‘Dashing through the snow…on a 12-dog open sleigh…’ To be perfectly candid, it had been on my wish list for years to see the aurora borealis or Northern Lights and that was the sole plan when I booked my trip to Sweden. While I was certainly intrigued by the idea of a husky sledge ride, it wasn’t in the scheme of things I’d set for myself to do.
Until, that is, I happened to come across Husky Home purely by chance, while searching for a good Northern Lights tour operator. It’s managed by Ylva Forssen and what caught my attention was that she’s clearly very concerned about animal welfare, to the extent that she actually practices meditation with her dogs to keep them calm and controlled. Doggy meditation! This was something I’d absolutely got to see for myself, so I got in touch with the very affable Ylva and booked a tour with her.
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Accordingly, I flew to Stockholm and stayed there the night, taking in some sights of the city. The next day, I flew to Kiruna, in the north of Sweden. I was staying at the SPiS Hostel (absolutely superb, by the way; can’t recommend it enough!) from where Ylva’s guide, the talkative and friendly Linda, picked me up at 6PM on the dot. There were a couple of other women staying at the hostel, who joined me on the tour.
Linda first drove us to a neighbouring place, where the snowsuits, gloves and boots are stored. (Bear in mind that Husky Home is possibly the only tour company that provides snow boots as well.) This was a more hilarious exercise than it sounds because the snow suits weighed what felt like a ton; it wasn’t easy keeping one’s balance as we hopped around trying to fit in one leg/arm after the other; indeed, Linda had to zip me up!
She also recommended that we wear boots a size larger than our usual size because the toes must have room to wiggle around, or else there’s the danger of frostbite – did I mention we were at minus seven degrees on this night?!
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Suited, booted and now quite sobered up, we then drove to Laukkuluspa, a further 40 minutes away, which is where the Husky Home camp is. There, Ylva was waiting to welcome us, all smiles. Ylva wasn’t always a husky owner; she used to be the Communications Officer at the iron mine in Kiruna.
(Note: Due to the frequent dynamite blastings at the mine, the earth’s fault lines have shifted, making it dangerous for people to continue living around the mine. Hence, the entire Old City of Kiruna is being either demolished or dismantled; in the case of the latter, all the buildings, including the church, are being structurally relocated to the New City. Homeowners were given the options of accepting a sum of money; having their houses similarly relocated; or given new accommodation. The mine owners are bearing the entire costs.)
However, she loved the outdoors as well as dogs in equal measure and, in fact, initially trained huskies for other companies. Her husband already owned a cabin in these parts since the 80’s, so they rented the rest of the land from the government.
Nine years ago, she decided to start Husky Home along with her husband and today, she has 50-dogs. All told, her camp covers 20,000-sqm. According to Swedish law, the dog pens must be at least 24-sqm; the biggest at Ylva’s camp is 1,000-sqm.
As I mentioned at the beginning, what drew me to Husky Home was the care and attention that Ylva lavishes on her dogs. She tries to find a group dynamic among them and teams them accordingly. She first bade us walk around the huskies so that they could see, sniff and get comfortable around us.
Dogs – as is their wont – will usually bark around unfamiliar people, but Ylva trains them from when they are puppies to listen to her commands as well as her emotions and so these huskies were surprisingly docile. She remains calm around visitors and the dogs follow suit, showing no undue excitement.
Ylva practises simple meditation tactics on them, for instance, she doesn’t slip on the harness if a dog shows signs of stress. She waits patiently until the dog inclines its head towards the harness; “If that doesn’t happen, if the dog turns its head away, I know it isn’t ready for the run that particular day and so I choose another husky instead”, she says, matter-of-factly.
She talks about them as if they were human: “If I sense low energy, I try to figure out the problem – did they run too much, are they tired, are they in heat. For instance, my first dog, Gry, used to be the lead dog always, but when I took her for a ride up the mountains recently, she’s indicated she doesn’t want that anymore, so one of her litter is now the lead. The dogs should have the possibility to say ‘no’ if they want to”, Ylva says softly, but firmly.
Each dog also gets a massage after a run. Since it was a really cold night, with some icy winds blowing, I ask her if the huskies ever get cold and Ylva shows me how to brush back the top fur layer which is rough to the touch; beneath that, is a much thicker and softer coat of fur that keeps the dogs warm.
