Finnhorse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finnhorse
Urjala, an Finnhorse gelding, foaled 1988
Distinguishing features:	Dry and strongly muscled, with hard legs and good hooves.
Alternative names:	Finnish Horse, Finnish Universal
Country of origin:	Finland
Breed standards
Hippos:	Stds

The Finnhorse or Finnish Horse (Finnish: suomenhevonen, pet name: suokki) belongs to general horse breeds, having both warmblood and heavier draft blood influence and characteristics. The breed is also called the Finnish Universal in English, because it is said to fulfill all needs for horses in Finland, from agricultural work to speedy harness races to riding. Finnhorse is the only native horsebreed in Finland. Finnhorse is all-roundest and fastest coldblood in the world.

Contents 1 Breed characteristics 2 History 3 Present Finnhorse 4 Uses 4.1 Harness Racing 4.2 Riding 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Breed characteristics

Finnhorse is dry and strongly muscled, with hard legs, good limbs and good hooves. Finnhorse has a reliable and alert character. Most Finnhorses have relatively low, steady movements. Draught type are heavier and longer than horse of the trotter and riding horse types. Finnhorse has high pulling power. Size: Finnhorses typically stand 15-17 hands (150-170 cm) high, but pony-sized (under 148 cm high) Finnhorses are also bred. Temperament: Having a compliant nature, the Finnhorse is easily handled and has considerable speed, liveliness, endurance and longevity. Finnhorse are also forward-going, willing, hardy and tough horses. Colors: The main color is chestnut, often flaxen and with white markings commonly found on the face and legs. Other colors are bay and black and more rarely gray, roan, piebalds, palomino or silver dapple. In 2000 most Finnhorses were different chestnut variations (92%), brown horses (6%) and blacks (1,2 %).

[edit] History

The Finnhorse is a descendant of the northern European domestic horse and resembles such breeds as the Estonian Native, but its exact descent is unclear. The Finnhorse is purebred; no outside influences have been allowed since the studbook of the breed was established in 1907 (While accidental and even intentional Finnhorse crosses are born sometimes, the resulting animals tend to neither look good nor perform well). The Studbook is kept by Suomen Hippos.The earliest signs of this horse are dated back to the Bronze Age, and its known history is about a thousand years old. It has played an important part in all the events of the Finnish history, being used for various purposes in the army and as a workhorse.In 1924 it was ordered that breeding of the Finnhorse be divided into two branches.

[edit] Present Finnhorse

There are now about 20,000 Finnhorses in Finland, and about 1,000 foals born every year. In the 1950s, there were 400,000 Finnhorses, most of them drafts; the huge decline in their numbers (due to diminishing demand for horses for agricultural work) stopped in the 1980s, however, and the Finnhorse population is now slowly increasing. Finnhorse would probably not have survived had it not been used for trotting races as well as agricultural work.

There are few Finnhorses outside Finland, although they have been imported in small numbers to, e.g., Germany and some small-scale breeding has also taken place abroad. Finnhorses have never been popular abroad.

All Finnish horses have had a registration number since 1971. There are four breeding section : J = trot-, R = riding-, T = work- and P = pony-horse. Some horses are registered in several breeding lines. In 2007 Finnhorse celebrate its 100 year old studbook.

[edit] Uses

Nowadays approximately 75 % of Finnhorses are used in harness racing, with riding uses coming next. Many Finnhorses are used for multiple purposes, starting their career in trotting races and later moving on to riding, sometimes with considerable success. Finnhorses take part in both their own competitions and open classes in dressage, show jumping and eventing and are also used in endurance riding, Western riding and - quite successfully - combined driving. There are few draft horses left. Approximately 1000 Finnhorses are used in teaching and therapy. Finnhorses are popular family horses.

[edit] Harness Racing

The Finnhorse is not only one of the most versatile horse breed in the world, but also one of the fastest coldblood breeds. Finnhorse harness races have been held in Finland since the second half of the 19th century, with the official annual Finnhorse racing championships (Kuninkuusravit) starting in 1924, and they continue to be a popular spectator (and betting) sport.

The most successful Finnish trotter is the stallion Viesker ^[1]. Viesker won the Championships five times in a row in 1996-2000 and it was the first Finnhorse to trot below 1.20,0 (1,19,9a in 2002). Nowadays the Finnhorse trot-racing record 1.19,4a is held by the stallion Sipori ^[2]. The most successful male Finnish trotter is the I.P Sukkula ^[3]. I.P Sukkula won three times the title Trotting Queen in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

[edit] Riding

The Finnhorse is well-suited for all crosscountry riding, such as endurance, crosscountry skill competitions and ski-riding. A Finnhorse, Uusi-Helinä ^[4] (ridden by Ritva Lampinen), successfully finished the endurance riding world championship competition in Stockholm, Sweden in 1990, coming 28th. There are some successful dressage stallion such as Kelmi ^[5] and Jaime ^[6] . Most of the Finnhorses compete dressage on a national 4th level (US) or Grade IV (GB). There are each year some Finnhorses that compete show jumping in the 130cm classes. Finnhorses are good show jumpers because they are reliable. Also Finnhorse is a good for combined driving. A Finnhorse, Jehun Viima ^[7] (driven by Heidi Sinda), was a member of the Finnish singles driving team that came 2nd at the driving world championships in Conty, France in 2002. Finnhorses are also used in the hiking stables and in the riding schools.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Significance of the Finnish Horse in the Winter War and the Continuation War
• Satu M's Finnhorse Page - Photographs address the different coat colors of the Finnhorse
• Suomenratsut - A Finnish organization that works for the conservation of the breed by promoting their use as riding horses
• Suomen Hippos - Get to know Finnhorse
• Hevosmaailma.net - A lot of pictures of the Finnhorse (Finnish)
• Sukuposti.net - Pedigree database
• Suomen Hippos - The Finnish Trotting and Breeding Association
• Suomenhevosliitto ry - The Finnhorse Association (Finnish)
• Suomen Työhevosseura ry - The Draught horse Association (Finnish)