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Our Breeding Program, "Disposition, Conformation, Versatility" is our passion, vision and mission.
Of all the stallions we looked at from 1981 to 1985, only three stallions, Rudaren, Orrjo and Leidjo , fit
in with our expectations of the Anvil's Acres Fjord Horse.
Our mission to breed the best Norwegian Fjord Horses in the WORLD lead us to mortgage our farm
and import these three stallions to Canada. Such was our commitment to the Fjord Breed.
When we started out in the early 70's, we thought that Rusten and his brothers and sisters, who were
our first Fjords, where typical of the Fjord Breed. We found out that the people-oriented Fjord with an
incredible work ethic, tough feet and sound legs , (which we had come to expect) were not created
equally.
That is when our breeding goals where formed and we decided to go to the Motherland and buy from
Norway. We ended up importing the three stallions and 17 mares.
Orville was a farrier (horse shoer) at this time and the sound legs and feet is what drew him to the
breed along with their willing disposition. When we started looking around the rest of North America
and Europe, we found it hard to find the good straight legs and balanced conformation of our mares
at home.
The Fjord traditionally had great front ends but sadly lacking in the hindquarters. We wanted breeding
stock to be AS GOOD OR BETTER than what we had at home. We picked mares and stallions that had
a good length of hip and lots of muscling inside and outside the gaskin muscle while maintaining our
primary requirement of Disposition. Orville found a mare of his dreams but turned her down because
she had a "pig eye". Disposition has always been our primary goal.
This is why our Fjords today are balanced in their conformation and lead long, healthy, happy lives,
with few soundness problems.
Over the years we have SUCCESSFULLY competed in and used our Fjord horses for:
Sometimes using the same Fjords for ploughing contests and horse pulls when people said that
was impossible to do.
Our Fjords have paid for everything that we own and allowed OUR FAMILY TO LEAD AN INCREDIBLE
LIFE with our Norwegian Fjord Horses.
But don't just take my word for it. Listen to what our customers say!
Of all the stallions we looked at from 1981 to 1985, only three stallions, Rudaren, Orrjo and Leidjo , fit
in with our expectations of the Anvil's Acres Fjord Horse.
Our mission to breed the best Norwegian Fjord Horses in the WORLD lead us to mortgage our farm
and import these three stallions to Canada. Such was our commitment to the Fjord Breed.
When we started out in the early 70's, we thought that Rusten and his brothers and sisters, who were
our first Fjords, where typical of the Fjord Breed. We found out that the people-oriented Fjord with an
incredible work ethic, tough feet and sound legs , (which we had come to expect) were not created
equally.
That is when our breeding goals where formed and we decided to go to the Motherland and buy from
Norway. We ended up importing the three stallions and 17 mares.
Orville was a farrier (horse shoer) at this time and the sound legs and feet is what drew him to the
breed along with their willing disposition. When we started looking around the rest of North America
and Europe, we found it hard to find the good straight legs and balanced conformation of our mares
at home.
The Fjord traditionally had great front ends but sadly lacking in the hindquarters. We wanted breeding
stock to be AS GOOD OR BETTER than what we had at home. We picked mares and stallions that had
a good length of hip and lots of muscling inside and outside the gaskin muscle while maintaining our
primary requirement of Disposition. Orville found a mare of his dreams but turned her down because
she had a "pig eye". Disposition has always been our primary goal.
This is why our Fjords today are balanced in their conformation and lead long, healthy, happy lives,
with few soundness problems.
Over the years we have SUCCESSFULLY competed in and used our Fjord horses for:
- Draft Shows
- Pleasure Driving Shows
- Ploughing Matches
- Horse Pulls
- Combined Driving Events
- Ridden Dressage Shows
- Ridden Pleasure Shows
- Commercial Horse Logging
- Farming
- And all manner of chores around the property.
Sometimes using the same Fjords for ploughing contests and horse pulls when people said that
was impossible to do.
Our Fjords have paid for everything that we own and allowed OUR FAMILY TO LEAD AN INCREDIBLE
LIFE with our Norwegian Fjord Horses.
But don't just take my word for it. Listen to what our customers say!
FjordHorseForSale.com
Anvil's Acres
"Disposition, Conformation, Versatility" Since 1973
Anvil's Acres
"Disposition, Conformation, Versatility" Since 1973
"Ole is what People think a Fjord is, Gentle,
Willing, Athletic, Quiet, Brave, People
orientated and he is so much more, all
THANKS to Anvil Acres."
