Friesian.... Why?

I'm another person who knows a horse imported unseen, it wasn't the one she wanted, the one she wanted 'failed' the vetting so they sent a pic of another, she agreed and a weedy thing arrived, so scrawy and so not the horse in the pic! Lovely horse though, felt a bit like riding the Loch Ness monster if he spooked but a nice e hacking horse.
 
Oh dear after reading this thread there are so many people with opinions based on very little knowledge.
Anyways in answer to your original question.

If you want a bighearted, honest, stunning, loyal horse, full of character go for Friesian.
If you want a challange and can be bothered to put in time and energy, go for Friesian.

If you want a competition machine and be able to press buttons for results, then a Friesian is not for you.

My Friesian girl is ridden by myself, my 18 yr old who loves low level dressage, my 13 yr old who loves popping jumps and hacking all day long and driven by my hubby. We are all totally in love and she has bought so much joy into our lives.

The choice is yours :D
 
While all horses are wonderful, the Friesian is not one that I would buy. They have small eyes and long oblong faces, and while being a nice family hack or fun to take for an outing to local shows, I cannot see the attraction.

Why buy a Friesian rather than a stunning Hanoverian which not only has the wow factor, beauty and athleticism but has no problem in excelling in all disciplines.

Its probably a good job we all like something different in a horse, but I wonder why people buy Freisians too.
 
To whom it may concern,
Dear Sir,

I wish to complain in the strongest terms about the general lack of peasantry in the local area. I believe it is the local council's job to ensure that the stocks are sufficient for us sporting types to enjoy our favorite pastime.

Today while out, despite much thundering, we did not find one to trample underfoot. The nearest we got was slightly worrying a cyclist with some enthusiastic prancing.

Having told my compatriots of the premier ability of my hugely overpriced Friesian to excell in this sphere, I may end up being unable to show my face on the forum with the shame of having a horse whose training has slipped.

Peasants are easily produced using unskilled labour and you must pull your socks up immediately.

Yours Faithfully,

West Coast.
 
Wow so very narrow minded people with absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
Whilst I love friesians, I love many breeds, and would never slag off another breed just because I prefer another breed / type, anyway you single minded few can have your opinion as like I can, it's like any info you read, you take in the useful info and chuck out the crap!
 
It's quite stunning really that people can comment when they have seen maybe one or two Friesians. The Friesians I know are the most trainable, easy respectful horses to be around, sadly I wish I could say the same the warmbloods/dumb bloods, that I have had the delight to be around, or the tb which to be fair are nothing more than meat, just cause it has parentage does not make it a good horse. Welsh well, they are they way they are because of the inbreeding, until the breeding is controlled we will continue to get the substandard horses. So whilst you comment on the couple of friesians that you have been around, take a close look at the breeds you claim are better, the holes are there you just choose not to see them.
 
friesianfan69 said:
Errrrr no fact!!!
Some people I know with warmbloods wouldn't dare hack them....fact!
Click to expand...

And there will be people who cant hack out their fresians their TB's Or what ever I have never had a WB I could not hack out in fact I have never had any horse I could not hack out.
Those sort of statements are just silly whatever breed they are said about .
 
Likewise bugbee I find it stunning that you can be offended about people commenting on friesians and then undermine your post by slagging off several other breeds.

I've yet to meet any breed of horse which all acted the same and yet to dismiss a whole breed the way you have which is very childish. There are breeds which are not my cuppa and breeds which I won't pay a premium for but I wouldnt go around labelling them as dumb and inbred... Sounds like a little bit of a sore point to me ;)
 
friesianfan69 said:
Well I differ to agree.... FACT!!!
Not wasting anymore time talking to one way systems lack of knowledge, I have much better things to do with my time.
Click to expand...

Good heavens I happen to adore warmbloods and I am not angry that you made such a silly slur on their characters and why are you accusing me of lack of knowledge I KNOW I have been able to hack out every horse I have ever owned .
 
I own a dude of a fresian x cob.Hes a good looking lad and does turn turn heads when hes out which I dont mind as he says hello to anyone when out hacking,especially little girls who call him black beauty bless them and there faces beam with a smile when puts his head down to greet them.Hes honest,trusting,unflappable,good doer,anyones ride and most of hes the biggest joker on my yard.Hes everything I could ask and be looking for in a horse.Only bad point I got is because hes a big lad at 16hh and as wide as a bus anything he leans or stands on he breaks but I wouldnt change him for the world,hes a one in a million horse. :)
 
Lippyx said:
After reading Nakita's thread about looking at a baby Friesian, it made me think about this breed. Don't often hear much about them, not like you do with TB's, cob types etc.

So for all you Friesian owners out there, what would you say to some one who may consider one of these breed of horses? Pro's and con's and what to look out for. What could they do i.e show jumping etc.

I think this is such an amazing horse to look at, and would consider looking at one to buy/own, but want to know more about them really..... so....... Go for it...... :)
Click to expand...
I used to have side saddle lessons on a Friesian gelding in my early days of riding SS. He had a lovely temperament and although his trot looked very showy it was beautifully smooth to ride.

The local company which provide horses and carriages for funerals uses Friesian stallions and they are very well behaved and steady.

Can't comment on them as jumpers. As my cousin frequently says - one of us has to keep our feet on the ground and as mine aren't the horse's have to be!

Very handsome horses with gorgeous manes. The one I used to ride had a mane almost down to his knees.
 
