The Finnhorse is the only multipurpose horse breed in Finland. 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, as well as a trotting and riding horse. Nowadays the main trend of using the Finnhorse is trotting. However, it is becoming more and more popular in other types of horse sports and hobbies, too.
The Finnhorse is about 156 cm high on the average and of a rather solid build. The most common colour is chestnut, and the hair is thick. It has a reliable and alert character.
The studbook for Finnhorses was founded in 1907. In 1971 it was divided into four breeding sections, which made it possible to specialize e.g. into breeding of trotters, riding horses and working horses, taking the use and the achievements of the horse as a basis. Nowadays there are about 19 000 Finnhorses, the most of which are trotters. The number of riding horses is about 2000, and the number of working horses about 1000.
The Finnhorse is not only the most many-sided horse breed in the world, but also one of the fastest coldblood breeds. The Finnish record 1.19,9a is held by the stallion Viesker.
Finnhorse trotting championship
The Finnhorse Trotting Championship, or Kuninkuusravit in Finnish, is the greatest event of the Finnish trotting year. The first races were driven in 1924 in the town of Lahti, and in the last decades this event has become one of the most attractive summer festivals in Finland with over 50 000 spectators. The Trotting Championship is an inseparable part of the Finnish trotting tradition. Year after year the Trotting King and the Trotting Queen get their names to the history.
Above all, the Finnhorse Trotting Championship is a tribute to the Finnhorse. The title of the Trotting King was won five times by the stallions Vieteri, Vekseli and Viesker, and four times by Tomu, Ero-Lohko and Patrik. The mare Valomerkki was crowned Queen four times.
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