Willing, Athletic, Quiet, Brave, People
orientated and he is so much more, all
THANKS to Anvil Acres."
| 250-483-0891 anvilsacres@ fjordhorseforsale.com |
"We have raised Norwegian
Fjord Horses for more than 30
years, had more than 200 foals,
competed SUCCESSFULLY in
numerous events, and are
widely known as having some of
the BEST Fjords in the World by
many of our competitors!!"
Anita Unrau
Anvil's Acres
FjordHorseForSale.com
Fjord Horses for more than 30
years, had more than 200 foals,
competed SUCCESSFULLY in
numerous events, and are
widely known as having some of
the BEST Fjords in the World by
many of our competitors!!"
Anita Unrau
Anvil's Acres
FjordHorseForSale.com
| Anita Unrau |
| -Patti Jo Walter |
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Roger and Diane WhitneyAs you can see by the above TESTIMONIALS, our Anvil's Acres Fjord Horses are OUTSTANDING and
show our 30 plus years of dedication to the Norwegian Fjord Horse.
All of these years of experience are available TO YOU when you purchase your Anvil's Acres Fjord
Horse. We are willing to answer your questions and help with any problems you may encounter while
you own your Anvil's Fjord you bought from us.
We have the best Fjord Horse For Sale for YOU!
show our 30 plus years of dedication to the Norwegian Fjord Horse.
All of these years of experience are available TO YOU when you purchase your Anvil's Acres Fjord
Horse. We are willing to answer your questions and help with any problems you may encounter while
you own your Anvil's Fjord you bought from us.
We have the best Fjord Horse For Sale for YOU!
ANVIL'S ACRES HISTORY
The Beginning
Our life together started when Anita bought a grade mare from Orville in 1970 while she was living in Calgary and Orville resided
in Cochrane, west of Calgary. We were married in October 1972 and after a short time working on the west coast we returned to
Alberta. In one of those quirks of fate we heard of an opportunity to start up and manage a riding stable at Happy Valley, just
outside Calgary. Orville traveled to all the spring horse sales looking for suitable "dude horses" that we could use in our new
venture. In March 1973 he was at the Airdrie Horse sale when a funny looking dun horse came through. Orville described him as
a half horse and half Jersey cow. Big brown eyes, oatmeal nose, strange brown dun color, with a stripe that run from his ears to
the end of his tail. "George" was a three year old untrained gelding that sold as a meat horse. Orville liked his kind brown eye and
easy trainable nature (twice jumped on him with just a halter and rode up and down the alleyway in the pens at the back of the
auction market). Orville gave the meat buyer $5.00 for the ticket and bought George for the sum of $57.50.
The First Fjord
We used George for riding on the trails as well as cleaning the barn and hay rides. In three months George went from an
untrained horse to a gentle mount that the smallest child was riding on the trails. George always knew how to give that perfect
ride to the special ones.
After seeing this metamorphous of George we knew that the Norwegian Fjord was the type of horse that we wanted to raise and
get more involved with. An added bonus was the fact that we could ride or drive these horses. We sold the Belgian pair, the dude
business and gradually phased out of the buying and selling of other breeds, concentrating on just the Norwegian Fjord.
Sundre - Anvil's Acres
During these beginning years we moved to Sundre, north and west of Calgary and eventually in 1977 bought our first farm,
consisting of 160 acres in the small hamlet of Bergen, south of Sundre.
During this time we traced rumors of other Fjords, found more owners and breeders, bought as many as we could and eventually
helped to form the Canadian Fjord Horse Association. There were about 75 Fjord horses in Canada at this time.
The First Stallion
The first stallion we bought was a full brother to George called Rusten, or Rusty for short. Most of our mares were his sisters, so
we could not use him as much as we would have liked to. So in 1981 we decided to make the big plunge, mortgage the farm and
go to Norway to import a new stallion.
Europe
We flew to Germany, rented a car and drove to Eitenmuller Farm where Reinhold, who we had met in Canada, took us around the
German countryside looking at Fjords. Helena Klement, who also came with us bought her fillies from there. On to Norway we
drove. For two weeks with the help of Jon Hegdal and many new found friends we searched farms from the south to the north of
Norway looking for the right Stallion with the disposition, conformation, depth, size, bone and charisma that we were looking for. It
was almost time to come back to Canada when we finally saw the stallion we wanted. Rudaren, as a three year old, had all the
characteristics we were looking for plus more. Here finally was the stallion we had come thousands of miles to see and spent
thousands of dollars to get there but he was not for sale. After two days of negotiations and much prodding by the Norwegian
Government officials the transaction was made and we returned home. In May of 1981 Rudaren landed at the Edmonton
International Airport and our dreams of a breeding program could begin.
