‘Vikings’ raise awareness of Norwegian fjord horses

Young fans of the ancient Norwegian fjord horse breed pose in Viking garb with several horses at Warrington Beach last week in a photo shoot designed to raise awareness of the rare horse breed. Pictured were (from left) June Ward, Olive Ward, Watson Ward, Bea Ward, Zelda Ward, Fin Coresi, Ariana Hampton and Fern Ward, wearing costumes created by Sian Hannagan, Bea Ward and Zoe Evens. Photo: Megan Hopkinson

Dunedin’s Warrington Beach and Baldwin St received some very special visitors last week, as fans of the Norwegian fjord horse took part in a Viking-themed photo shoot designed to raise awareness of the rare and ancient horse breed.

Members of Aotearoa New Zealand Norwegian Horse Manatopu group, more commonly called NZ Fjords, are collecting photographs of the horses in 2025 through themed photoshoots capturing the breed’s origins in Norway.

NZ Fjords president Megan Hopkinson said a group of Norwegian fjord horse fans gathered at Warrington Beach last week to ride and take photographs while wearing Viking-style garb created by Sian Hannagan, Bea Ward and Zoe Evens.

In addition, local woman Anna MacGibbon took her beautiful Norwegian fjord horse Blueridge Poppy on a visit to Baldwin St for a photoshoot.

Ms Hopkinson said the photographs were being collected to help promote the Norwegian fjord horse breed at events around New Zealand.

Norwegian fjord horse Blueridge Poppy, owned by local woman Anna MacGibbon, pays a visit to Baldwin St as part of a photo campaign to highlight the rare and ancient breed. Photo: supplied

"There are just shy of 70 fjords in New Zealand and [they] are still very unknown throughout Aotearoa," she said.

The next Otago event, Equisouth, is to be held at the Otago-Taieri A&P showgrounds in November, and Norwegian fjord horses will be part of the Rare Horse Society of New Zealand’s display at the event, alongside other rare and endangered horse breeds.

The society attended the event for the first time in 2023, aiming to bring together the largest gathering of rare horses in Aotearoa, Ms Hopkinson said.

The display featured globally endangered horse breeds such as the Norwegian fjord horse, Highland Pony, Paso Fino, Clydesdale, Morgan, Icelandic and the Timor pony — the Anzac pony.

"The displays are a great opportunity to promote these endangered horse breeds and to educate the public and equine professionals, as well as give them the opportunity to meet the breeds in person," she said.

Norwegian fjord horse lovers (from left) Olive Ward, June Ward and Zoe Evens wear Viking garb and ride on Warrington Beach last week, as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the rare and ancient breed.

"Some of the horse breeds are recovering from near extinction as little as 140 years ago, and some breeds are facing extinction without human intervention and conservation efforts.

"The Rare Horse Society of New Zealand is aiming to put on displays in all corners of Aotearoa and to help conservation efforts across the southern hemisphere and beyond."

The NZ Fjords society would like to host a yearly Norwegian viking festival to celebrate the "little draft horses from Norway, along with celebrating all things Norwegian heritage" in the coming years, Ms Hopkinson said.

Such a festival would be held in the South Canterbury/North Otago area.

Anyone interested in helping to bring such a festival to fruition is invited to express interest via email: nzfjords@gmail.com

brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz