This message is from: Walter Monheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Brian, thanks so much for your further information on Grabb. I understand that both stallions Grabb & Dragtind along with another stallion perhaps a son of one of them are buried on what was Cliff's ranch in New Mexico. Is this correct? Thanks Sherle
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > My grandfather, Harold Jacobsen, liked to think big. He was a very > independent person and was always doing things that went against > "traditional" wisdom. Like learning to ski at the age of 50. Like > starting to raise Norwegian Fjord Horses at the age of 59, never having > owned a horse before. Like owning 38 Fjords at one point in the mid > 1980's. Like selling Fjords to almost every state in the country, and > Canada. > > In 1980 Harold decided he wanted to bring another stallion to Norwegian > Fjordhest Ranch. We had imported the stallion Dragtind several years > previously, and we realized we needed another stallion to breed with if > we were going to keep any of Dragtind's daughters. He had learned about > the stallion Grabb (the "a" is pronounced like "ahhh" when you go to the > dentist - or like the sound of "sob" as in crying), and he decided that > was the one he needed to bring home. At the time, Grabb was considered > by many to be the best living Fjord stallion in Norway, and we didn't > think at first that the Norwegian officials would allow him to leave. > For two reasons though they finally agreed. First, Grabb had bred mares > in Norway for quite some time, and he was not getting any younger at 19 > years old. And second, the Norwegians were truly concerned about Fjord > breeding in the US and knew the contribution Grabb could make in the > quality of Fjords over here. > > So on August 13, 1980, Grabb set foot for the first time on American > soil. At that time stallions only had to undergo a three-day quarantine, > so it was not long afterwards that he arrived at our ranch in Carbondale, > Colorado, high in the Rocky Mountains. My first thought upon seeing > Grabb was, "What a horse!" Almost without fail, this was everyone's > reaction upon seeing him for the first time. > > Grabb had a physique like I've never seen on a Fjord, before or since. > He stood about 14.2 hands tall and, I'm estimating, weighed 1200 pounds. > I wish I had a judges comment card on him, but I don't, so I'll comment > from what I remember of him and from pictures. Grabb had very nice > overall symmetry being well-balanced front and rear. His withers and top > of his croup were level. Grabb's chest and neck were very impressive. > His chest was very wide and very muscular. His neck was nicely arched > and came high off his shoulders. His back was long, he was thick > barreled, and very strong coupled. The rear quarters were strongly > muscled with a slightly sloping croup. Grabb had a very masculine head > with a proud carriage. > > Grabb's movements were classic Fjord for the time period he came from; > High knee action and strongly driven from the rear end. Harold liked to > say he "came on like gangbusters" when he was running toward you. My > impression was that of a freight train bearing down on you; Lot's of > noise, steam, and this massive body coming toward you. > > Probably part of the reason I thought of him as a freight train was that > I was never sure if he would stop when he was barreling down the fence > line toward me. I was fairly young at the time, and I never gave him the > chance. I was in good company, though, as there were many people who > jumped up on the gate when Grabb came charging toward us at what seemed > like 90 miles per hour! Let's just say he was a fireball! Grabb's main > job in Norway was breeding mares, and he took his job very seriously. We > would hand breed, and when one would hold the mare at one end of the > arena, Grabb would enter from the other. My older brother John would put > the bit in Grabb's mouth, attach the long lines, set his feet, give the > command to open the gate, and then "ski" 100 feet across the arena until > Grabb reached the mare. While he was "wide open" when he arrived in > Colorado, within two years he had settled down quite nicely was about > average for a Fjord stallion. > > Some of my most interesting memories of Grabb involve breeding him. As > anyone who owns a stallion knows, they are very spectacular as they > prance and perform and show off for a mare, and so my grandfather liked > to show Grabb off to visitors when such an event was taking place. My > job was to hold the mare's tail out of the way and, as I had the best > vantage point, to judge whether it was a successful breeding or not. > While my grandfather was a very bold and forthright man, and was not > embarrassed by anything, I was a painfully shy young teenage boy who > blushed if a girl so much as looked at me. I still cringe as I can hear > Harold's voice calling out to me from 30 feet away over the fence and > expecting me to answer no matter who was watching - male or female. > While I can talk of such things relatively easily now as a veterinarian, > back then I lived in mortal fear of the inevitable question, "Is it in, > Brian?" > > Grabb was considered a "matador" of the Fjord breed in Norway. This term > was reserved for stallions of unusual quality who made a large impact on > the breed. He had more registered, prizewinning sons and daughters than > any stallion in his time. Of 98 registered offspring, 20 were sons and > 78 daughters. Of the sons, there was one 1st prize, eight 2nd prize, and > eleven 3rd prize. Of the daughters, six won 1st prize, 21 won 2nd, and > 50 were awarded 3rd prize. Grabb himself was a first prize stallion who > was also awarded 1st prize for the quality of his offspring (shown on > pedigrees as "1.pr - 1.avk.pr"). Grabb is the only stallion ever > imported from Norway to the US to have that distinction. His Norwegian > registry number is N-1651; His sire was Gullring N1576 2.pr, and his > dam was Ivana N12275 2.pr. Grabb's heritage is interesting as he has > influence from all three major stallion lines: Bergfast, Oyarblakken, and > Hakon Jarl. In fact, of the 32 stallions on his registration > certificate, 4 are matadors (Bergfast 635, Gloppang 894, Oyarblakken 819, > and Torbjorn 1417). > > When attempting to characterize Grabb's offspring, I think consistent > quality is the best description. Few are outstanding attention-getters > like he was; Instead they are a quality group of well-conformed and sound > horses with good personalities and good minds, and they pass this on to > their foals. I think of the stallions Leik and Grabbson as examples, and > the stallion Ask who was imported from Norway into Canada. Also my > favorite mare that we still own, Lilli. We never showed the Fjords, and > many of the people we sold to didn't either, so I don't have show records > to point to. Many of Grabb's get aren't even NFHR registered due to > differences of opinion that Harold and others had with the Registry years > ago. But Grabb and his get, perhaps more than any other line in the US, > form a backbone of high quality Fjords that runs throughout the whole > country. > > Grabb's untimely death was just as spectacular as his life. In 1985, > since I was going off to college and Harold would have little help with > the horses, he decided to sell out. He ended up selling an > unprecedented 33 Fjords to a man named Cliff Baltzley from Pecos, New > Mexico. This included every horse we had but Grabb. Grabb was going to > Cliff's ranch also, to breed mares, but Harold still owned him. The > stallions were housed near each other, and somehow, either Dragtind or > Grabb knocked down part of his panel fence, and then knocked down the > fence enclosing the other stallion. At 24 years of age, Grabb did not > have much of a chance against Dragtind, who was half his age. Though he > must have fought valiantly, Grabb died at 11:00 a.m. on July 28, 1985, > from injuries sustained in the fight. > > Brian Jacobsen, DVM > Norwegian Fjordhest Ranch > Salisbury, North Carolina
