Just wondering if anyone on the forum has had any experience with Norwegian Fjord horses. I've been reading up on them and they seem to be the ideal homestead horse (ride, drive, plow, haul logs... gentle disposition, and small in stature: 13.2 to 14.2hh)Also they eat mostly hay, very little grain. And have very hard hooves. Only need shoes if they are worked particularly hard. At least this is what I've been reading.

The prices I saw were very high - $3000 green broke! But seems like the over all savings on food and shoes and their versatility on the homestead would even things out in the long run.

Ok, maybe I have my rose colored horse spectacles on ... maybe I could start selling AVON or get a paper route...

Pauline in NC

-- Pauline (tworoosters_farm@altavista.com), December 19, 2000

Answers

Pauline,

I don't know anything about the horse except what I read in Backwoods Home Magazine. Their lastest issue has a couple of articles. You can download the magazine to read. Hope this helps. Curt

-- Curt (sarah0724@excite.com), December 19, 2000.

I'll have to get Julie to answer you on this one, she knows LOTS about horses. In the meantime, maybe you'd like to look at this site:

Rural Heritage

I do know that Fjords ARE expensive. As far as "green broke", unless you are experienced with horses, you probably will need to start with horses that are trained, or attend a driving school yourself -- either of which means more money, of course.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 19, 2000.

There are also a couple of other breeds with similar size & working qualities. (Any breed of horse does good on mostly good grass & hay.)

One that I first started researching was the Dales pony (with the Fell pony being only a hair shorter & same back ground). This was before I had a computer. It took me 4 years to find anyone on this side of the ocean. I found them in 1993 (& they just imported in 1991) in Canada (called Canadale farm). Would you beleave that a just weaned, untrained, gelding was going to cost me $10,000, & female of the same age would be more. Though I was disappointed, I started looking for alternatives, one being the Fjord breed (I still love that color the best). Another breed I've found to be of similar size, etc... is the Welsh breed of the section C & D types, as these are the largest of the size range & have a past as cavalery remounts, gun horses (used to pull the cannons), & farm work. These have the benifit of a better price range, an active step in harness or under saddle (some well known trotters in history), & many breed them to drafts or thoroughbreds for hunters (the ever popular event & dressage horse). I can't help but wonder how usefull the draft cross would be on a farm. The haflinger pony isn't all that small either (I've seen adults riding some), & they are a popular choice for the farm. They are also in a better price range then the Fjords.

These are only a few alternatives, & ok state uni. can help you research for more choices.

www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds

I know this dosen't help you with the breed of your choice, but I do hope it gives you some workable alternatives.

Animalfarms in IN.

-- animalfarms (jwlewis@indy.net), December 19, 2000.

The Icelandic ponies are supposed to be good as well, same size as the Fjord, all colors, eat little, adapted to breathe in short breathes so they work well in the winter, live very long lives, but don't mature until 8 or 9 yrs old. There's info on them at www.horsecity.com , front page, titled "A Horse"

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), December 19, 2000.

I guess I'm underwhelmed by Fjords. I used to think that the were real cool, until I started working with some and having them around the farm. Then the word 'butthead' started to crop up in working with them, as well as the bite marks on the other horses. One thing I found un-charming about the ones I worked with (all purchased green broke, by the way) was their lack of manner (walking over you, knocking you into things) and nerve endings. They don't respond very well to aversion training like electric fences and push them over. They're really trendy, so that means price tag. The same could be said for Haflingers. I like what I've seen of Welsh Cobs, but there's price tag on those too.

If you really want a homestead horse, look for a non purebred, preferably a trained one. We had in a half Haflinger to try out who was broken to drive and ride (after a fashion) priced at $1,300 for an 8 year old. He looked quite a lot like a Haflinger, altho not show type, and the price was a lot more affordable. There are a lot of cross-bred draft ponies out there in the farm and horse sales journals that are MUCH better deals. A draft pony that isn't pulling up to prize weight in competition would work out just fine for a homesteader. Do you have much experience in working with horses, or buying them? If not, try and find a mentor in your area to help you out -- saves money in the long run. I was sorry we didn't keep that part Haflinger --he actually was a pretty decent little horse.

Some friends have Icelandics. They tend to be kind of easy keepers, but they also have some health concerns if you don't keep them well -- heaves, founder, etc. It helps to know what you're doing. Depending on your area, they could be a lot cheaper than say, a Fjord or a Haflinger or a Welsh Cob. Any one of those does better on grass hay only, no grain (but the same is true of horses in general) Grade horses are cheapest of all, and if you're not planning on plowing 4 40's of crops, a cross-bred horse trained to ride and pull would probably do you just fine -- small sized ones come cheaper because people don't want them for riding much(trend is to 16 hh +). Lots of horse have gentle dispositions, lots don't, and it doesn't run by breed much(I have YET to see ANY breed association not claim their breed is gentle!)

Also remember that just because a horse may not need shoes (4 of my 5 don't wear them)doesn't mean that they won't need trimming by a farrier. I've tried trimming hooves myself and I really hate trimming those 'hard' type feet that Fjords have, leave it up to my professional farrier, and that's $25 every 6 to 8 weeks to plan on. Weak hooves are to be avoided, but unless you have unusual terrain, most horses doing light riding and some field work really don't need shoes.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), December 19, 2000.

I put a vote in for morgans, they can do it all.Good advice above a grade horse trained well would work well to.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), December 19, 2000.

Thank you all for your great advice.

I'd kind of gone off on a tangent while surfing the horse sites on the web. Dreams of our future perfect homestead and my hubby out there with the team plowing, hitching up the wagon....you know how it is. Way in the future.

Anyway, back to reality. We're shopping around for our first family horse.I had a picture of the perfect animal in my mind. Something our 5 year old son can learn to ride on but strong enough to carry a small adult too.

I grew up in England where there are thousands of these good sturdy ponies happily and safely carrying little kids ( and big ones) all over the place. You can see evidence of our native breeds in most of them: Exmoor, Dartmoor, Dales ... and I suddenly realized that I rarely see these types of ponies over here. That's what set me off on a search of the web and I came across the Fjordings. The breeds I grew up riding, as someone else commented, are considered "trendy" or rare over here and cost a fortune. -To me the Quarter Horse is "unique"!I like the POA but they were also on the expensive side last time I checked.

We'll keep searching. There's a little shetland pony we are going to look at that sounds ideal for Joshua. I think we may go that route and look for a nice older horse for me. Will get a mentor by the way. I read a LOT and know what to look for in theory but have never purchased a horse before.

Thanks for all your help,

Pauline in NC

-- Pauline (tworoosters_farm@altavista.com), December 20, 2000.

Look at www.nfhr.com for info on fjords. They are terrific horses. Not all as described above. The nfhr site has a section on Fjord Farms with many links. This is a useful and versatile breed, and like any breed, personalities vary with handling, training, breeding. It took many months of looking to find our broke/older fjords. If you type Norwegian Fjord Horses into major search engines you will find a ton of listings, lots of pics and info, too. Not sure how many in NC area, farm list will indicate for you, if you read addresses. Have fun finding a fjord if that's what you decide.

-- Cranky Farmer (Cranky@bnjweb.net), February 05, 2001.