This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Meredith Sessoms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> All I've heard about it was that a man named Purdy raised Fjord
> Horses and when he died no one knew who was who in his herd.
The Winter 1987 issue of the Fjord Herald had 3 articles on the
history of Fjords. One was by Harold Jacobsen, on how he got into
Fjords (summer of 1974, with a mare named Kirsten) and his subsequent
imports. One was a copy of a letter from Tor Nestaas, on the main
Norwegian stallion lines. The third article is reproduced in part
below (typos are probably mine, although I have corrected a couple of
their minor ones). I believe that this NFA article was probably
written a few years before NFHR published it.
---begin quote
History of Original Fjordings in North America
(Note: This material was compiled and written by Barbara Ramlow, the
first Secretary of the Norwegian Fjord Association of North America.
We include it here to shed more light on the history and background of
the Fjord Horse in America before any organization was in effect to
keep records and we are very thankful to those who put effort into
gathering and organizing this information.)
[...]
In 1957 or 1958, Mr. Toddie Lee Wynne, Star Cattle Co., Kaufman,
Texas, imported the stallion Solvfast and mares Edla, Mona, Liv, and
Leika. These 5, and perhaps some of their offspring, were sold to Mr
Robert Purdy in 1964 or 1965. Selling some additional animals at the
same time, we believe Mr. Wynne kept only geldings. We have been
unable to get records from the company and are unsure of the number of
Fjordings produced by his herd. Between 1955 and 1959, Mrs Josephine
Mills of the Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colo., imported the
stallions Sanko, Solvin, and Vinjegut and the mares Olli, Anny, and
Drua. Later, the Hotel acquired three purebred mares (their papers
could never be recovered) from the McDonough School in Maryland. They
were Muffin, Crumpet, and Olso Miss (sic). The Broadmoor Fjordings
were put to a stagecoach and other vehicles, transporting guests and
visitors around the grounds. [...]
In the early 1960's, the Broadmoor sold most or all of their Fjording
stock giving up pastures and stables. Hotel officials tell us today
there are no Fjording records to be found and no present, or former,
employees living whose memories might help answer our questions.
In 1961, Betty and Art Pfister, Lazy Chair Ranch, Aspen, Colo.,
purchased from the Broadmoor the stallion Sanko, mares Anny and Drua
and a young filly. In 1962, they bought eight more from the Hotel,
including Olli, the three McDonough School mares, three geldings, and
a filly. Pfisters bred their Fjordings until 1965 when they sold
Sanko, the only stud they ever used, along with some young stock
acquired from Star Cattle Co., to Robert Purdy. [...]
By 1965, Robert Purdy, 28 Ranch, Buffalo, Wyoming, had the two
stallions Sanko and Solvfast and mares Edla, Mona, Liv, and Leika,
along with some of their foals. As far as we know, Mr. Purdy's herd
produced perhaps forty or even fifty foals by the time he sold the
last of his herd in 1974. We believe Solvfast sired nothing after
1968, and our last knowledge of Sanko breeding is 1969. 28 Ranch used
the stallion "71" (Solvfast-Leika) beginning in 1969. We are very
sorry to report that Robert Purdy died several years ago, but we
certainly thank Mrs. Purdy for providing us with what records she
could find. [...]
---end quote
> Where did [Purdy] live ... out West?
Wyoming.
> Whose imports were his herd based on? Pre-Jacobsen?
Purdy got out of the Fjord business the same year that Jacobsen was
just discovering the breed.
Harold Jacobsen's first mare, Kirsten was:
Solvfast
King Harald
Liv
Kirsten
Sanko
Benta
Drua
i.e. the granddaughter of horses imported by Star Cattle Company and
the Broadmoor Hotel, and 3 out of 4 of her grandparents were owned by
Purdy---but this article does not make it clear if Purdy bought those
horses before or after her parents were born (another source mentions
that Purdy owned King Harald for a while---perhaps some of that
"youngstock acquired from Star Cattle Company"). Jacobsen apparently
used at least one other American Foundation stallion (King Oscar) of
breeding similar to Kirsten's for a while, then imported new,
unrelated Norwegian bloodlines, starting in 1977.
> Did he show, drive, pack, log or just breed?
That article would lead me to believe that Purdy was a breeder, with
any use of the animals being coincidental.
(BTW, all of this is of interest to me because Kirsten appears in the
pedigree of one of my Fjords; King Harald is in the pedigrees of all
three.)
Marsha Jo HannahMurphy must have been a horseman--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
