Friesian owners tell me all!

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Morag4

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I've been having lessons and going hacking to bring myself upto speed and had a full plan in mind, however a curve ball has been hurled at me, in the shape of a Friesian gelding 15.2hh aged 9, so I would very much apprieciate any and all information about thier general personality etc. I believe in general they can be good in dressage?
I would be looking at hacking out with him for now, continuing lessons then hopefully progressing on to dressage.

I have had to accept my original plan to do a year of lessons, hacking etc at the riding school then looking for a Clydesdale is not going to be achievable for various reasons, I hate being sensible!

Please help me stay sensible by pro and conning me.

Thank you if you have made it through my ramble!
 
I have one :) he arrived 6 months ago this weekend. I went to holland to see him and then had him brought over. I chose him for his breeding as he should make a good dressage horse.

He is lovely to have around, very affectionate, always talking to me lol he snorts a lot if unsure or doesn't like something so we have learned to decipher those. He is like they said, a very big Labrador lol and I have never gone through so much hay before but he is worth it. Due to the weather he had about 5 weeks off and I just tacked up and got on no lunging etc first and he was as good as gold, not many youngsters I would do that with :) couldn't even do that with the 22 year old lol :), feel free to pm me if you want to know anything else. I would say that if I knew how lovely the breed is I would have had one long ago instead of my wild cobs!
 
I have a half Friesian mare, and have had purebreds also. They are lovely horses, but not what I would call "proper" dressage horses; fine if you want to do RC and unaffiliated, but not really competitive at the more serious end of things.

Friesians are very inbred and susceptible to an array of health disorders, but mine have all been very healthy - I suggest you research the breed thoroughly. They have been primarily light draught/driving horses and have only recently been "re-shaped" as riding horses, so you can often have problems with saddle fit. Some do not find canter easy.

I love my mare dearly, and she would put her heart on a plate and try for you, but she is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier and takes roughly 3 times as long to "get" stuff as my other guys (who are all PRE's, so perhaps not a fair comparison).
 
I have owned one 2 years this summer - lovely mare, lovely temperament. She's not too inbred a 2.34% - you need to see the passport to find this out - as Cortez says the lower the better as you don't want health issues.

Def a different breed to train, mine has always been a happy hacker and isn't keen on schooling, finds it hard to get off her shoulder as she's v classical in shape, but clicker training and in hand work have def helped.

Beautiful breed and Id have another :)
 
We have one who is a Freisian crossed with Hackney and is excelling herself as an all-rounder. We were looking at eventing her but with a bad fall last year we've been doing some dressage instead. Did our very first affiliated BD last weekend in Prelim and Novice and came away with scores of 64% and 67%! She seems very talented at dressage now we have found a fab instructor and I'm focussing on it with an idea of going as far as we can (PSG has been mentioned!).

However she is a very very sharp and reactive mare, so certainly not for the faint hearted or a novice. She is an absolute doll in the stable though and very affectionate and although her paces took some getting use to its not put us off having another.
Not sure how relevant this is as Topaz is a cross-bred, but just to give you and idea.

x x x
 
Morag4 said:
Very much appreciate all the input everyone :)
Click to expand...

I bought my pure bred friesian but 3 months ago - I went to Holland and found him (I wonder if it was from the same place from further up thread..?). He's only 3 1/2 and was beautifully broken and started. He's currently having a little break due to vile weather and his grown-up teeth sprouting (a certain amount of head shaking and face rubbing going on.......) He's my first friesian - I knew nothing about them, but having done WBs and various other types I thought I'd give it a twirl. So far, so good - he's very beautiful (all that mane!) and very sweet' just the usual amount of 3 year old cheekiness. I'm finding him to be pretty clever - I've got him for dressage, he moves nicely although the canter is a little tricky for him at the mo, but plenty of time! All in all, I'm chuffed to bits and making an interesting change from ditsy warmbloods.....euros well spent I think. I hope all goes well for you..keep posting!
 
I had mine from 6 months to 19 when she died last year in a freak field accident. I bought her in Holland at 4 months after visiting every stud going! There are two types - the heavier Baroque type and the more modern lighter riding model. I had the Baroque as for me they are more typical of the breed.

They are quite opinionated and strong but lovely lovely people. Very susceptible to sweet-itch too. Yes lots are inbred but if yours has Dutch FPS papers you can see the inbreeding quotient - the lower the percentage the better. There is a UK Friesian society FHAGBI who are worth contacting and there is a thread on here where all the Friesian owners congregate and they're a lovely lot.

They are best suited to hacking, showing and dressage (and driving!) but mine did everything. Most horses are capable of jumping around a 2'6" - 3' course and I actually won a hunter trials on mine. Miss her hugely.
 
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