Elysetar gave birth to a filly at midnight, 19th of June 2013. Photo by Jenni Suhonen

Little filly was born 19th of June 2013 at 00.01. She is a chestnut with beautiful head marking, like a shooting star! More pictures to come, but feel free to take a look at our foaling camera in Elyse’s box by clicking here. We’ll leave the camera on to give you an opportunity to check out how the girls are doing. :)

 ”Our aim is to have a race similar to Åby Stora Pris, but for coldblood trotters”, tells Kaj Närhinen, the manager of Romme and Rättvik race tracks.

“We invite eight coldblood trotters from Sweden, Norway and Finland. The race takes place on the last Friday of July (26th). The competition consists of two races, first in 2140 m and then in 1640 m. If one horse wins both races, it wins the overall competition as well. If a different horse wins these races, we will have a third race in 1140 m distance.”

The overall winner has a chance to gather prizes worth 300 000 kr. “The prizes are the same level as in Elitkampen, so we hope to get the best horses to compete. Unfortunately the timing rules out the best finnhorse stallions and mares because the finnhorse trotting championships takes place in the same weekend (July 27th-28th), but on the other hand this is a great opportunity for geldings like Pihlajan Aaroni!”

“We hope that coldblood racing enthusiasts welcome this competition to their calendar. The collision with finnhorse trotting championships is unfortunate, but it’s because the racing calendar was already made when I started here in January and the last Friday of July is a traditional racing day in Romme” says Närhinen.

Kristin, a traveller from Australia, visited Kamisak Farm in Finnish Lapland in March 2013 and went for a ride on a finnhorse. You can read more about her adventures around the world in her blog “A Pair of Boots and a Backpack”, linked above.

What comes to mind when you think of animals in Lapland? Reindeer? Huskies? Polar bears (and no, they don’t actually live there)?

One animal I certainly wouldn’t have thought of before I went to Finnish Lapland was the horse. Like the cows that didn’t last very long in Honningsvåg, I thought horses wouldn’t survive in such a tough land, one that wouldn’t provide them with much food in the winter or temperatures that they would be comfortable in.

It turns out that I was very wrong. Finland is actually home to its own breed of horse, the Finnhorse, that is confusingly called a “cold-blooded horse.” No, they haven’t found a way to make a horse that’s not a warm-blooded mammal; in this case “cold-blooded” means that the horses are “muscular, heavy-set horses that are bred to be calm, steady, and patient.” Read more

I have a few ideas in storage, but I would like to hear your suggestions. So please, tell me what would make you click that submit button?

A nicely edited and sporty looking video resume about all kinds of things you can do with a finnhorse. :)

Video by SpiderTiipa

Tuulensuun Sinuhe, photo by Heini Luttinen

The song on the video is “Juokse sinä humma” sung by Tapio Rautavaara. Translation for the lyrics at Lyricstranslate.com:

Intiaani is a splashed white! (photo from the source article at hevosurheilu.fi)

It has been widely argued wether this rare color gene exists in finnhorses or not. Valto Klemola, a scientist who researched color genetics already in the 1930s, said it did, and now his theory has been proved true. Splashed white is said to be extremely rare and wanted color on horses.

There are multiple examples of finnhorses with exceptionally big white markings, both in living horses and in old photos. But still there seems to have been some lack of evidence that wasn’t known until now. The gene test had to wait until 2012. It was made in Davis University in California, and the test showed that this gene is indeed found in the finnhorse.

The horse that was tested is called Intiaani. She was tested for splashed white and sabino genes. Sabino test came out negative, but the current gene technology can only find one of the many mutations that gives the sabino coloring, so she might be a carrier of some other mutation. Intiaani is a heterozygous splashed white, which means that she got it from either her sire Turtuma or dam R.R. Vilma.

“Hevonen” by Viivi Huuskonen available at the Blurb Bookstore.

Just to inform and celebrate, since I can’t help but be excited about this. It’s a milestone! My first book!

“Hevonen” (horse) is my self-initiated college project. It’s a 20-page book with hard image wrap cover. I made the first order of these books for my friends and family, and got them a few days ago.

I can assure you it’s a quality print job, and I’m very happy with it. The poem I wrote and illustrated for the book is my ode for the horse, a way of showing my thankfulness for everything they have taught me during the years.

You can see the book on e-preview at the Blurb Bookstore. The bookstore price is 32.89€ or 38.24$.

For now it’s only available in Finnish, but here’s a translation of the poem:

“The Horse

They say that you live in a moment
but you have the knowledge of a thousand years in you
from this life and the past.

You carry the weight of the world
silently, without complain.

One earns respect only then
when he stops asking for it
you have taught me that
through countless mistakes.

When I’m telling others about you
I tell more about myself
what I am and what I would like to be.

You show me what I am.
Thank you, my friend, the horse.”