This message is from: "Dagrun Aarsten" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello everyone,
just wanted to add that practically all fjord breeders in Norway are "backyard breeders". There aren't any big fjord breeding farms that I know of. The typical fjord breeder in Norway is a farmer having a small farm and one single mare, that is usually of very good quality (or in his eyes, the best of all mares in the world). I say "he" because most of these fjord breeders are men. The mare is sometimes used for work on the farm or for pleasure driving, and occasional riding by children and grandchildren. For these people, horses are a dear hobby, and their dream is to one day produce an approved stallion. I guess this happens about once in their lifetime on average, but it keeps driving them to careful research about the best stallion for their mare, and all these people are very knowledgeable. Fjords are their passion, and the evaluation in Nordfjordeid is the big event of the year. These mares usually have one foal every year. Fortunately, a selection of quality stallions are available to most breeers since we don't have the large distances you have here in the US. The other category is families with one fjord mare who wants an offspring of their dear fjord friend. These people might be less educated about the breed standards, conformation etc, but again they always breed to an approved stallion. Anyway, just to say that "backyard breeding" has produced good quality in Norway for many years. Dagrun in San Jose, Ca, where we just had the first rain in 6 months - plenty enough to make up for all that time. Fjords are happy and dirty and roll in the mud all day long!
