This message is from: "Arthur Rivoire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello Everybody and Happy New Year! Arthur and I have just returned from our annual Christmas trip to New England to spend time with family, Fjord friends, and non-horsey friends. We had a wonderful time, but three weeks away is a little hard to take -- especially Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We make this trip at Christmas for family reasons, but I deeply miss being in the stable with all the horses during the Christmas season. - Our wonderful, Stable Manager, Jaimie Benoit, as usual, managed things superbly, and the farm and horses were in great shape as they always are.
Well, we returned home last night after a day and a half's drive from the Boston area just beating the big storm that's due to start tonight. -- I spent a few hours going through the email that had piled up since we left. There were so many topics discussed on the List that I would have liked to comment on, but most have been thoroughly discussed. However, one of the latest concerned training Fjords, and another was the reprehensible bias by some of the big-name trainers. -- Frankly, I could just shake some of those people. Our 24 year experience with Fjords at Beaver Dam Farm has been ALMOST entirely positive. "Almost", because there have been a few difficult ones. However, I'm talking about over 300 Fjords that have been with us, and gone on to be very useful horses for us and others. Just consider the fact that we offer a program called "Nova Scotia Beginner Driving Vacations" -- We teach beginners to drive in a four day ourse. -- Let me amend that to say we "introduce" beginners to driving in our course. -- In any case, our student/guests come to us knowing nothing or next to nothing about driving, and in four days, they're doing dressage tests, cones courses, and a marathon hazard. And they're doing it in the open. No fences anywhere. We've run the Beginner Driving Vacations for 11 years now, and in that time, we've used probably 25 different horses. -- We have never (knock on wood) had a runaway. We have never had balky horses. We have never had an accident. WHY? -- Our horses get a heck of a lot of training and experience that starts at birth and continues daily for their entire lives. -- And I really mean that!!! Daily training. Everyone who works here knows my theory that everytime you handle a horse it's training. I'm really so sick and tired of hearing about balky, stubborn, runaway Fjords. Lord! I've been breeding, importing, training, and selling Fjords for 24 years, and we've hardly ever had these problems with horses we've raised ourselves, or that have been raised by others using proper methods. However, I must admit that we've learned a lot in these many years, and that we did make mistakes in the beginning resulting in Fjords that were less than perfect. As many have said, Fjords are horses like all other horses. With all their unique and appealing characterisitcs, they're horses and need careful training and management. That said, there may be lots of reasons why some of them have created a bad impression of the breed. Reasons like - 1.) Poorly bred, ugly horses with conformation unsuitable to performance - 2.) Lack of early training - 3.) Lack of consistent training (trained then turned out for years - something that happens a lot) -4.) Trained by someone who doesn't understand the breed - (something that happens a lot) I don't have time to go into this with the depth that the subject deserves, but I just wanted to say with the experience we've had all these years, that Fjords are marvelous horses with athletic ability, sensitivity, willingness, good sense, and intelligence. For our Beginner Driving Program, our horses have to stand immobile sometimes for half an hour hitched to a vehicle. They also have to be ready to move forward on command and obey the signals they're receiving from total beginner drivers, They have to go slowly, and speed it up when asked. They have to go down the centerline and stop at "X". --- All of the horses we've used do their job almost to perfection. In fact, all of us at Beaver Dam Farm are constantly in total awe of these horses. -- You tell me. . . what other breed on this earth could be counted on to safely do this work with total beginners all day, four days a week, ten weeks every summer? In addition to the driving, we do trailrides, beach rides, dressage lessons, children's lessons, and longlining. All the horses we use for the program do whatever's asked of them, and do it nicely. -- And this includes our stallion, Gjest, who's worked in the program right alongside the mares. We expect our horses to work and earn their keep, and they always come through each summer with reasonably good temperaments having done their jobs handily and safely. WHY have we at Beaver Dam Farm had this kind of success with Fjords? Good question! Maybe it's a combination of management techniques. For instance, all our horses get at least 12 hours a day turnout in huge fields. -- None get very much grain, but they do get some along with supplements. -- They get lots of hay -- They're stabled in straight stalls and expected to behave themselves, and invariably they do. -- They get yelled at if they misbehave! We just do what comes naturally in that regard. -- We do a lot of manners training on the leadline and cross-ties. -- I think probably that all these things that comprise management and training contribute to a mannerly, willing, useful horse. One last bit of advice --- Dont' confuse a "friendly Fjord" with a Fjord that's going to be a pleasant, willing partner. Almost all Fjords are friendly, and EVERY Fjord should be WILLING. The "willingness" part, is perhaps the most important part of the whole picture. In fact, I think I'd put willingness and bravery as the #1 most important qualities that make up the temperament of the Fjordhorse. As you can tell, it really ticks me off to hear that some big-time trainers don't like Fjords. But, don't forget -- There are plenty of wonderful trainers who think Fjords are terrific! And those are probably the ones who can take the time to get to know Fjords. --- A man we've used for many years as a driving trainer was one of those. He insisted on doing his own grooming, tacking up, and untacking because doing those tasks gave him time to commune with the horse and get to know him, and vice-versa for the orse. -- He was right, of course, and I understood and approved even though I could have had people who were getting 1/3 of his pay do those jobs, thus freeing up the trainer to train more horses during the day. I hope I haven't been too long-winded or too strident on this subject, but I couldn't resist this topic. Happy New Year, Carol Rivoire http://www.beaverdamfarm.com Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II R.R. 7 Pomquet, Nova Scotia B2G 2L4 Tel:(902) 386-2304 Fax:(902) 386-2149 Carole Rivoire, author of THE FJORDHORSE HANDBOOK, only book in English on the Fjord breed, available from Beaver Dam Farm, $36.95 US includes P&H http://www.beaverdamfarm.com/book.htm
