The Henson is a relatively new French horse breed.

Development and breeding:
The Henson was created in the 1970s in two consecutive stages: first, Fjord horses were crossed with Selle-Francais and Anglo-Arab horses; then, the foals of these crosses were crossed with each other to create the Henson horse.

The Henson was officially recognized by the French authorities in 2003.

The Henson today:
The Henson breed is still under development, and as part of this process, Henson horses are always kept in semi-feral conditions in the wetlands of the Somme, a practice which ensures their hardiness and their familiarity with the outdoor world. These two traits make the Henson horse well-suited for trekking, which is the main use of this breed.

Conformation:
In general, Henson horses look like an athletic version of the Norwegian Fjord. They are taller, leaner, and longer in appearance than the Norwegian Fjord, but come in the same iconic dun color.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Hensons in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 15.0-16.3, 15.6 (0.3), 0.05.
Sprint: 40-52, 45 (3), 0.49.

Accel: 0.80-0.98, 0.89 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.75-0.90, 0.83 (0.03), 0.01.

Jump: 4.89-5.13, 5.02 (0.05), 0.01.
Pull: 1.69-2.35, 1.99 (0.14), 0.03.

Turning: 43.03-57.03, 50.25 (3.01), 0.59.
Reverse: 2.4-2.9, 2.6 (0.1), 0.03.

Stamina: 46.62-51.44, 48.83 (0.99), 0.19.
Reaction: 0.75-0.84, 0.80 (0.02), 0.00.

Coats & Height:
Colors: bay-dun
Breeding notes: Hensons come only in the color of bay-dun and neither grullo nor red dun exist in this breed. Given the lack of black or chestnut offspring, we can assume that Henson horses carry two black extension alleles (EE) and two bay agouti alleles (AA, AAp, or ApAp). Breeders should pick breeding stock accordingly.

Additionals: mealy.
Breeding notes: Henson horses can be heterozygous to the Dun (D) allele, meaning that they can carry Dd1 and Dd2. Crossing such Hensons has a 25% chance of getting a non-dun foal which won't be registered as a Henson. Breeders can avoid this risk by ensuring that one parent is homozygous for dun.

Height: 14.3hh to 15.3hh.