This message is from: "Curtis" <cepi...@yahoo.com>
Jo Wilgus <rjrfj...@verizon.net> wrote: back 4000 or so years ago when the breed was recognized were there other dun colors? are the colors a man-made color? i am curious , not knowledgable about this. The history of the Fjord horse and the colors is very complicated and most of it is not in writing. The simplest and most concise version I have found was presented by the Norwegian, Arne Presthus, in a brief history talk at the Libby Show several years ago. He explained that in the late 1700's to early 1800's the Norwegian farmers in the Fjord region started breeding only the local horses with the primitive markings. The primitive markings include the dun stripe, leg stripes, guard hairs on the mane, etc. Eventually, all Fjords have the dun gene and only the main 5 colors remained within the breed. The first Fjord stud records were started in the 1830s. So, details before then are sketchy. As Jean pointed out, the Norwegian like the uls (white dun) color, but stopped breeding the white dun to white dun because it often produced a Kvit, a Fjord without a dun stripe and blue eyes. Still today, the Norwegians favor the very light brown duns and white duns. Take care! Curt Pierce Deep Creek Farm http://www.deepcreekfarm.com/ Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw FH_L Shirts: http://tinyurl.com/8yky94l