Importing the Bloodlines
During that spring trip we had seen several mares we liked so October found us back in Norway with the snow coming down the
mountain instead of receding up the mountains. After three weeks traveling up and down the west coast of Norway we finally
selected the mares we wanted. During the winter and spring of 1981/1982 seventeen mares made the long trip from Norway to
Alberta. For the first time Canada now had a good selection of bloodlines to choose from for the breeding of Fjord Horses. A
number of these in-utero foals' bloodlines are still active in the Fjord world today.
Creation of a New Bloodline
Rudaren was the cornerstone of our entire breeding program. We breed for a well balanced, athletic Fjord that could compete
successfully in numerous equine sports yet retain the incredible disposition we had come to know with George, our first one.
Soon we had daughters of Rudaren's of breeding age and nowhere could we find a stallion we wanted to bred them too. Back to
Norway in December of 1985 and again after two weeks of looking we decided to come home empty handed when Jon Hegdal
said maybe we could look in the north of Norway. We took a small plane up north and there we found not one but two stallions we
felt would enhance our breeding program. Orville could not choose whether to go with Orrjo, the draftiest Fjord stallion we had
ever seen or the more general purpose, short bunchy muscled, classy looking Leidjo. In the end after much phoning back and
forth to the banker we decided to get both of them. Five weeks after arriving in Canada, Norway became a CEM country and it has
been difficult to get mature stallions from there ever since.
A New Home
In 1986 we sold the farm in Alberta and bought 28 acres in Armstrong, B.C. It was to be a temporary property until we could find
the one we really wanted. While enroute to the Fjord show in Woodstock, Vermont, we were informed by our realtor that our farm
had sold and closing had to be in 30 days. We were committed to delivering the horses we had sold and showing at the
Woodstock event. When we finally got home we had nine days to close on the property in Rock Creek we had an option on,
finalize the paperwork for the Armstrong property, move 50 plus head of horses, equipment, household effects etc. I stayed in
Rock Creek, Orville made the round trip as many times a day as he could loading and unloading and we were finally done.
Our Passion
We have been involved with the Norwegian Fjords since 1973, had over two hundred foals, seen the breed evolve from a
thousand or so in North America to the popular breed it is today. Traveled Europe and North America, sent horses to the Islands
of Bermuda and Hawaii, as well as Alaska and all over continental US and Canada, had horses in several movies, won
numerous awards at pleasure shows, Draft Shows, Three Day Eventing, Dressage Shows, Horse Pulls, Combined Driving and
just had fun with our Fjords. Everything we own and have done over the last 30 odd years have been as a result of our
involvement with the Norwegian Fjord Horse.
The Beginning
Our life together started when Anita bought a grade mare from Orville in 1970 while she was living in Calgary and Orville resided
in Cochrane, west of Calgary. We were married in October 1972 and after a short time working on the west coast we returned to
Alberta. In one of those quirks of fate we heard of an opportunity to start up and manage a riding stable at Happy Valley, just
outside Calgary. Orville traveled to all the spring horse sales looking for suitable "dude horses" that we could use in our new
venture. In March 1973 he was at the Airdrie Horse sale when a funny looking dun horse came through. Orville described him as
a half horse and half Jersey cow. Big brown eyes, oatmeal nose, strange brown dun color, with a stripe that run from his ears to
the end of his tail. "George" was a three year old untrained gelding that sold as a meat horse. Orville liked his kind brown eye and
easy trainable nature (twice jumped on him with just a halter and rode up and down the alleyway in the pens at the back of the
auction market). Orville gave the meat buyer $5.00 for the ticket and bought George for the sum of $57.50.
The First Fjord
We used George for riding on the trails as well as cleaning the barn and hay rides. In three months George went from an
untrained horse to a gentle mount that the smallest child was riding on the trails. George always knew how to give that perfect
ride to the special ones.
After seeing this metamorphous of George we knew that the Norwegian Fjord was the type of horse that we wanted to raise and
get more involved with. An added bonus was the fact that we could ride or drive these horses. We sold the Belgian pair, the dude
business and gradually phased out of the buying and selling of other breeds, concentrating on just the Norwegian Fjord.
