I got to know Arab horses, Anglo Arabians and fullblood horses, tells Jens Skjerdal. Recently he could mark that it was 40 years since he imported the first Arabian mare to Skjerdalen from Sweden.
A living!
That was the start of a several year long breeding work few has heard about. The stallion he later bought was so popular that horse owners from far away traveled to Skjerdalen to breed their mares. Back in those days it was ok to travel here by the ferry, says Jens. Some delivered their mares in Skjerdalen where they could eat juicy gras with the stallion between waterfalls and dears. Sometimes we had 25 warm blood horses here with the stallion, says Jens, who once invited the Fjord horse organization to have their stallions in Skjerdalen. That did not happen, but the warm blood horses has made themselves at home in Skjerdalen and every summer they meet hikers on their way in or out from the valley.
This was in the 80s. Back then the income from the breeding work was the foundation of the farm. Later we have cut back, tells Jens. And these days the power plant is the main income on the farm.
From US
It is not always easy to bring a new horse, from the west coast of the US all the way to Norway and roadless Skjerdalen, Jens takes care of, says his wife Evelyn. It just takes some time. She think that her husband is a good administrator and is good at making things happen. In the stable we find the freshest example of this, Jens favorite horse; an Appaloosa stallion who is a mix of the horse race the Spanish conquerors brought with them to the new country and the mustang who is the American wild horse.
I have wanted to own such a horse for a long time says Jens, and now I have one. I found him through my connections in the horse environment on internet, says Jens who is an honorary member of the Society American Quarter Horse. The stallion is from Massachussets. He was quaranteed in Oklahoma and was airborn to Schiphol in Holland before arriving Norway, further on to the east part of Norway and over the mountains to Lærdal where Jens picked up the horse who goes by the name Regal Sensation.
Since early April the stallion has been getting to know Skjerdalen. He has settled in just fine. He is kind and likes people, and not least good to the mares, Evelyn tells. In Skjerdalen they had four mares prior to the latest arrival. Fullblood Arabic, Anglo Arabian and English fullblood. All of them carrying a foal now. It is not just my horses Jens says. My son Daniel shares the same interest and is just as good with the animals as his father, Evelyn assures. And those who think the horses are just for show need to think again Evelyn says. I ride – every day, Jens says. In addition they are used when we have guest hunters here, both for riding but also for carrying the dears back home. The new foal soon to arrive, will be used on the farm.
For a long time.
When I used to do breeding for sale, it took a long time before I sold the first Anglo-Arabian in this county. Since then it has been more, but only a few know what went on here, Jens says. After the ferry and later on the public boat stopped their routes, it has become at lot quieter in Skjerdalen , Evelyns adds. With the mighty nature and the heritage area as a bonus, a lot of people still travels in the beautiful surroundings. We do not have the possibility to transport everyone, so now we tell them that Arne Eikenes in Hestenesøyra also can transport people. For the transport of vehicles, heavier things and animals they have retrieved their own little ferry. When winter is at it’s darkest and coldest Jens packs his suitcase to cultivate his interest for horses in warmer areas. In January each year I travel to Mexico. I stay there for three weeks and ride every day and all together op to 1200 km, but good horses are needed, Jens says, who has his fixed horse ranch also on the other side of the Atlantic ocean.
