Friesian.... Why?

It's definitely horses for courses,cos,sorry,I know many will see gorgeousness there ^^^ but I do not. There would be no diversity if we all liked exactly the same tho,so I do respect different opinions.:)
 
I think they're stunning. However I'm not prepared to pay a premium for a breed. I pick a horse because I like it as an individual, not because it's a certain breed - I don't need anything super flashy as they're for pleasure not competing.

That being said, the ones I've met have been amazing with an incredible temperament, none rude or difficult to handle or ride.
 
They're beautiful, very impressive horses, but I only like the baroque type like the stallion Wessel. I don't see the point of the newer 'sport' types.

My neighbour at the yard has a 15 year old stallion which is gorgeous, grumpy, likes to try to kick out with no notice, but beautiful. She'd like him to cover some pure bred mares for her to get a foal, but with no original passport/papers, I fear the only mares he'll see wont be 'top quality'. She rescued him and all she knows is that he was imported.

This is not him, but an amazing example from google:
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Havig one out of harmen 424 impeccable breeding imported from holland, i can say yes they are not the best for dressage, terrible at jumping and can be a handfull.

But when handeld correctly they are a breeze of a horse. I bought mine for dressage and its been a humbling experience, humiliating at times. But we have won quite a few local comps, and most importantly i have enjoyed the challenge of ownership.

But see the Grand Prix ones and they are amazing. In Europe a lot of trainers will tell you they are as good as some of the warmbloods.

On reflection they are for experienced riders and take a long time to mature like most big horses. They struggle with canter like a lot of horse's, don't round there backs, engage rear like a lot of horses. Its a big horse to balance and feed the power through correclty.

They are a complex horse to get trained. Suffer low aerobic capacity and switch off easily.

But when they are good they are very good
 
Silverspring said:
Cos they is black and shiny and have long manes and long tails and fluffy legs and the people in movies all ride them.

Honestly though unless you have a barge for them to pull you are pretty much buying it for the 'Look how much my Freisan cost' like a Ferrari only not so fast. The same can probably be said for a fair few breeds, many people buy them for the status symbol rather than because it's what they actually need for competitions.

I honestly think this is what has given WBs such a bad name, half wit riders who don't have a clue but want to have a flashy horse to career round the warm up ring on. Give me a bog standard TB or Arab any day, they are cheap, cheerful and go for miles :D oh or a cob but not a coloured one, they are too fashionable ;)
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Totally agree! They do not appeal to me at all, in looks, movement, and hairyness! They're by all accounts not much good at anything other than towing something and are just fancy looking overpriced hacks. If you want something black and hairy, save yourself a fortune and buy a fell or dales!
 
I do own a Friesian, but I'm not a "Friesian person", if that makes any sense. I bought him in a fast sale from a woman who had just bought her 8th horse and needed to get rid of one or two before her husband found out! W. just wasn't working out for her and had been on loan to someone else for a year prior, the person who had her worked with the same trainer as I did and the trainer urged me to approach with an offer, so I did. Hence, buying my first (and probably only) Friesian -- he was there, the price was right, the hair was just a bonus.

My boy is 23 this year. This is important; it means he was bred at a time when the "fashions" in the breed didn't lean towards giants. He stands 15.2 or 15.3 depending on who is measuring and has a decent conformation. He has the expressive gaits a lot of people are going on about, only they're much easier to ride on him than on some of the massive "super-friesians" bred, it seems, for height today.

He does have a laid-back personality, and sometimes that translates into a lack of energy in the ring. Getting him to work in front of the leg is a struggle some days, but that's honestly the least kind thing I have to say about him. He's competed through the equivalent of advanced medium in the US with the USDF (with the prior owner, not me, though we all went to watch!) but I can honestly see why a lot of people are of the opinion that a GP Friesian is pretty rare -- I do know of one or two, but most of the others I know make good mid-level horses, not for novices and not for those who ride at upper levels.

Mine does enjoy jumping on occasion, but again he's built differently than the trendy Friesian -- he manages to get around without barging into things. I wouldn't call him an excellent jump horse, but it's nice that we can do something different from time to time.

Would I buy another one? Probably not -- I don't expect I'll be in a position to get another cheap & cheerful Friesian and I'm not willing to pay the premium for the hair. The day is coming up fast where I'll be looking for the next horse and I'll probably be looking at an ID cross, something along those lines. Friesians are lovely and if you can afford one and find the right one, go for it -- but I don't think they're inherently more special than any other breed.
 
where does the cost aspect come into this, a friesian is the same price as a good warmblood, simple they are overpriced in this country and you get far more horse for your money in holland. Shope wisely, my wife has icelandics and she has bought from iceland and holland, get better quality horses more to chooses from.

If you want one get one, once you've obviously ridden a few if not don't.

And if you dont have one dont tell everyone else how bad they are, pretty obvious.

And they are not breeding friesians to be fashionable if you research the history of the horse they are taking them back to what they used to be, a finer built horse.

Im not a friesian person have one but would by a kwpn or similar next horse, oh and expect to pay a good price to get a good horse. They are good horses and this thread seems to be going nowhere positive on positives or negatives, just peoples pet lokes and dislikes.
 
Venevidivici said:
They are not my cup of tea,so won't make too much comment but would say of the ones I know (all purebred) that none can jump(at all! Plough through it or stop dead and step over it, one foot at a time!),all have a lack of respect for human personal space(yes,I know can happen with any horse&is handling issue but is just an observation),none are particularly bright,some can be sharp,(others not so at all),all have skin issues(some manic with sweet itch,all scurfy),all have genuine&kind temperaments,all are either good or pretty good doers,all struggled with their canter&workung from behind-bent purely from neck as previously mentioned) all were vastly,unbelievably overpriced for what they are/can do and all were bought by women who fell in live with their looks & who'd always wanted the stunning,black horse with flowing locks etc...I know not always case but just sayin';)) I've been told by a respected Dutch trainer that there is much inbreeding and that the Dutch only export what they see as the dross-he said anything they think is any good stays in the country and that they are not seen as anything special there. I do not agree that they have WB like movement as somebody has said-they move very differently IMO. I think a market has sprung up here (by virtue of unscrupulous dealers/importers) for selling the pretty horse (but badly bred and far from great specimens of the breed)to the novice (buying mainly on looks-true in many instances) and for whom they are not suitable. I would suggest a great deal of breed research for anyone wanting one. It's been very interesting & refreshing to see pics and read stories of them doing different stuff,tho in general,I think anyone wanting to sj or xc would probably be better with a cross. I hope this doesn't cause offence,not meant to-tried to word it as factually (from my experience!)and unemotionally as poss!
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Re your early comments - none can jump - erm my older mare jumps for fun - especially 4ft dry stone walls to get from one field to another :) She's also been hunting a number of times!

All have skin conditions - none of mine do

All have a lack of respect for personal space - nope don't think so - as I said earlier my old mare can be a bit of a pig but all the others including the youngsters have manners to burn.

All were bought by women who fell in love with their looks - actually we bought 2 mares with the intention of breeding because my hubby wants them for driving. I also love the breed and it was a bonus for me because it meant I got to have one of the mares as my riding horse.

I do appreciate that horses do get stereotyped but to put down broad sweeping statements regarding skin conditions and ability is a little unfair.
 
I think the far more interesting question is what is it about some horse owners that makes them want to put down other people's choice of pet, or indeed what they choose to do with them (see disparaging remarks about only being good as hacks)? it's about as sensible ad criticizing other people's choice of dog or wife/husband and what they choose to do with them. Mind you my mother's advice stands true "if you want to appreciate your husband take a look at other women's".


Talking of husbands and horses and taking them on individual merit. This is the first time we went to see Bree. My husband had never been close to a horse before.

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Friesians are perfect for what I want to do now (display, film & TV, baroque/classical dressage), and I love mine dearly; they'd give you their heart on a plate and try so hard to please. For what I used to want to do (competitive modern dressage to high levels) they would be useless. None of mine have been able to canter well without massive help from the rider, they are not over the back and find balance and true collection difficult. But I can put ANYONE on, including non-riding actors, and they will look beautiful, be safe and try their hardest to do as asked. I also have Spanish horses, and if I really had to choose, I'd be going with the Spanish boyos ( more athletic, easier to train, smarter). Fortunately I don't have to make a choice.
 
there stunning looking horses :)
the few i have known had lovely kind temprements too , but a warning for importing them
a friend of mine bought and imported a mare from a video :o she arrived a few weeks later and was gob smakingly stunning to look at but had terrible leg confo :( she now has a lame 4yr old that will never be sound enough to ride and is thousands of pounds out of pocket

after looking very carefully at the video she was not the same horse as she was shown (horse on vid was a gelding :o ) there are some very dodgy dealers in holland as well as here
 
WestCoast said:
What on earth was she thinking buying a horse unseen and without a vetting? That would be asking for trouble with any breed.
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she was a novice with a whole load of money to spend and no intention of listening to anyone , she did actually have it vetted and it passed at the time of sale (or at least "a friesian" passed ) it did arrive sound but had the worst leg confo you had ever seen on a horse it wasn't a case of if it would go lame but when :(

she bought it of the internet and was completely ripped off , the saddest thing is , have a guess what she is doing with the horse (mare) now ?
 
Gwenneh said:
Oh god. She's not in the south, is she, because I know (through the grapevine) of someone with the exact same story!
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no northeast and more money than sense ;)
to be fair she has only bred one and it is to keep for her to eventually ride (if its ever sound enough) and she won't be breeding anymore out of the mare
the stupid thing is she spent hours choosing a fantastic stallion to put to her not even thinking of what her mare would produce
 
Mad lady, (sorry,on phone,so can't quote), I can't be bothered to answer your full post as,if you had read mine properly,you'd see I put,in my FIRST sentence 'of the ones I know'..... That is the crucial part you seem to have missed before quoting&launching a defence...I gave my factual experience of the ones I know-why would I be able to comment on (or know the facts of) what you do with yours,why you bought it etc? I was merely giving the OP another opinion/experience. Jeez...get back in your easily-offended Friesian box. I too don't know what it is with some people-I couldn't care less if people slagged off KWPNs or Welshies (what I have) or had negative experiences of them and likewise,I wouldn't think more of the breed if people posted glowing reports either,cos every horse is different,as is every owner/rider. I'm glad yours jumps and doesn't have skin issues-excellent for you. (However,if OP researches Friesans,she'll find skin issues &no natural affinity for sj reportedly common in the breed....) How come you haven't jumped on the Friesian owners who've reported negative experiences (doesn't jump/is bargey/doesn't find canter /working thru the back easy? *sigh*
 
Mine seems to fit i with the stereo type. Heart of gold but bolshy on the ground, over sensitive, spooky, nappy , lazy, struggles with canter, i could go on. Ddefinitely not what i should have bought as a novice horse owner and almost s year later Im still wondering shatters the
 
Sorry
what the hell was i thinking and constantly debating about getting rid. I would not get another no matter how pretty they are.
 
Hi
well i have to say i am glad i have paddy its true we have had our fair share of issues but that is more to do with me than him. He does have Sweetitch which breaks my heart every year. Yesterday i was asked if i brought him as he was a pretty horsey (no joke) the reason i got him was when i went to see him my youngest must have been 3. Now paddy stood there while a 3 year old ran around him and did not flinch and i knew then he was going to be a brilliant family horse :D and he has, he is handsome but so are all horses i am pretty sure most horses greet there owner with a neigh in the morning, paddy i can take off his head coller on the yard and he will follow me back to his stable he is brilliant
There is good and bad in everything :D IMO :D:D
 
There's not many breeds of horses I dislike, and I don't dislike Friesians but I also don't particularly like them either. My experiences with them have been similar to Venevidivici. I've found they are often owned by inexperienced owners who allow them to become bolshy and pushy. If I were interested in driving then there are other breeds I'd choose before Friesians and for riding they wouldn't even cross my mind as suitable for what I do. So I can categorically state I will never own, or even wish to own, a Friesian, but horses for courses as they say.
 
nieghham said:
That said as a breed they are quite nice....anyone who is familiar with Keegan or Black Horse Photography can not help but appreciate the horse for what they are....much like the Gypsey Vanner (now a registry here and going for breed recognition)...would I pay $10 000 for either one...no...but that is only because I do not desire the breed/horse for anything that would make them that valuable to me
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This, Keegan is stunning, and he is photographed so well by Larissa, that you can't help but like him. The premium that the breed attracts up here, even for cross breds is still crazy, so I see no reason to purchase, while admitting that I have never ever met one in the flesh.

I do love the look of this Friesian Sport horse stallion though:o

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I bought my boy in Feb last year as a 2yo, I originally wanted one because they are beautiful, intelligent and have always stood out to me! I am never going to have the time/money to compete high level dressage, I have no intention of jumping anymore (too many broken bones) and I have no interest in Endurance.....so really it was a no brainer.

Anyway, I went to visit my boy, he is far from a prefect specimen, he is heavier than I wanted but his personality jumped out from the moment I met him...he is fascinating, he gives the most heartfelt cuddles of any horse I've ever known (not invading my space just resting his chin on my shoulder), he actually wants attention more than food and his eyes made me melt and do every single day. He is a pleasure to own, horses are hard work... so to have one that is so much like a dog is such a pleasure!

So there is your answer from me.....Friesians Why? I picked one because of his temperament, my riding ambitions and because of the amazing start in life he had with his previous owner.....when he is suspended in trot it makes me smile so much! xx
 
Why not??
I wanted a friesian not only because they mystical beauty, there lovely nature, level head, but because to me they run rings around any other breed!
People seem to forgot that there lovely hanorvarians ( which I love also ) use to also be carriage horses back in 1800.
I do dressage and showing with mine and successfully.
My girl is a very intelligent horse, not stupid or unhackable like most warmbloods!
I can compete her but also happily take her on long hacks, etc
Wouldn't swap her for nothing.
 
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