This message is from: "Arthur Rivoire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm Fjords in Nova Scotia ---
I think that Mark's comments are interesting, and worthing thought and discussion. . . . . . > I do have to comment on the level of training in our breed though. If > you take the 100 horses or so that show up at Blue Earth, there are > maybe a handful that are trained to the level it takes to do well in an > average open show. In the riding club in my area the percentage would > be much higher (and this club is nothing special). This is what I don't > understand. <What makes the Fjord (or Fjord owner different)? > It's not the Fjord. It is the owner. A quality Fjordhorse with good conformation (balance, movement, agility, strength) is capable of high level performance, and if he isn't doing it, it's certainly not his fault. It's true that many Fjords are sold to beginner horse people who are happy with a nice, quiet animal that performs minimally. These horses are usually kept at home, rather than a training stable where the owner and horse could receive progressive instruction. The horses that are owned by the Lori Albroughs, the Vivian Creighs, the Jensens, Elaine Olson, Ann Appleby, etc. show remarkable levels of training, and are able to compete with the best in open competition. They compete and they astound the competition by winning. -- As Elaine Olson's farrier once said about her gelding, BDF Idar . . . ."My dressage customers are all ticked off because they're getting beaten by a pony." -- BDF Idar was recently awarded The Top Performance Award at 2nd Level for the Los Angeles region. So, it's not the Fjordhorses. --- It's the fact that so many Fjord owners are not interested in competition, and very often do not train their horses to a high level. -- And you know, this is OK (sort of) . . . It's a fact that the Fjord is first and foremost a Family Horse, but also a Recreational Horse. -- I really don't fault people who aren't interested in showing, and don't train to a high level. -- However, I do very strongly believe that the NFHR should promote the Fjordhorse as being capable of performing to a high level. -- They should be running ads showing fantastic photos of fantastic Fjords. The public has got to know that these horse are bred to perform, just as they're bred to be nice, family, recreational horses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mark further commented . . . . I had a long talk with Fred Brandt at the Minnesota Horse Expo > where we discussed many things concerning our breed and one of the > subjects was breeding Fjords versus taking in 3 and 4 year olds and > putting a year of good training on them. Which one would be more > profitable for the farms out there? Instead of breeding and selling > foals to "new" horse owners who will train the horse to a relatively low > level maybe it would be more responsible (and profitable) to train our > stock that is out there already thus having the Fjord better represented > in the long run. It was an interesting concept and one I've thought > about a lot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've also thought a lot about this sort of thing, but I don't like the idea of "taking in 3 and 4 year olds and putting a year of good training on them." ------ The reason I'm not fond of doing it that way is that in my experience if the horse goes 3 or 4 years without training, he's way behind the eight ball, and the trainer is going to have serious attitude problems with this horse, and the training is going to take a very long time, and be expensive. --- In our experience, the best horses are the ones that have been correctly handled and trained from the beginning. Those are the horses people can depend on. -- And I would go so far as to say that the "correct handling" is more important than the training. --- The worst cases are the ones that have had incorrect and inept handling. The ones that are pushy and disrespectful because they've been behaving that way for several years. --- These are tough cases, and not what I want to deal with. Believe me, even though we're talking about Fjords, horses such as these can be very dangerous. The best horses are the ones that have been well handled since birth and trained up to three or four years of age, then sold. --- This is a whole lot of time, work, and money, and the horse raised this way is valuable, and is not going to be sold for $4,000. However, there are $2,000, $3,000, $4,000 Fjords out there at various ages. You can buy them, but unless you're a very good horseperson, you'd better be prepared to invest at least $6,000 in training in order to get a pleasant, safe, using horse. And if you want a performance horse, you can triple that figure. So, do the math .. . . What is a good quality, well-trained horse worth? Best Regards, Carol Rivoire
