The Fjord Horse

The Fjord Horse is one of the worlds oldest and purest breeds. Breeding took place mainly in the west region of Norway and the breed was officially named “Vestlandshest” until February 1947.

Little is known about the origin of the breed. There are many similarities such as colour and primitive markings between the Fjord, the feral Przewalski horse and the European wild horse, the Tarpan, now extinct in its natural state. However, the Fjord Horse does not descend from the Przewalski Horse, as the Przewalski has 66 chromosomes and the Fjord and Tarpan 64.

It is most likely that the horse came to Norway from the east. There seem to have been wild horses in the south of Sweden and in Denmark since the last ice age. Archaeological excavations reveal that the horse was domesticated in the Bronze Age, circa 1200 BC. Viking burial grounds show that man had bred the horse for about 2000 years and it appears that the Fjord Horse is a descendant of the earliest horses in Norway. Through the ages there has been a great deal of contact between Norway, Iceland and the British Isles, and horses from these lands across the sea have surely influenced the development of the breed.

The Fjord seems to have varied in size and type from the north to the south of Vestlandet. The Fjord Horse from Nordfjord and Sunnmøre was known to be larger with more bone and with more profuse mane, tail and feathering than the Fjord in Sunnhordland, which was smaller, lighter and more refined. This has led to an assumption that there were perhaps different types of the Fjord Horse with slightly dissimilar origins. An example of the lighter type is Rosendalsborken I 8, foaled 1863 in Kvinnherad. As a 20-year-old he was entered in a show in Germany and made quite a sensation. The picture below is taken on that occasion.