BREED STANDARDS
Physical Characteristics

The desired height should range from 13.1 to 14.3 hands (135cm to 150cm) with heights either side of this range acceptable. The original ‘pony characteristics’ should not be lost in taller animals. Breeders note: continually breeding animals in excess of 15 hands (152cm) or smaller than 13 hands (132cm) must be discouraged and will usually result in the animals failing to enter the breeding stud book.
The body weight ranges around 850 to 1300 pounds, depending on type & bone structure.
 
Conformation
Body: should be well coupled with deep chest and girth.
Head:

should be of medium size with a broad, flat forehead. The face may be slightly dished.
Ears: should be fairly small and set wide.
Eyes: are set wide apart and should be large and round.
Muzzle: should be wide with large nostrils. The colour may be dark or ‘mealy’
Throat:

is very often very deep with well rounded jowls. It is important that it must be of sufficient quality to allow correct flexion at the poll without causing respiratory restriction.
Bite:

Incisors must be correctly occluded in mature animals. Stallion Association’s guidelines are applied.
Poll: should allow correct flexion.
Neck:

should be supple and in correct proportion to the entire body although it often appears short and heavy. The topline should be longer than the lower. This should naturally form an arch. A ewe neck is not acceptable.
Shoulder:

should have good angulation and be noticeable as distinct from the neck.
Chest:

should be deep and wide with obvious ‘heart room’ giving an impression of strength.
Girth: deep with good lung capacity and well sprung ribs.
Back:

broad with well defined muscular structure. Is often short but must be in proportion in mature animals.
Hind Quarters:

should give an impression of power, should be rounded and not toolight in comparison to the neck, shoulder and back.
Tail:

set reasonably high and should be carried in a natural position in movement.
Hocks: should appear large and well developed.
Legs:

should be clean with short cannons. In many good animals, the forearm is slightly longer than the cannon. Bone should be flat. Legs should be straight and level at rest and in movement.
Pasterns:

should provide sufficient angulation for smooth action and minimal jarring.
Hooves:

are large, strong and of good shape. They should appear as a continuation of the pasterns through the coronary band with plenty of ground contact.
 
Colour Variations And Markings
The Fjord in known in Scandinavia as ‘the yellow horse’. The nearest British equivalent is dun. Variations of dun are acceptable and the coat may vary in individuals .

Many Fjords have primitive markings with prominent horizontal zebra markings on legs. The forelegs are usually more heavily marked. Small dark marks can be seen over the eyes, especially in grey duns.
In individual animals variations of the markings occur. In some animals the markings are feint.
A prominent dorsal stripe runs from the poll to the tail. The mane hairs are dark in the centre and the outer hairs are light, often blonde. In red and yellow duns, the mane hairs are sometimes of a uniform colour. This is acceptable. In individual animals the dorsal stripe may be feint.
A white star is not encouraged but is acceptable. White on the legs is not permissible.
Ears can have dark outlines and tips.
Hooves are always dark.
 
The colour variations are as follows:
Norway Denmark Great Britain
1 brunblak gul yellow dun
 
This is the most common colour. The Fjord has a yellow body with black dorsal stripe running through the central mane hairs and down through the tail.
 
2 rodblakk redgul golden dun
 
This is the next most common colour. The Fjord has a yellow/gold body with brownish red hair running through dorsal stripe, through central mane hairs and down the tail. Sometimes the dorsal hairs are so light in colour that they almost blend in with the main body colour to the extent that they can barely be seen. In other Fjords the dorsal stripe is quite visible but the central mane and tail hairs are so light in colour that they can barely be seen. There are variations of these two extremes in individual animals.
 
3 gra gra grey dun
 
The Fjord has a grey body colour with black dorsal stripe running through central mane hairs and down through the tail.
 
4 ulsblakk ulsblak cream dun
 
The Fjord has a white to yellow/white body with black dorsal stripe running through central mane hairs and down through the tail. This colour variation is never referred to as white.
 
5 gulblakk gulblak
 
This is a very rare colour. The body is white, yellow / white. The contrasting hairs may be of the same colour or may be darker yellow (redbrown). This colour variant is so rare that we in Great Britain do not have our own interpretation of colour so we call it gulblakk as in Norway.
 
Mane
The mane of the Fjord Horse is trimmed in the traditional crescent shape to emphasise the neck and the mane’s unique two colours. The dark inner hairs are trimmed to stand one inch (2.54cm) higher than the blonde/cream outer hairs. The mane is also trimmed in the traditional crescent shape with the usually darker inner hairs trimmed to the same length as the outer hairs.
 
General
The Fjord is a gentle and willing worker. It has an excellent temperament and makes an ideal all purpose horse ideal for the family. It is hardy and sound with frugal habits. The Fjord is easily trained and can work for long periods with apparent effortlessness. It is vital that anyone breeding Fjords adheres strictly to the criteria above in order to ensure the continuation of the Fjord as bred and controlled in its native Scandinavia.
 
PUBLISHED BY THE FJORD HORSE NATIONAL STUD BOOK ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN