Finnhorse: All About this Horse Breed

The Finnhorse has been bred in Finland exclusively for more than100 years. The few Finnhorses outside of Finland are in Sweden and Germany.

2007 is a special year for this Finnish breed because Finland celebrates the 100th anniversary from the first established studbook for the breed in 1907. It is unclear what breeds were crossed before 1907 but Russian Orlov and European domestic horse are some likely descents of the breed.

The Finnhorse was earlier used mostly as a workhorse in the farms. 1924 breed was split in two types, heavier draft horse and lighter built type which would be used for riding and driven under carriage. Lighter type was also called "war horse" and Finnish horses served on the war and were very important part of the success of the Finnish army in the war-fronts from 1939 to 1945.

Even before the war the Finnhorse was used as a trotter. Hugely popular trotting competition to select the trotting king of the year in Finland was contested first time in 1924. After the war 1948 next to the kings mares would compete for the title of the trotting queen of the country. This competition draws over 60,000 people every year to celebrate Finland's own super stars.

The Finnhorse was most popular in 1950 when there was over 400,000 Finnhorses registered in Finland. Need for these great horses in Finland declined rapidly when tractors and other machinery took over in the farming industry. The lowest number of registered Finnhorses was 1987 when only about 14,000 Finnhorses were counted for!

1971 was an important year in the history of the Finnhorse. This versatile breed was split to be registered for four different types that year! You could get your horse judged and approved to be a draft type, trotting type, riding horse type or miniature type. To be approved to get to any of these books horses still have to be approved by the Finnish judges and meet the conformation, type and quality requirements. Only the very best one's will be priced with 1st class stamp.

Today about 75% of Finnhorses are trotters and breeding and racing industry has kept this breed alive and slowly it is gaining popularity among the Finns again, now there is almost 20,000 Finnhorses registered and many younger Finns have learned how great Finnish horses are to be used as riding horses for many different styles from dressage to jumping.

There is also very devoted group breeding heavier draft type horses and that type can pull double their weight and is still very helpful and easy to manage animal to use in any type of farm work.

The Finnhorse is not very tall, they seldom stand over 16 hands but there is some registered horses over 18 hands tall. This breed is quite compact and trotting type does not resemble heavy draft horses but is more of an universal horse which is suitable for anything they are pointed for. Breed is very healthy and they typically have big strong hooves and great stamina and are easy to handle.

Many owners of these magnificent animals will testify that the Finnhorse is very smart and will try to please their owners any way possible. Stallions are very masculine comparing to the mares but rarely mean. I myself learned how to handle a horse by caring for a big Finnhorse stallion while I was only 10-years-old. This smart horse would never try to hurt me and ever since then I've had plenty respect for the breed.

This year Finns will celebrate their own horse and I believe the Finnhorse just might be one of the best kept secrets in the world, maybe Finnish people just want to keep all these great horses to themselves! Later this year there is a National Celebration for the breed in Finland and yes, you can even buy a bottle of good wine saluting this versatile horse breed which has been such a big part of Finnish history.

If you want to see some beautiful photos of the Finnhorses and find out more about this breed, I recommend you to click on reference link I did include, it opens a longer English booklet in Adobe format.