North Swedish Horse

Origin: Sweden.

Height: 15.1-15.3hh.

Color: Black, bay, brown, chestnut, dun.

Character: Active, willing, extremely good-natured.

Physique: Head rather large with a straight face and long ears, in some cases reminiscent of the original Forest type of Northern Europe. Short, crested neck, sturdy, sloping shoulder, and roomy chest. Long, deep body, broad and powerful. Round hindquarters with sloping croup. Excellent legs, short and clean, and with abundant bone. Large, round feet. Thick mane and tail.Moderate feather on heels. The general effect is of a strong-framed, long-bodied, muscular horse. It is frugal, long-lived, and of an excellent constitution. Action is clean, energetic, and long-striding.

The North Swedish horse sterns from a smaller native horse. Like most native domestic horses of all nations which were not of outstanding appearance, it was for centuries interbred indiscriminately with any available stallion. No distinct type was aimed at until 1890 when a breed society was formed and Dole-Gudbrandsdal stallions, which must be of the same basic stock, were introduced to provide uniformity.

This horse is exceptionally tractable and kind does well on almost any fare and is resistant to most diseases. It is thus an economic horse to handle in terms of labor, creating little extra work. It is valued by farmers and timbermen and has worked well as an artillery horse for the army.

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