Horse Riding Holidays In NORWAY

Norway is the second least densely populated country in Europe making it an ideal destination for a horse riding holiday. Norway's largest border is to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east. Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords and gives its name to the famous Fjord horses.

Today there are four different Norwegian horse breeds: The Norwegian Fjord horse, the North Norwegian mountain horse and the Norwegian work horse adn the Dolahest heavy horse. In addition to these four horse breeds, the national horse breed of Iceland, the Iceland pony, descends from the Norwegian Viking horse. The Fjord Horse is one of the world’s oldest horse breeds, and it is probably quite closely linked to the ancient North Asian wild horse and has a distinctive dorsal stripe. They are utilized equally for driving and riding and are incredibly surefooted on steep mountains slopes and rough ground. 

We offer 4 riding holidays in Norway, all in the mountains and encompassing some of the most quintessentially Norwegian scenery and culture:

Journey to Roros
A traditional journey with Dolahest and Swedish cold blood horses to the UNESCO heritage town of Roros, the site of a market every winter for hundreds of years. This is a fabulous holiday which does not include any riding! Unless you take this as an option. You will mostly be preparing for a sled ride where you will drive the horses to the town of Roros. As well as this, you will have a go at reindeer driving, cross country skiing, ice fishing and dog sledging. A really memorable experience not to be missed!

Two centuries of Viking raids tapered off following the adoption of Christianity by King Olav Tryggvason in 994. A period of civil war ended in the 13th century when Norway expanded its control overseas to parts of Britain, Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland. Norwegian territorial power peaked in 1265, but in 1380, Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted more than four centuries. In 1814, Norwegians resisted the cession of their country to Sweden and adopted a new constitution. Sweden then invaded Norway. Rising nationalism throughout the 19th century led to a 1905 referendum granting Norway independence.

Norway is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act.

Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, fresh water, and hydropower. The country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world. On a per-capita basis, it is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East, and the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product.

The southern and western parts of Norway experience more precipitation and have milder winters than the southeastern part. The lowlands around Oslo have the warmest and sunniest summers but also cold weather and snow in wintertime.

Because of Norway's high latitude, there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the Arctic Circle (hence Norway's description as the "Land of the Midnight Sun"), and the rest of the country experiences up to 20 hours of daylight per day. Conversely, from late November to late January, the sun never rises above the horizon in the north, and daylight hours are very short in the rest of the country.

Stunning and dramatic scenery and landscape is found throughout Norway. The west coast of southern Norway and the coast of northern Norway present some of the most visually impressive coastal sceneries in the world. The Norwegian fjords have been described as the world's top tourist attraction.