Virpi

I have always kept joking that I was actually born – in September 1980 – to love animals and nature. My mother, aunt, grandmother and, in fact, all the family have always been keen on picking berries and mushrooms as well as fishing. As a child, we didn’t attend nursery school, but we started taking part in daily chores as soon as we could walk. Obviously, older children also had to take care of the younger ones.

I liked spending time with cows already as a child, and my favourite chore in the summer time was to put them out to pasture and take them back into to the cowhouse for milking. Cats have also always been part of my life: we always had at least two cats at the farm.

When I was 12 years old, I became interested in horses and was allowed to start riding. A couple of years later I got interested even in trotting horses. I was carried away by equestrianism to such an extent that right after having finished the comprehensive school, I took up vocational training in horse care and management in Kiuruvesi. After having graduated from that training in 1998, I worked for a while in a small horse stable in Outokumpu.

However, I wanted to continue studying other subjects, so I attended a school of household management in Toivala and studied food manufacturing in Kuopio, completed in 2003. I worked in a fish processing plant and building site in Kuopio for some time.

After that, I became interested in restaurant business and started working in the entertainment center Hojo Hojo in Tuusniemi. I was doing all kinds of work there, except for selling alcohol, as I had promised to myself not ever doing that in my life. In winter 2007 I worked in a restaurant in Tahko skiing center. After that, I worked in a restaurant and horse stable in Alahärmä for about one year. I had been dreaming about working in Lapland already for some time. My dream came true in spring 2008, when I started working in a hotel in Saariselkä. I really fell in love with Lapland, so next spring I spent working in a ski restaurant in Ylläs ski center. Before moving to Ylläs, I had passed the alcohol passport test, so I had to break the promise I had made earlier on. In that spring, Icelandic horses were introduced into my life for the first time when I attended an Icelandic horse riding tour in Ylläs.

I continued working in Lapland in summer 2009. I worked in a pub in Nuorgam, and in the autumn, I worked in a hotel in Utsjoki.

Next three winters I spent in Levi working in a ski restaurant. Every summer I moved back to Kuopio working in different places and even took some time off.

In January 2012, I took up studies in Toivola to become an equine assisted Green Care nature guide. I finished my studies there in December 2014.

In January 2015, I took over a trail riding stable in Äkäslompolo, as the previous owners wanted to step down from this activity. I decided to rent the buildings, as I had already then a clear vision in my mind of moving back to my home farm. In addition to this entrepreneurship, I passed further vocational qualification first in entrepreneurship in 2021 and later, in 2024, in animal care.

Finally, in August of 2015, I moved back to Rantala farm. I had been planning this for several years, and I was really happy when I was finally able to make my dream come true.

Working in Lapland had already served as a good starting point for entrepreneurship, and it was exciting to start something brand new in Northern Savonia. I really needed a change in my life. I will certainly miss the great trail riding terrains in Lapland, as you won’t find anything equivalent elsewhere in Finland. Nature in Lapland really impressed me. I will also miss all the lovely friends I made in Lapland. Luckily, I can go back to all the memories and photo albums filled with photos from the time I spent in Ylläs.