The chosen huskies are waiting impassively, lying around in the snow, but one can tell they’re alert. As Linda starts slipping on harnesses, however, it’s their friends who start howling in protest at being left behind, but our team ignores them (rather impressive, that!) and stand up obediently, noses quivering at the thought of being off soon.
While some companies organise tours with six or eight huskies, Ylva always uses twelve, so that there is no strain on the dogs. Moreover, the huskies are given at least two hours of rest between tours and therefore, Ylva doesn’t take more than three groups a day; it’s more common for her to organise only one ride per day.
While we have chosen to go with Linda steering the sled, yes, it is quite possible for tourists to drive their own dogsleds as well (Ylva prefers this for day tours, not the nights), but they follow the lead sled which is driven by one of the guides. The day tours last for 1.45hours, while the night tours are an hour long, covering 10-kilometres.
And now to the sled. We looked at the contraption in some fascination and no doubt the same thought crossed all our minds – how were three of us going to fit on this? It’s a narrow wooden sled covered with reindeer skin and only one chair seat at the back; everybody clutches on to each other for dear life, while the guide stands at the back. If we thought we were going to be frozen, we needed to spare a thought for poor Linda!
Reminding us to make sure our feet were firmly on the strip of wood at the edges of the sled, Linda gathered the reins, all twelve huskies stood to attention, she clicked her tongue and gave a soft command – and off we went, skittering through the snow.
It was a thoroughly exhilarating, almost indescribable experience,…bear in mind that it was snowing in real time and so, despite the chill wind striking my face and the continually falling snow that made my muffler quite wet, it was surreal speeding over a frozen river and vast tracts of utterly uninhabited land and only Linda’s muted commands to the dogs breaking the absolute stillness of the night. It felt to me almost as though we were the first humans to traverse this land; that no one had been here before us.
What would have made the night even more bewitching would have been to see the Northern Lights as we sped across this pristine white landscape but, never mind – it was snowing!
The snow was powdery soft to the touch and so insidious…now I could visualise what I had hitherto only read in books before, of how the snow can be gentle yet relentlessly bury someone alive; of how easy it is to get disoriented and lost in all that absolute whiteness.
Occasionally, Linda used the powerful floodlights; she explained to us that she preferred the huskies follow their sense of direction and keen eyesight, but sometimes, when she felt it was risky, she used the lights so that no harm befell them. She also stopped the sledge a couple of times so that we could change position and this way, each person got to sit in the front if they wished.
We returned to camp rather silent, filled with the magic of the night, but – there was work to be done. The huskies needed their dinner! They’re usually given snacks and water half an hour before a tour, but once they return, they’re fed immediately. Ylva had the bowls of food ready and waiting for us and we placed the slop before each dog – a mixture of raw pork, beef and salmon, mixed with kibble and water.
Ylva explained that huskies need a lot of water, however, it can’t just be left out for them to lap at as it freezes quickly, therefore, it’s also mixed in with their dinner. In summer, of course, they’re able to drink water by itself. For fifty dogs, she needs 20 kg of meat per day. She has huge freezers, not only for the dog food but also her own family’s food, as Kiruna is quite far away and sometimes, the roads are impassable, even though the authorities are very good at clearing the snow and keeping the roads useable.
After the huskies, it’s our turn! Ylva leads us to a traditional Sami tepee where a warm fire’s on and offers us cups of hot chocolate and cookies. As we huddle around the fire, she speaks about her undying love for animal welfare. “I think everybody can do a better job, although animal welfare is improving because people, even the visitors, are becoming more and more aware”.
Gry, her first husky, is undoubtedly her favourite. She’s had two litters of six pups each and all twelve are now part of the team. How many years can a husky run? I ask. “8-12 years”, says Ylva. “Then you run them less”.
And what happens after? “I find them a home when they decide to retire.
There are people who’d prefer an older, trained dog. I’m quite picky when it comes to finding them a home! Sometimes, I need to re-home younger dogs because I see they’re not happy or fitting in. So I need a more active, younger family for them”, she concludes.
As the night drew to an end on what can only be described (futilely, because no words can do justice to the feeling of awe), as a magical, incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, we put down our hot chocolate cups and prepared to wiggle out of the heavy snowsuits and into our own jackets.
Returning to the “real world” again felt rather bizarre and perhaps Ylva could sense exactly what I was feeling, as she smiled and bid me goodbye, telling me to return again when I could.
(HUSKY HOME, Tel: +46703502869, Email: info@huskyhome.se, Website: www.huskyhome.se)
