For you horse lovers!!!!

Wow, the weather is really starting to change here- It has not been above about -3 Celsius this past week during the day, and as cold as -15 at night! All over there is a thin powdery layer of sleet/ snow that has been here this whole time, and so all the roads a icy and slick, but people still drive as usual. It is also Dark quite a bit of the time now. When I get to school at about eight, I can watch the end of sunrise from the cafe, and when I get off the bus at about 4, I have about 30 minutes before dark! This is quite hard to get used to, especially since I like to spend so much time outside. Now three days a week I take the bus from the city, so I have a freezing cold bike ride every Mon, weds, and Thurs! I am such a wimp that I have deflated my tires a bit, so I have to pedal twice as hard and I can get warm fast! I think my best investment here so far has been a pair of impossibly warm gloves- I would not survive the mornings without them!
Last Thursday was an interesting day for me- I didn't have class until noon, since I have Spanish and everyone else in my class has German, So I walked from my school to the large city nearby (maybe about 4 miles, which is nothing anymore!) to look around and see if there was anything going on (there is usually a concert or music festival somewhere, not to mention there are about 10 malls!). Well I ran into three lost American kids my age, who were staying in Europe, and were in Norway for the weekend. We started talking, and I ended up taking them around the city, showing them all the places I thought were really cool. It was a lot of fun I think, because I felt like a native. It was very strange for me to speak so much English at once, and to be able to understand a conversation completely, and It was funny because I kept forgetting the English words, and saying sentences like in Norwegian. We had lunch and then I had to take a bus to get to class on time, but it was definitely fun, mostly because I am getting a bit homesick now, and it was nice to have that.
Today was a wonderful day also- this morning I was bored to tears because I hadn't made any plans, so I got on my bike and went out for a while. Now you know how if a smoker suddenly stops, they get to be quite strange and unpleasant? Well I have been a bit like this without horses- Not unpleasant though, just not to sure what to do with myself. So today I went by this really pleasant looking stable with about seven horses or so, and on a whim I pulled over, knocked on the door, and asked if I could do something- anything- with a horse. The lady there told me to talk to the man in the barn, so I went in and asked him the same question. He smiled and said "will you ride?" I about died right there, because I just wanted to touch a horse again, I didn't even hope to ride one! I said that yes, I thought that would be just fine. But I had no idea what I was in for! First, he let me borrow these really cool sort of riding coveralls, and really strange helmet. Then he sent me out to catch what was probably the tallest horse I have ever seen. She was built like a TB, but even more leggy and narrow then most, and she was five years old and quite nervous. The man- His Name is Mortin, and He is really cool- just gave me her tack and hitched up another two year old to a two wheeled cart. Now my first clue should have been the fact that it was a racing cart, and the second clue would have been the fact that his helmet had Racing goggles, but I still didn't know what I was in for. Well he led the way down the road and I just let my horse follow his, and then we turned on this really long sand path. It was coated in about 4 inches of ice and snow, and all up and down these hills I might not have tempted on Candy. He turned around and said "hold on really tight" TO WHAT??? it was an English saddle! Then he took off, and my horse right behind him. It was the fastest I think I have ever gone on a horse- and get this- It was trotting! Indeed, i had unknowingly mounted a trotting horse sporting spiked shoes, and all I could do was try not to fall off. We just went and went, and it wasn't until about the first ten minutes that I started to get used to it and enjoy it. The gait is so rough I couldn't sit it, and when I defiantly couldn't post without my horse freaking out, so I just stood up. I can't really describe how cool it was, but maybe if you have seen the racing on TV, you can imagine what it was like to RIDE one. we went for a loop about 15kilometers around an iced over lake, and it was so much fun! When we got back to the barn I helped him line drive a two year old, and then walked with another one while he put the cart behind him for the first time. The best part is- He said I can come and ride anytime I want!!!!!So now I feel a million times better knowing that I can get on a horse whenever I feel like it!