Norges Fjordhestlag's 70th Anniversary

This year it’s 70 year since the founding of Norges Fjordhestlag. The anniversary will be celebrated during the traditional stallion show in Nordfjordeid in May

In 1949 the fjordhorse’s situation in Norway was very different from what it is now. The number of fjord horses was a lot higher, around 80 000, and the horses were used for agriculture work and not hobby and sports as we do in 2019. Around 2500 foals were born in 1949, and some of those had a great impact on the fjord horse breeding, both in Norway and abroad.

The breeders in the most popular Fjord Horse districts in Norway founded small, local fjord horse organizations already around year 1900. Many of them bought and held stallions to secure that the mares in their region had acccess to good breeding material. When Norges Fjordhestlag was founded in 1949, one of the main reasons was to gather these local organizations under one national organization.

When Norges Fjordhestlag was founded, the organization consisted of the local organizations. It was not until many years later that they opened up to be a members organization, where everyone with interest in the fjord horse could sign a membership. Norges Fjordhestlag was founded May 2nd 1949, and Reidar Skarbø was chosen as the first leader. The first annual meeting was held at the mare show in Stryn in September the same year.

The whole story about the situation for the fjord horse in the late 1940’s and the founding of Norges Fjordhestlag can be read in our members magazine «Fjordhesten» 01-19. The article is in Norwegian and it is written by Tor Nestaas.
Note : thank you, Ingvild Rydjord Hansen, for this English resume of the article!

We are very proud that Norges Fjordhestlag is still going strong at the age of 70. All over Norway there are people who work for the best of the fjord hose every day, and the fjord is one of the most popular horses used in sports in Norway.

Norges Fjordhestlag’s anniversary will be celebrated during the stallion show in Nordfjordeid in May. The date for the show is May 1st to May 4th.

In addition to the regular program, there will be several other posts this year. We have invited all breeding stallions of 9 year old and more to a special show class. There will also be a show class for two year old stallions, and this is a great opportunity for every fjord horse lover to see the young stallions we have in Norway. As always, there will be a parade through Nordfjordeid on the last day of the show.

Friday May 3rd, there will be held an anniversary dinner and party at Nordfjord Hotell. New for this year is that the tickets must be ordered no later than Friday April 26th. You can order direct at the hotel using e-mail or phone: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / +47 57 86 33 33. More information about thedinner will be given closer to the show.

Norges Fjordhestlag wishes veryone who wants to celebrate the anniversary with us welcome to Nordfjordeid the first week of May. This is the world’s biggest arrangement for the fjord horse, and being at the show is an experience you will never forget.

A complete program will be published closer the show on Norges Fjordhestlag’s web page.