The core of our instructional program is horses that are reliable, safe and kind. The majority of our lesson horses are registered Norwegian Fjord horses. Forth Downs began as a modest idea to move into San Diego's East County and have Sarah's horse live in the front yard. The plan was to buy a pony once kids came along, and possibly a trail horse for Jay. In the early eighties, Sarah and Jay saw a Norwegian Fjord Horse, for the first time, at the Calgary Stampede. Jay said right then that if he ever got his own horse it would be a Fjord.
After breeding Dutch Warmblood dressage horses, we have now turned our attention to Fjords. We first bought a mare, Hviske, and we have raised and trained her to be a lesson horse first for our boys , then for other students. Sarah has also competed with Hviske in dressage earning a 60% at 1st level. In 2005 we began acquiring and breeding additional Fjords.
Why did we want to change from Dutch Warmbloods to Fjords? As a young adult Sarah competed at high levels of dressage and eventing. Warmbloods can certainly excel at the higher levels of sport. They also can be just a bit high strung, especially those who are over half Thoroughbred! When we first got Hviske, Sarah was amazed at how quickly she learned and how un-flappable, and cheerful she was. New experiences that stressed out the warmbloods (clippers, trailer rides to strange places, trail rides with weird obstacles) she took in stride.
The whole family has ridden Hviske, now age 10, including Jay, Sarah, 2 sons, a daughter and 2 nieces. But best of all, as Sarah continued with Hviske's training, she realized that even though she was safe and gentle for beginners, she could still be trained to be a real dressage horse. For some Fjord owners versatility is defined as being able to show dressage and western, for some it is defined as riding and driving. For us versatility is defined as a horse who can give a satisfying ride to both a 10 year old kid and his mom who has riding for 40 years!
Hviske has proven herself as a second level dressage horse and also as a gentle enough horse for beginners to trail ride in the fjords of Jamul. She also assisted 3 boys age 11-14 to earn their horsemanship Merit badge. Hviske's athleticism and versatility come as no surprise. Her sire Valbjorn was a CDE winner and her dam Misty was ridden, jumped and driven in many different situations. She has now proven herself as a wonderful mother, having presented us with 3 lovely fillies, who have her steady temperament. Hviske was evaluated at the 2009 Fallbrook evaluation and received the highest score in English riding and a red ribbon in conformation.
Our beautiful mare, Nika is to our knowledge, the only Flotren daughter in California. Her dam, Annica, was an excellent eventing horse at the novice level. She had her first colt in January of 2008 and a filly in May of 2010. In addition to producing babies she took 3 different beginning riders to their first dressage schooling show in 2008, and was in the annual Jamul parade twice. She really liked the part of the parade where she got hugs from all the little girls! She’s a little mare and takes good care of younger riders. Nika was evaluated at the 2009 Fallbrook evaluation and got rave reviews for her extraordinarily beautiful face- a score of 8.5, and overall a red ribbon in conformation.
Valka is another Valbjorn daughter, out of a proven dressage mare, Katrina. She has taken several students to shows, and also participated in the Jamul parades. Valka is our best long line horse and will go steadily in circles as long as is required. Valka is also beautiful and has extensive tiger striping on her legs.
Malcom is one of several of the Gjest x Stine cross which has produced consistently high quality horses. Good conformation plus good temperament results in a horse capable of the performance you want. He has a beautiful extended trot. He has good self carriage, is naturally on the bit and learns quickly. Malcom loves to go out on a trail ride. His ground covering "tiger walk" and "let's go see that" attitude make trail riding fun and gives us a break from arena work. Malcom was born in Nova Scotia at Beaver Dam Farm. As a very young colt he received a life threatening Due to his injury it was unknown if he would be a performance horse or even sound enough to breed, but the Rivoires took the chance. When Malcolm was 2 he was purchased by Jon and Nancy Roemer of Star Sky Farms in Ohio. He was eventually trained to be ridden, but was never shown. When the Roemers decided to retire from the breeding business and concentrate on driving their remaining Malcom offspring, they believed that Malcom deserved a home where he could continue to have an opportunity to produce the high quality offspring that he has become known for. Meanwhile Sarah was just getting a Fjord breeding program started and had been looking for a horse of the Gjest line. That is how BDF Malcom Locke, born in Nova Scotia is now in sunny southern California. However market conditions have changed our business plans. So Malcom needed a new job and he has been added to our lesson string.
Chili Pepper is an aged Welsh pony cross. We bought her for our own children many years ago and she helps out in the lesson program when a small pony is required. But, even though she is small and old she still has lots of zip left.
Nepenthe is a Dutch Warmblood who has been shown to 4th level. He is reserved for more experienced riders with soft hands and confidence. Nepenthe is the last son of my 17 hand event mare and has lived his entire life at Forth Downs.
Home | Lessons | Sale Horses | Forth Downs News
Copyright J Haron, 2010