For your agenda !
The 2016 edition of the Norwegian stallion expertise will start on Wednesday 4th of May and the final results will be announced on Saturday 7th of May. Everybody is very welcome on this event, where worldwide fjord horse breeders and friends are coming together. The Fjord Horse International association will, traditionally, organize the FjHI General Assembly and a International Meeting on this occasion. More detail will be published on this homepage.
The FjHI team hopes to welcome many of you during these events!
MD
BEWARE----Driving Horses on Public Roads
I am relating this story as a warning to handlers driving or riding their Fjords on Public roads. This is a true story
In mid August of 2015, this last summer I was driving my young white dun two year old fillies down Trinity Valley road heading home about one kilometer from our gate. We had been out about one hour at a walk/trot on forestry roads and through hay fields. The two young near matching white fillies were to be my last hurrah in training a pair for myself. From foaling on they had been given special handling and training in halter. I wanted to train them Norwegian style to drive safely without blinkers. After ground work I started ponying them in halter behind my wagonette with one of my older pairs out front. As yearlings they went out behind the wagonette for over 100 miles learning to walk/trot by watching the more senior horses and hearing the commands. I them moved them up beside the older Fjords, one on each side tied to the britchen ring of the harness. So they were now travelling alongside the main pair again doing walk/trot, and eventually canter, keying off the older pair and learning commands from my voice. Then over that winter I would put them into the hitch as a pair partner with Nesja our older training Fjord experienced in training green Fjords to drive in pair. This last spring I ventured to put the two fillies together with open bridle to drive themselves as a pair. It went off without a problem.
After many such outings with the young pair driving quite well for their age we come back to this last August and our huge incident on Trinity Valley road. I had just commented to Dave, my groom how nice a day and drive it was. That was to shortly end. I could hear what sounded like a large truck coming towards us from around the corner. We were heading North on the right hand side of the road and the truck was heading south on the left hand side of the road. I edged over to the right edge of the road to prepare for the vehicle. There was no ditch on my side only a steep 70 degree bank going up about 25 feet. The logging truck rounded the corner on our side of the road heading straight for us. It was travelling about 80 K. and was about 200 feet away from us. It looked like a head on collision. As there was not ditch to turn into, I simply froze. However, my two white fillies quickly turned to the right climbing up the bank pulling the wagonette, Dave and myself up and out of harms way. The logging truck zoomed by without any attempt to slow up or turn to his side of the road.
The white fillies were now on their front knees as their momentum stopped and we halted on the steep incline. Almost in slow motion they fell over backwards and sideways rolling one over the other as they rolled back down to the back at the edge of the road. Dave managed to step off the back of the wagonette so was clear of the incident. For me, I went under the wagonette and came up on the other side as it rolled down to the edge of the road and stopped upside down. I looked back down the road at the logging truck which had slowed up, but when he saw us stand up, he simply took off. The filly on the bottom of the one lying on the top was crying loudly, which by the way is a sound I will never forget. We managed to push the top filly off the bottom one, and thanks to quick releases we had both fillies standing and shaking in about five minutes. The filly on the bottom sustained damage to her right eye from the gravel but does have some remaining vision. Dave and I then walked them home and Ursula took them into the shade of the barn and cool washed them down applying ointment to the cuts and scrapes they had sustained. Dave and I took the tractor back to get the wagonette and it has since been repaired.
I them turned the pair out with a small herd to just be horses and recover. I do believe I saw the truck in Lumby a few days later and got a license number which I called into the RCMP. They could find no match to the plates? The thinking now was that it was a rogue trucker driving with false plates and using Trinity Valley road to hide from the highways weigh station. That also fits in to why he did not stop at the scene of the accident.
The fillies went to the IPE and were just in halter classes. A good experience for them to be out and about and experience a change. Since then I have driven them three times safely on the farm. We did meet a car on our own private road and they were shaky but got by it with a little encouragement. I have parked my truck in their field for a few days till they got used to it. Driving them again safely as a pair will be my winters project.
For myself from a human prospective, I was fairly shocky for some time after the event, but went into the IPE and drove OK.
I am sharing this personal happening with your readers as a reminder of the danger potential of driving Fjords on public roads. They say when driving a car, always drive for the other person driving their car. This is also true for driving horses. One has to drive for the other vehicle.
I AM FOREVER THANKFUL TO THESE TWO YOUNG FILLIES---/BAYA AND BAILY, WHO SAVED TWO HUMAN LIVES, AS WELL AS SAVED THEIR OWN LIVES !!
Brian Jensen
August - September 2015 was successfull for the Fjord Horses, worldwide!
Resume of different events in one document : click here to open it
Thank you, Fjord horse riders and drivers, breeders and owners, to make it possible.
Be proud of your results and we are sending you our warm congratulations!
Two new video's are also published ... worthwhile to have a look :