Sundre - Anvil's Acres
During these beginning years we moved to Sundre, north and west of Calgary and eventually in 1977 bought our first farm,
consisting of 160 acres in the small hamlet of Bergen, south of Sundre.
During this time we traced rumors of other Fjords, found more owners and breeders, bought as many as we could and eventually
helped to form the Canadian Fjord Horse Association. There were about 75 Fjord horses in Canada at this time.
The First Stallion
The first stallion we bought was a full brother to George called Rusten, or Rusty for short. Most of our mares were his sisters, so
we could not use him as much as we would have liked to. So in 1981 we decided to make the big plunge, mortgage the farm and
go to Norway to import a new stallion.
Europe
We flew to Germany, rented a car and drove to Eitenmuller Farm where Reinhold, who we had met in Canada, took us around the
German countryside looking at Fjords. Helena Klement, who also came with us bought her fillies from there. On to Norway we
drove. For two weeks with the help of Jon Hegdal and many new found friends we searched farms from the south to the north of
Norway looking for the right Stallion with the disposition, conformation, depth, size, bone and charisma that we were looking for. It
was almost time to come back to Canada when we finally saw the stallion we wanted. Rudaren, as a three year old, had all the
characteristics we were looking for plus more. Here finally was the stallion we had come thousands of miles to see and spent
thousands of dollars to get there but he was not for sale. After two days of negotiations and much prodding by the Norwegian
Government officials the transaction was made and we returned home. In May of 1981 Rudaren landed at the Edmonton
International Airport and our dreams of a breeding program could begin.
Importing the Bloodlines
During that spring trip we had seen several mares we liked so October found us back in Norway with the snow coming down the
mountain instead of receding up the mountains. After three weeks traveling up and down the west coast of Norway we finally
selected the mares we wanted. During the winter and spring of 1981/1982 seventeen mares made the long trip from Norway to
Alberta. For the first time Canada now had a good selection of bloodlines to choose from for the breeding of Fjord Horses. A
number of these in-utero foals' bloodlines are still active in the Fjord world today.
Creation of a New Bloodline
Rudaren was the cornerstone of our entire breeding program. We breed for a well balanced, athletic Fjord that could compete
successfully in numerous equine sports yet retain the incredible disposition we had come to know with George, our first one.
Soon we had daughters of Rudaren's of breeding age and nowhere could we find a stallion we wanted to bred them too. Back to
Norway in December of 1985 and again after two weeks of looking we decided to come home empty handed when Jon Hegdal
said maybe we could look in the north of Norway. We took a small plane up north and there we found not one but two stallions we
felt would enhance our breeding program. Orville could not choose whether to go with Orrjo, the draftiest Fjord stallion we had
ever seen or the more general purpose, short bunchy muscled, classy looking Leidjo. In the end after much phoning back and
forth to the banker we decided to get both of them. Five weeks after arriving in Canada, Norway became a CEM country and it has
been difficult to get mature stallions from there ever since.
A New Home
In 1986 we sold the farm in Alberta and bought 28 acres in Armstrong, B.C. It was to be a temporary property until we could find
the one we really wanted. While enroute to the Fjord show in Woodstock, Vermont, we were informed by our realtor that our farm
had sold and closing had to be in 30 days. We were committed to delivering the horses we had sold and showing at the
Woodstock event. When we finally got home we had nine days to close on the property in Rock Creek we had an option on,
finalize the paperwork for the Armstrong property, move 50 plus head of horses, equipment, household effects etc. I stayed in
Rock Creek, Orville made the round trip as many times a day as he could loading and unloading and we were finally done.
Our Passion
We have been involved with the Norwegian Fjords since 1973, had over two hundred foals, seen the breed evolve from a
thousand or so in North America to the popular breed it is today. Traveled Europe and North America, sent horses to the Islands
of Bermuda and Hawaii, as well as Alaska and all over continental US and Canada, had horses in several movies, won
numerous awards at pleasure shows, Draft Shows, Three Day Eventing, Dressage Shows, Horse Pulls, Combined Driving and
just had fun with our Fjords. Everything we own and have done over the last 30 odd years have been as a result of our
involvement with the Norwegian Fjord Horse.
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| Copyright 2007 by Anvil's Acres - All Rights Reserved |