In ”the Flock”, SVT’s new tv series made by Agnes-Lo Åkerlind and Clara Mannheimer, examines the presenter Sanna Lundell, the relationship between man and horse.
” this is a dream project. I knew immediately that I wanted to do this program when I was asked, I have been trying to sell in a similar format in the past but never succeeded, so I felt really ”finally”, says Sanna Lundell to DN.
since she was five years old. It started with the fact that she ”nagged hole in the head” at their parents, ” she says, about to start at a riding-school. The inspiration came from Astrid Lindgren’s books, where almost every main character had a ”magical relationship with horses”.
” One of my earliest memories is such a strong desire to be able to sit on a horse and gallop over a meadow. To ride at a riding-school was, well, not really fulfilling the dream, but…
at the same time, ” says Sanna Lundell that she is only in recent years have understood why she learned to love being in the stables.
– the Equestrian is a highly kvinnosport. Ninety per cent of all members in the Swedish equestrian Federation are women. It is virtually secessionist rooms, which means that you may be at peace for the male structures, both work in traditionally male expression – to set limits, to lead, to dare, to be clear, everything that is not of desirable female traits. When it roars, and is big in the rest of society you get to hear that one is a crazy witch, but in a stall should be large, clear and honest.
to speak up and claim its place – and to rely on their intuition.
” the Horses are here and now, one hundred percent, and you are forced to be in the here and now with them. It is not possible to sit and think of any crap to do about three hours – it is mindfulness, absolutely free.
the first of The ”Flock”-the section of the four, which premieres on BBC1 and on SVT Play on april 4, is about the him hästtränaren Thomas Smittle, as in the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota tames wild mustangs and learn the local vulnerable young people to ride.
When recording in reservation in South Dakota took place was True Lundell at home in Sweden with their newborn children. She says she is still affected deeply by the content of the section.
– It is about a group of people who have not had it so easy, if you say so. They belong to one of the first tribes who began to use the horse, and that created success along with it. The horse has been an important culture for them – both as weapons, as a way to assimilate much larger areas of land, and as a spiritual animal. Thomas Smittle, who we meet, showing that the horse has healing properties for humans. And that he himself is a shining example of it.
”this is a dream project. I knew immediately that I wanted to do this program when I was asked.” Photo: Ulrika Malm /SVT
that being close to horses can provide a ripple effect in the other life, something that is also implied in the program.
” We get to follow a guy who initially is very afraid of horses, and overcoming the fear. Horses can build self-esteem, it creates a huge force to feel that you can ride on a horse. The horse is also a good tool to learn about morals and ethics, how we should be towards each other – they are deeply empathetic to animals, they do not seek conflict at all, and are able to see and reflect, ” she says.
Together with Agnes-Lo Åkerlind and Clara Mannheimer, she has been looking up the people and horses that are ”Herd” is all about. In the three remaining sections, an ”hästarkeolog” reinvention of the academic ridkonsten as it looked during the renaissance, visits an equestrian centre in London offering horse riding lessons for marginalised young people, and greeting the Swedish Emelie Cajsdotter working as djurkommunikatör at the royal mews in Jordan.
“We wanted to make this program for everyone who loves horses – we are all three hästtjejer – but also see to it that it is interesting for everyone,” says Sanna Lundell.
extras in the form of kvartslånga episodes where Sanna Lundell test the methods that the participants in the ”Flock”. In the first section of ”the Flock special” she’ll get used to his young horses at the halter and the saddle with the help of hästtämjningsläran natural horsemanship. She says in the program that she is in periods have been afraid of horses, but when I ask her she says:
– It is not the horses ‘ fault, really, it is, in fact, that I am afraid of people. I assume that people will hurt me. Of course, it is instinctively natural to be afraid of a very large animal, but as you get to know the horse’s essence becoming less and less afraid.
It is like getting to know a man, ” she says.
– For a start, you can be pretty cautious, but as you get to know each other to clear the concerns. My fear has come and gone, sometimes lack confidence when you go into the hill or gets a spark, and then you get to start building it up again. Everyone who rides know it – up in the saddle again, and quickly, so that you hardly have time to think.