b'breeding programs. They had excellent horsemanship and and training skills, and brought current, progressive ideas to the industry.With them, Smedsmo had a great start, both as a performance horse, and as a stallion.As a stallion prospect, Smedsmo Gren was shown as a yearling, at 2 years old and again as a 3-year-old at the Fjord Horse Center in Nordfjordeid. The 3-year-old show is a combination of a standard evaluation and a horse show, where horses can be ranked in quality.On average, somewhere around twenty-five 3-year-old stallions may participate at any given year and approximately half to one-third of the horses may receive breeding licenses (although this varies from year to year).In the end, a few exceptional stallions may be ranked in Long may you Run 2018 Photo and Permission byquality.Smedsmo Gren was ranked and received 2nd and 3rd places at each Jacklynn Matthews show. At 3 years old, approved stallions are given temporary breeding licenses until they are shown again as 5-year-olds for their final inspections.Phillip Odden, who speaks Norwegian fluently, traveled to evaluations in Norway and studied with Fjord Horse judges there, having the goal of learning to see Fjord Horses through the eyes of Fjord Horse experts in Norway. On one of these trips in 2001, Phil witnessed Smedsmo Gren doing his station test as a 5-year-old. The grey stallion had first been licensed as a breeding stallion at age 3 years. The station test for the five-year-old stallions consisted of several performance tests, such as both trail riding and dressage, carriage driving and draft, free movement over jumps, and behavior in the stall. The stallions also received a score for temperament. During this test, all licensed five-year-old stallions Golden Boy 2016 Photo and permission by Jacklynnwere evaluated over a five-week period by two professional horse trainers.Matthews At the end of the five-week test, the horses were evaluated again by a team of five Fjord evaluators over a three-day period at the annual stallion show. As recorded in the official Norwegian Stud Book, Smedsmo earned a 10 for temperament, 10 for behavior in the stall, 10 for driving in traffic, 10 in draft driving, and 9 for movement. Considering that his 5-week stallion tests put him in the top 10% of all Fjord stallions tested in Norway (and 85% of the stallions in any one year dont make it to the stallion tests), Smedsmo Gren is in a very elite group. Smedsmos sire, Lisjegren N-92-2877, standing in Belgium at the time, also had a 10-point disposition. FollowingtheinspectionsinNorway,variousclubsandindividualsseek quality stallions to lease and turn out with mares in pasture. The stallions are left to cover mares for a period of time and then moved to another region or country to better distribute genetics. As a young, approved stallion, Smedsmo Dancing in the Grass 2019 Photo and permission by Lianne Miller Gren was leased to Christian Sagflatten of Norway to pasture breed mares.Sagflatten was a horse trader of the first degree, and it was at this time that Phil Odden visited his farm and purchased Smedsmo for breeding overseas. Smedsmo arrived at the Odden Family Farm in Wisconsin just in time for the festivities to begin for Phil Oddens 50th birthday celebration!Smedsmo Gren is certainly one of the finest and most unusual stallions everimportedtotheUnitedStatesfromNorway.Smedsmosslategray coloring hosting dark points made him inviting to the eye. His long forelock overahandsomeheadwithastrikinglylarge,kindeye,weretemptations to the heart.his well proportioned up-headed horse stood 14.1 hands with pronounced withers, nicely shaped neck attached high on the shoulders, very good legs, and plenty of bone.He was blessed with good athletic ability and a long, ground covering stride at the walk, trot, and canter. With his excellent disposition, Smedsmo certainly contributed to the high standards of our breed and offered genetics to maintain the outstanding qualities that we love so much.Additionally, Smedsmo may be the only registered Fjord stallion that has produced all five Fjord Horse colors, including the elusive yellow dun.My Funny Valentine 2016 Photo and Permission by Lisa Hershkowitz14 Fjord Herald Issue #149Winter 2023'