I'm puzzled by references, both on this thread and various google hits, to Friesians as "warmbloods". In my years of horse-y experience (60 years next August - help!) they've always been referred to as "light draught" (please note - NOT carthorses!!!).

Is the warmblood thing an attempt to make them more "up market" or is it to do with cross-breeding?

The ones I know in the flesh don't look like warmbloods and the photos on- line of Friesians described as "warmblood" don't look much like a traditionakl friesian I'm acquainted with
 
Hi Ellen,

The original Friesian warhorse, is thought to have had hotblood introduced from Arabs - hence warmblood. But I think it's up for discussion. The modern Friesian studbook includes horses with both the traditional baroque build (this is the preferred type for the ancient sport of peasant trampling), but also the sports horse type, which is slightly closer to a warmblood in looks.

But in the states you can register a Friesian Sporthorse, which is a cross (minimum 25% friesian) with strict breeding rules, which I think means must have some thoroughbred blood. These are much more like warmbloods. Also the arabofriesian has the introduction of small amounts of Arab blood to increase the breed's endurance. I rather like these.

The main Dutch studbook does not recognise crossbreeds simply because the breed nearly died out due to cross breeding. There are also very strict inbreeding rules and a rigorous selection process for studbook mares and, particularly, stallions. I always think of them as a rare breed.

Sadly there is overbreeding, which results, as with all breeds, in a number ending up at market and sometimes ending up with the meat man. It is from these markets that some of the less reputable dealers can buy their stock - so they can come in in a bit of a state. But with proper care they can blossom into beautiful animals - although not one for the novice. There are also a number of scams around where people are offered a free, or very cheap, friesian if the just put the cost of transport into the scammer's bank account.

As with any large horse, they can become a handful if not given proper boundaries, and they are also quite into pressure - i.e. if you just push them, they push back. So I have no doubt that there are a few ill mannered ones out there. But that could be said of all breeds, just a thoroughbred might express its unhappiness in a different way.
 
hairycob said:
We have Fresian x cob & he is wonderful. Ridden by teenage boy (hunting, XC, SJ) & yet happy to go an a hack with a "more mature" lady rider! Looks wise he is very hairy trad cob with the fresian colouring & a white star. Son only does unaffilliated comps but he has won hunter trials at 90cm & SJ at 1m.
He is the horse that everyone is looking at beforehand thinking "what on earth is that chunky thing doing at this height" before he goes clear. Much loved by photographers because his hair (mane 1m long, tail 18" wide) puts so much movement into the picture.
What comes from ther cob & what from the fresian side I don't know, but as far as I am concerned he is the perfect mix.
Click to expand...
I love this thread!
I have a fresian cob x at present he is 1.
I’m utterly in love with him.
His got so much of the fresian look of him & am really starting to guess he will hit 16 ( I could be wrong) he wants to bloody jump everything already, I can’t wait to see what his going to achieve, sadly a wait is what I need get comfy with 😂
 
I have just read the thread and loved seeing how the style of posts have subtly changed over the years. Strange to think that the way they were written can look "dated" read now. And also some of the names of much admired HHO people, such as Cortez.
For the record, I am not a Fresian fan, but I can see why they are used in nearly all historic films and dramas!
 
From personal experience it wouldn’t be a breed I’d recommend. Definitely a professional ride, lovely nature but unfortunately many health issues.
 
I have met a woman lately, she told me her horse was a Gypstian !

I never heard it before, it's a cross between a Irish Gypsy Cob and a Friesian !

He looks nice, very big, jet black and lot's of bone, she does a bit of everything with him.

Wil take photo next time, i see him.
 
Janique said:
I have met a woman lately, she told me her horse was a Gypstian !
Click to expand...
We cannot start cockerpoo-ing horses, please 😂😂

A cob x fresian gelding was on my shortlist before I got Sadie, he is still local so I see him about and he's a very cool pony! Flashy paces and lovely jump which you might not expect! Someone put me off him as he has sweet itch, then I ended up with a sweet itch cob anyway 😂

My friends Fresian is a lovely lovely mare, gets on with everyone horses or human, just a wee poppet. Though of course she isn't wee, she's huge and doesn't always realise she can't fit in your pocket. Likes to ask for bum scratches without realising how big she is and you can imagine how that goes 😂 No more high maintenance than anyone else's horse either, needs to be asked to use her back end properly, has a few skin-related niggles, but nothing that another horse might not also have and she is just stunning to look at, doing the ol' Lloyds TSB prance across the field!
 
I learned to ride on one appropriately named Blacky! I was seven. Since then I’ve ridden three. All gorgeous and great natures. One had a ridiculously bouncy trot @teapot knows who I mean but a complete sweetheart! Also rode one who was also a driven Freisian. He was called Torben and a complete delight.
 
Would not touch with a long bargepole, as beautiful as they are.

My friend's gorgeous and kind Friesian mare died of a health issue that is relatively common in the breed (and incredibly rare in other horses). There is no way of testing for it and as far as I know, no genetic test to determine which lines have it.
 
I haven't met one yet that didn't have serious health or temperament problems.
The first two were imported stallions. One found dead in a flood of blood in his stable from a burst aorta as a 4yo. He was a sweet horse though. Sadly he'd been used and passed the problem to his offspring one of which died shortly after being broken in as it was being hacked up the lane.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top