Does anyone on here own a Fresian?

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FeatherPower

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Hi there,

Just wondered if any of you owned Fresians and if you care to share your thoughts on their personality and qualities? What are they like to own/work with/ride/temperament etc etc

Thanks!!
 
Some one has posted about backing their Fresian in the PG
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I nearly bought one last year - she was an absolute sweetheart to ride and handle and was a very quick learner - very intelligent. She was excellent on the roads even though she was young and I was looking forward to buying her.

Sadly though when it came to the vetting there was a whole host of problems including sidebone and a major dental problem called peridontal pocketing. I don't know if these are common on friesans or if this one was just unfortunate but I was told that I was lucky the vet found the tooth problem as it wasn't immediately obvious but would have caused serious ongoing problems had I bought her.
 
I have a pure bred (1st premie) - I have had him from a four year old - (now six). Excellent in the stable, loves company, very sweet natured, very clever. Good to hack in traffic (was lead horse at 4) - he was imported for me from people that specialise in Friesians and so I saw quite a few. I would say though that they aren't straightforward to train, slow to mature, and many can really struggle with the canter. There is a really excellent article about them by Anja Beran in the horses for life online mag that goes into great detail of the common problems and misconceptions. PM me if you want any details?
 
I used to keep my horse at a local Fresian stud. The stallion there was brill on the road, hunted, competed. He was a big boy and could be a lot to handle but never naughty.

One thing guaranteed with fresians is they are show stoppers. Everytime we were out on a hack he attracted horsey people and random strangers over to say 'hello' constantly!
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I have a few friesians, they do have nice temperaments in general but some lines now are becoming increasingly hot tempered as they are being bred more for the show ring than anything else.
They are also being bred to look more like warmbloods as it is fashionable so they have problems with heart and lung room, and the longer backed modern type also finds it hard to canter as they can't collect properly.
The old style baroque ones are what we bred but it is so hard to find ones that aren't related to our stallion, so we are giving up breeding - also it isn't the cheapest hobby in the world!!
The gene pool is so tiny they do suffer from an awful lot of hereditary conditions and are a faff to breed - we have put the major genetic problems on our website - which hasn't gone down well with the FPS!!!

They do look lovely and the ones we have are so sweet natured, our stallion covers visiting mares on a headcollar and is run with a girl or 2 of ours all year so he is never alone, we do have 2 young stallions - one TBx friesian and they are run in a bachelor herd and love it!
Here is my boy Wessel:
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And here are a couple of this years foals:
Eva is out of our ster mare Carolien who is now retired as she is 17yrs old -
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This is Aragorn out of a Goffert mare we imported from germany, he's going to his new home in November after he's been weaned and gelded:
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This is our 4yr old stallion by Wessel called Othello, he's being gelded in the autumn as we aren't going to be breeding so isn't really any point keeping his nuts as he does like to shout at the girls in the winter which annoys his dad! As he's still a baby and still has alot of maturing to do we haven't backed him yet - I did bit him a few weeks ago and we are starting long lining - I might lightly back him the end of the year but am in no hurry!! He was rising 4 in this pic.
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the longer backed modern type also finds it hard to canter as they can't collect properly

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What complete rubbish! Peter Spahn is competing at Hickstead Dressage tomorrow on a 'modern' Friesian ( Anders 451) at International level. Goffert 369 was a 'modern' Friesian who competed at Grand Prix level. Maiko 373 is a 'modern' Friesian who competes at Grand Prix level. I could go on....

In answer to the original poster, generally, the Friesian is a slow-maturing horse, with an amenable and trainable temperament, but don't be fooled by the adverts that state that young Friesians are suitable for novices. I have yet to meet a young Friesian I would say is suitable for a novice! They are what they are; young horses who need sympathetic training. Get a good one (and by that, I mean a registered animal that has the character traits and physical elements you are looking for) and you have got a fabulous horse, a friend for life who will turn heads wherever you go.
 
i have a four year old mare whom i imported 2 years ago
she is a very loving girl and if i could afford it would have a yard full of them

wilde2 i would love to read that article
my girl has difficulty with canter trying to get it on the lunge is also hard she just goes faster and higher in trot
i get the odd half circle on the lunge and i mean the odd

she is the sports type but i would love a baroque type but as mentioned these are becoming more difficult to find as they breeding the sports type for their high stepping movemnnts

my girl also loves to jump which again is supposed to be unusal for a friesian
 
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Some one has posted about backing their Fresian in the PG
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That would be me
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I only really have experience of my mare, although i rode a couple of others in my search for a friesian.

My girl has an amazing temperment, i can do anything with her. I am very lightly backing her at the moment, just getting her used to having a rider and basic transitions (have barely started yet lol) and i plan to do some hacking through the winter if all goes to plan. I will hope to put her in foal next year and then bring her back into proper work and competing once she has weaned the foal - fingers crossed!!

I think you need to be careful with lines. Una's sire Brandus 345 is known for having a wonderful calm temperment which he is also famous for passing onto his foals. I can certainly vouch for that with my mare, at the Keuring last year she just loved all the attention, even had kids giving her cuddles and she was such a good girl
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There are a few lines im told you need to be wary of, I certainly know of one stallion with a suspect temperment that i would steer clear of as he does pass it on to his foals.

But, all in all i think if you do your research and avoid the dodgy backyard breeders you can find a lovely horse. Importing from Holland is generally the best way to go, although there are a couple of studs over here who are breeding some fantastic stock that are proving themselves to be as good as Holland's best at the Keurings
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In my few years looking for a friesian i think i spoke to most of the breeders in the UK, and probably half in Holland
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If you want any help feel free to PM and i will certainly try. As i am not a breeder i would perhaps give a more unbiased view as of course, all breeders talk up their own horses as they want to sell them and dont necessarily tell you the whole truth, that was my experience anyway!

FHAGBI and the FPS i have found very helpful (FPS can be somewhat slow replying to emails but helped out a lot when I was unable to get a DOB for my mare from her breeders or the people i bought her from!!) and unlike blackhorses, i would say that they are more than willing to discuss the genetic problems in the breed and are looking for ways to deal with them, rather than trying to hide them as is implied. The breed does have some problems but the inbreeding percentage is there to try to avoid some that are linked to inbreeding
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Jess
 
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