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This just came out today .... thought the rest of you would enjoy this
as much as I did. DeeAnna
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [HORSE-SENSE] Norwegian Fjord horse
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 11:21:11 -0500
From: Jessica Jahiel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Susan
Subject: Norwegian Fjord horse
From: Susan Wraspir
Jessica, Thanks for the fantastic information! Out at the barn where I
board, your website is considered "the" place to get the best
information. I checked the archives and found nothing about Norwegian
Fiord horses. I'll try to keep the background information short and
sweet;>. One of my fellow boarders has the sweetest gelding. Tym's owner
is in her late teens and is what we educators call a special needs
person. When I first met her, she informed me that Tym is a bad horse
because he bucks. Tym is especially bad because he is a boy and all boys
are bad. When I saw the saddle they were using on him, I thought that I
would buck too if they pinched my back like that. That was several months
ago and Tym has been a pasture ornament. His owner comes and sees him
once a week and it was obvious that he needed a brush-up course in ground
manners. About four weeks ago, The owner's mother approached me about
exercising Tym. I began longeing him and working on his ground
manners. Two weeks ago, I was asked to ride him. Using my
semi-quarterhorse tree Fabtron western saddle, I rode him. Our audience
was ever so slightly disapointed in the lack of excitement on Tym's
part. I have been riding most of my life. (At least over 40 years!) My
passion is dressage and trailriding. I have a fantastic trainer and a
dressage partner that keeps me riding correctly. I was not surprised at
Tym's willingness and sweet disposition. This is a horse that thrives on
having a job and praise. Because he is out of shape, we are doing a lot
of walk and trot work (mostly walking). My trainer was able to observe
one of our rides and I decided to ask for a third gait. This is my
question: Are Norwegian Fiord's gaited naturally? If so, what is this
mystery gait like? More importantly, how do I ask Tym for this gait? My
trainer is as baffled as I am. My goal is to get his owner back in the
saddle. Tym is your typical honest horse, he wants his job back. Most of
the horse people I know and trust, have no experience !
with Fiords. Can you help us please????
Susan
Hi Susan! Thanks for the kind words, and thanks to everyone at your barn
for making the HORSE-SENSE archives a regular stop on their internet
travels. ;-)
I've had the pleasure of working with several Norwegian Fjords, and you'll
be glad to know that the third gait is... wait for it... CANTER. A good
Fjord will have three very clean, very pure gaits. That's not to say that
an individual Norwegian Fjord may not develop some kind of additional
"trail gait" - I find that many horses do that, regardless of breed. But
don't let the exotic colouring and the traditional "Mohawk" mane trim fool
you - you're dealing with an old, established, wonderful breed that
typically exhibits a very pleasant and very clear walk, trot, and canter.
Like many other breeds, Fjords often prefer trotting to their other two
gaits, particularly under saddle. If you think about it, this makes sense -
it lets them go forward energetically and in balance, and avoids the
problems caused by the less-than-perfect hands of riders who haven't quite
got the balance to follow the horse's head and neck movements at walk and
canter.
With all your experience, and your passion for dressage and trailriding,
you sound like the idea person to work with and enjoy this horse. You are
wise to be doing most of your work at trot until the horse becomes fit.
Fjords usually have lovely energetic walks and strong, forward trots (and
they LOVE to trot!). If he's a typical Fjord, when he's strong and
coordinated and ready, you'll find that he has a very comfortable,
balanced, and surprisingly long-strided canter. These are not big horses,
but they are powerful and free-moving -- and some have a talent for jumping.
The Fjords I've known have also been sweet-tempered and steady - I think
that you're really going to enjoy working with this horse.
Jessica
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