does anyone have knowledge or access for one of these horses as a dressage prospect ?
I would try to make contact with Anne Appleby in Olympia Wa. I would say she is the go to expert on Fjords in the US Dressage scene
2 Likes
Contact Jill Kosek at Full Moon Farm in NJ. She has homebreds that are winning at the lower levels in Wellington!
Andrea Eppley in Indiana from Silver Drache Farms has several fjords in dressage. She has a stallion now a gelding schooling 4th and showing 3rd.
Lauren Chumley trains Jill Kosek’s fjords in Pittstown, I would check with her. Super fun little horses!
Thank you.
Good luck Chic Hunter. I’ve trained 2 of them over the years. They are cool little horses, but please never forget: they are a draft pony first and foremost. The can be trained all the way to GP for dressage, but it’s a rare one that makes it that far. They have a short, thick neck and they know how to use it, LOL.
6 Likes
I showed a Fjord in the lower levels for a few years. He was kind of a jerk and would grab the bit and run off when he didn’t want to work. His head/neck were so strong that it was impossible to pull him around. When he wasn’t being a jerk though, he was great. Anne Appleby took a Fjord to GP, and lives nearby. She was bringing up a new Fjord mare through the levels, so I had to show my ornery little Fjord against her. Talk about being intimidated!! LOL.
1 Like
MojitoMare - that’s totally my experience too :lol:
A friend of mine got two fjords from the Amish in Lancaster, PA who are great little dressage mounts. I believe they came from an auction.
Are you looking for such a horse, and do you have a reason to focus on this breed?
I got a Fjord mare for dressage a year ago and haven’t looked back! We are just at training/first level (she’s five this year) and she’s very competitive against the bigger horses. That being said, the higher levels will be a challenge for her, even though she’s pretty athletic as far as fjords go. They are fantastic horses for adult amateurs that aren’t looking to be competitive at the higher levels but want to enjoy their horses! And don’t forget, you can compete at the National Dressage Pony Cup with them! 
1 Like
Any ideas as where to shop for a 1st/2nd level Fjord?
Well, you can if they’re pony height. A fair number of fjords are over.
Well, OP, you’ve been given 2 contacts on this thread… Look them up on Facebook
1 Like
Ironwood Farm in VA would be another place to looks - and the owner posts on CoTH as IronwoodFarm - they breed fjiords and work with a trainer who gets them out Eventing and to dressage shows.
I wanted to second IWF, but just chime in with my experience.
As a teen I exercise rode a Fjord for my barn. He had an impish streak a mile long but was never mean, didn’t buck or bolt or rear. He was definitely a kick ride, was a little on the lazy side, but did not have an agenda unlike most ponies I’ve ridden… EXCEPT he loffed food. He was the perfect confidence booster, was a good low level eventer, and was so fun to ride bareback. Like most drafts, he was a little “dull” when it came to aids, so some people did not like him. The only time I ever saw him really get up was when we went foxhunting, and even then he was very well behaved.
Just to give you an example of the “fjord ingenuity”, he learned that it was easy to get kids (and me!) off of him bareback if he just dropped his neck while you were walking downhill… he was so round that it was like sliding down a sausage roll… More than one of us was deposited this way, but it was always a very gentle, slow landing and he would instantly stop and munch on grass while eyeballing you with a little gleam in his eye.
He was trained to 2nd and IMHO was a fine mount for an AA.
They are a neat breed to work with. I have one I use for lessons both riding and driving and am hoping to start showing her in dressage myself and with students soon.
They are fond of food (sometimes to their detriment), have a refined sense of fairness, and are often more fit than they want you to think they are. Mine can be quite sensitive and resposive so long as you are fair in your requests. If you hang on her face or leave your leg locked into her barrel she will sully up against the pressure or gleefully push into it.
Good luck in your search, it sounds like you have several good recommendations. I’ve worked with Sunnyside Farms in the past, but their breeding focus is more on therapy applications and I’m not sure if she has anything broke for sale at this time.
Still looking for a well fitting desssage for a 12/4 Fjord.
