Serina , S1, G4, V (5/4/79 - 10/28/08) was perfect. Seriously, she was perfect. When she arrived at Ironwood Farm, Serina was an aged mare who has been “there and done” at least 12 times over. She was bred by Gene Bauer on his Hestedalen Farm in Illinois. Gene was one of the most important American breeders and promoters of Fjords and he certainly produced some outstanding horses.  Serina also received training in harness and under saddle while at Catherine Lassesen’s Hestehaven Farm.  We are lucky that Catherine sold us this mare and let us have 8 years with her..

Serina was such a great example of what a Fjord horse is all about that we wanted to get her some recognition.  We also didn’t think age was an issue.  Serina proved this point at the 2007 NFHR Virginia Evaluation. She was 28 and the oldest Fjord horse ever evaluated under the US system. Serina is the oldest horse by 6 or 7 years.  She received a high red in conformation (77). In the performance tests, Serina was at least 15 year older than the next oldest horse.  She went on to get a blue (85) in intro driving, a blue (80) in intro English riding and a red   (71.25) in advanced English riding. In each test, she had the highest score for that test. She ended up earning a Silver Medallion of Quality, Level 2 and a Gold Medallion of Quality, Level 4.

In 2008, she returned to the NFHR Virginia Evaluation to take her draft test.  We had practiced at home and it was clear that she knew what she was doing.  Sure enough, Serina, under the experienced hands of Curt Pierce, not only got a blue ribbon on her test, she got a 91 score, which is among the higher scores posted for the test.   Serina was over 29 years old at the time!  She ended the Evaluation with a Silver Medallion of Quality, Level 1 AND the NFHR’s Versatility Award for winning blue ribbons in three disciplines.  This is a huge honor; few of our other horses have been this successful and certainly none of them accomplished so much in a 1 year period on the first try at the test.

Serina died as she lived -- with grace and dignity.  She was in fine health and living out with the herd.  One morning she was dead; apparently it was a heart attack or stroke.  She didn’t suffer and she is buried on the farm.

It was a terrible thing to lose her in 2008, but our lives would have been less rich for not having known her.  Tom and I cherish the time we had with the wonderful, wonderful horse. She was a once in a lifetime horse and she gave so much to everyone who met her. We will never forget  her and we will always miss her..