Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The World of Oleanna: The Fjord Horse

The fjord horse is one of the world's oldest breeds, and native to Western Norway, where Oleanna is set.

According to the Norwegian Fjord Horse Registry,
It is an agile breed of light draft horse build. All Fjord horses are dun in color...it has been used for hundreds of years as a farm horse in Norway, and in modern times is popular for its generally good temperament. It is used both as a harness horse and under saddle.
And according to horse-genetics.com,
The Norwegian Fjord Horse retains many characteristics of primitive European horses and bears a striking resemblance to the horses painted on cave walls by ice age artists some 30,000 years ago.


Terna, Elisabeth and Oleanna's horse, is their all-purpose farm horse, and a sweet old guy. I just wish I could remember why I named him Terna. :)




Update: Thor Bugge Lanesskog has a wonderfully succinct overview of the fjord horse, along with some excellent photos of the horse in action on a farm!

3 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures! I've had that Why did I name the pony Terna moment; drives me crazy!! But Terna fits that pony, and I love how Oleanna notes she's as sturdy as a fjord pony... :)))

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  2. What an awesome picture! Very nice form on both the riders as well!

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  3. @Sharon Thanks, aren't they lovely? I'll need to put an attribution on that photo, I completely forgot!

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