This article has appeared previously with Equestrian Life. To see what’s in the current digital issue, please click here.
Breeds of the world: The Fjord
By Equestrian Life
Hailing from the mountainous regions of Western Norway, the Fjord horse is a relatively small yet very strong breed. A breed of light draught horse build, they have been used for hundreds of years as farm horses in their home country.
Fjords are characterised by their colouring; they are always dun, with five variations in shades recognised in the breed standards. They also commonly feature a dorsal stripe, darker manes and tails (although their manes and tails typically have lighter hairs on the outside edges), and horizontal stripes on the back of their legs. In some cases they may also have transverse striping across the withers.
Coat colour variations are subtle, with recognised shades being brown dun, red dun, white dun, yellow dun and “grey”.
Along with the recognised five shades of dun, two cream dilution alleles (CCr) on any other colour results in a horse with a light cream coat colour and blue eyes. This colour is called “kvit” (“white”) in Norwegian, and is known as cremello, perlino or smoky cream in other breeds. Although typically pony height, they are generally still referred to as “horses”.
Horses were known to exist in Norway at the end of the last Ice Age, and it is believed that the ancestors of the modern Fjord horse migrated to Norway and were domesticated over 4,000 years ago with Viking burial sites showing the horses were selectively bred for at least 2,000 years – making these horses one of the oldest and purest breeds.
The Fjord is a very versatile breed. Strong enough to pull ploughs, the horses are also popular for riding and driving.
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