Learn everything about the friesian horses


The history of the friesian horse

Tall and majestic, black as the night sky,ster. Ster horses are among the top percent
and with a gentle personality, the Friesianof friesians. That is as high as the
is a prime example of equus. They weregelding?s status may go, because they have no
developed in Friesland, Netherlands, hencebreeding qualities but the mares may proceed
their name. In the early times of theirto model and preferent. Stallions have the
development, they were thought ugly and usedtoughest time being approved as breeding
mainly for farm and cart work. The people whostock. They must first pass the initial
first bred the friesian were the Frisians ofinspection and if they do they may attend the
the West Frisian Islands and Friesland, theystallion inspection in the Netherlands each
are the most dominant subgroup of theyear. There they will be tested on their
Netherlands. The Dutch are derived of mainlyhealth,temperament,movement,conformation and
German and some Celtic roots and theirriding abilities. Up to 60 stallions may go
country has one of the highest populationto the stallion show each year but only an
densities in the world. The rough, windyaverage of 2 or 3 will be approved for
climate helped develop the friesian to becomebreeding purposes. Later, when the stallion
hardy and strong. Their large bodies withhas sired foals, the foals are tested and if
heavy coats helped protect them from thethere is a line of poor quality in the foals,
weather. As the medieval times dawned, thethe stallion?s breeding privileges will be
friesian had progressed to a beautifulremoved.
appearance and were used often as the charges
of knights, prized for their strength,The required friesian characteristics
durability, and calm temperament. In theaccording to the FHANA rules and regulations
1800?s the friesian was bred lighter and(pg.  7  section  2.1.2.)  are  as  follows.
faster, for the trotting races that were
growing ever-more popular in Europe.'The typical friesian characteristics may be
Unfortunately this caused the friesianfound in a horse that is harmoniously built
bloodlines to be thinned until nearand properly proportioned. The noble head has
extinction,there were only 2 remainingclear, intelligent eyes and small, alert ears
purebred stallions and a handful of mares.with the tips pointing slightly toward each
Finally a group of Frieslanders realized theother. The neck is of adequate length and is
peril of this wonderful breed and started toslightly arched. A strong back joins a croup
breed them again. In 1878 the first friesianof good length which doesn?t slope too
studbook  was  formed;  the  FPS.steeply. The shoulder is strong,long and
sloping and the body has good depth and well
There are many registries for the friesiansprung ribs. The feet and legs are strong
horse but only one original, dedicated towith a well developed forearm and proper
preserving the breed. This is the FPS orstance. A height of 15.3 hands is considered
Friesch Paarden Stamboek in the Netherlands.ideal.'
The American branch of the FPS is the
Friesian Horse Association of North AmericaThe horse has fluid, elegant and suspended
(FHANA). This is an extremely strictgaits which are emphasized by feathering on
registry, requiring all horses to be testedthe lower legs, a fine mane and
for the studbook. The fact that sets FPS awaybeautiful,long tail. Jet black is the
from other registries is that they do notpreferred color. This is a horse of luxurious
allow any crossbreeding with the registeredand proud appearance, full of personality,
friesians. This is to assure that thehonest  and  eager  to  work.
bloodlines stay pure and what happened in the
past will never happen again. A violation ofOf all the things that are not allowed in
this will cause the horse and owner to befriesians by FPS standards, the most obvious
expelled  from  the  FPS.is color. The friesian must be black, very
dark brown or bay-black,no white is allowed
Inspections are held each year all over theanywhere on the body with the exception of
world, for horses wishing to enter the FPS.few white hairs on the forehead. Gray hairs
Dutch judges travel from the Netherlands toare allowed on older horses, around the face
inspect and rate the quality of the horses.and tail. They have a large amount of hair on
The horses are judged 40% on conformation andtheir fetlocks which are called ?feathers?
60% on movement. Foals are judged with theirthese  are  never  shaved  off.
mothers at hand and may receive a
first,second or third premie (placing) in theFriesian horses are very versatile and may be
foal studbook. Mares and geldings will returnused successfully in driving, dressage,
at two or three to be inspected for the adulthunter, trail, and occasionally saddleseat,
studbook. Studbook horses of exceptionalwestern pleasure and jumping.
quality may receive the honored rating of



1 A B C D 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111