Breeding and breed development of the Norwegian Fjord Horse

Abstract

It is one of the oldest breeds, and has a long recorded history of pure breeding with out crossbreeding from other sources. It is believed that the ancestors of the Fjord horse migrated to Norway and were domesticated over 3000 years ago. Archaeological excavations at Viking burial sites indicate the Fjord horse has been selectively bred for 2000 years. The Fjord horse, one of Norway’s native breeds, is also one of the world’s oldest and purest breeds. The general appearance of the Fjord horse shall be strongly built, hardy, well proportioned and athletic, a horse with great presence and charm. It has strong arched neck, good feet and compact, muscular body. It ranges from 135 to 150 cm Weight is 400 to 550 kg. Though some individuals may fall under the traditional cut off between horses and ponies, it is always considered a horse, regardless of height. All Fjord horses are one of five shade variations of dun in colour, having a body colour that is diluted cream, gold or tan shade with a darker shade on the legs, plus “primitive markings,” – a dark dorsal stripe, and, less often, dark horizontal stripes on the legs, especially the forelegs, and rarely, one or more dark transverse stripes over the withers. The Fjords was extensively used by the Vikings as a war horse and also as an all purpose pack animal. The horse is strong enough for heavy work, such as the fields or pulling timber, yet light and fast enough to be riding and driving horse. The Fjord horse is easy to feed, strong, tough but docile, with a capacity for working long hours, day after day under difficult conditions. This together with its versatility made for the Fjord horse very suitable for work on the small farms in the West Country long before mechanisation began. Versatility is the key word when describing the Fjord horse. Today, the Fjord horse is the favourite at Norwegian riding and therapeutic schools, as its generally mild temperament and small size make it suitable for children and disabled individuals. It has also been used as a sport horse. Its ability to handle difficult terrain has led to achievement in show jumping and dressage reached highest levels. Shows are an important aspect of breeding and are arranged throughout the country by the Norwegian Horse Centre. Both conformation and performance are judged. The aims stated in the breeding goal are to preserve and improve the breed`s original character and type is well as to satisfy the needs of today which is a versatile animal suitable for the whole family. 3- year old stallions are judged on conformation, driving and disposition. 4 year olds are performance tested and are judged on conformation, development, temperament and soundness. The licensed stallions are judged again as 8 year olds when performance, development, soundness and progeny are taken into account. When Njål 166 came to Stryn he got hard critics from people with knowledge and no knowledge about the horse. He got only 13 mares that year, and the local authority management applied to get him away, but they did not. It was the people from Sunnmøre that saw the worth in him as a breeding stallion. The local authority applied one more time and they got a son from Rimfakse. In these years came consultant from the state Teig and wanted cleaner Fjord horse and not the expensive mix. Rasmus Sunde told that the breeding fight got stronger and stronger. Teig got a lot of oppositions for his view. This ended in a meeting with 400 horse interested men and the consultant Teig and other service men. They did not agree anything, but after this day everything calmed down to the benefit for Njål and the clean Fjord horse breed. It was a close race that the popular Rimfakse could win this fight, but Njål had more the breed characteristic and won the contract with the county. We were close to loose the noble Fjord horse type. The number of horses increased in Norway the first ten years of the 19th century, and the breeding was on a top at the end of first world war (1914- 18). The number of horses and breeding followed the society, with going down In 1930 Sogn of Fjordande had taken over as the leading county with 848 jumped mares, Møre og Romsdahl and Rogaland 597 and 320. Most used stallion this year was the grandson of Bergfast. Møreblakken 825 lived in Indre Nordfjord jumped 101 mares. He had noble blood on the mother side with Hårfager Bolsøy as grand father and Håkon 283 as grand father. He was heavy built and was 141 cm height, he was deep and wide as the breeding recommended the horse at that time.” Short neck and heavy movement.” it was written with his 2nd placement. If we compare with Bergfast placed on Eid with 87 mares and Molnesblakken in the same district as Møreblakken 825 and jumped 54 Fjord mares. The show on Eid in 1931 was held the 20th to 22nd of May and they had new track. In older times they had used regular road for the test. In driving test the stallions was driven in trot. It was in the 1940s it was done as we know it today. It was a lot of opposition when new things where done. A man named Karlstad wrote that a lot of stallions was fat, without any training or had used carriage before. The new track was loose and deep but we could see a lot of stallions with a lot of energy and fast trot. They had to take how many km they could do on 3 minutes. Such test would help them to get training. We want to see their movement and energy, not a record time. It was an explosive increase in the breeding of the Fjord horse in the next years of the time. The price increased and the interest to see the shows increased dramatically in the war. The breeding explode the last war year, 1945 4385 young horses were reported to shows in the West Country counts and Telemark. It was a new record and is a elative high number. The mares had 844 in 1944. There was a change of breeding the year 1966/67. The breeding got new goals. They wanted to adapt to the times. A nice horse with good movements and intelligent is something we could use. The use of the horse had been in change for a long time. The horse was not pulling the wagon in the agriculture anymore, but the breeding goal in the Norwegian market was to get working horses. The new breeds came and even there were interest to regulate or stop the import it could not be done.