Friesians as dressage horses ?

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savannahcat

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Hello
I think friesians are beautiful and have seen some nice types in Holland that are advertised as modern dressage types. Can anyone give me any information on training a friesian for dressage i know they are described to find canter work and collection difficult?. Do any friesian owners compete BD. What level have you trained your friesian up to. Do they find the collected work and the changes difficult. What reaction do you get from the judges as i have never come across any when i have been to shows.
I am looking at them as a breed more suitable for a novice owner?.
 
I now someone who competes one at Medium I think she said judges often marked her down and she even resorted to shaving off his feathers and beautiful long mane so it's not so easy to notice his breed, I think she had some friends who wrote for judges and the reaction would be like Oooo nice when he entered then once they clIckes his breed is was more of a errrggg. Terrible shame and not right at all in my books, he is a stunning horse too. But round where we are BD judges defo are not a fan of them, I think unless it's a fancy warmblood then thats a pretty
standard reaction.
 
Mine is competing at Elem level. He is never marked down for being Friesian, and is gaining very good scores. At home he is working Med / Advanced medium moves with ease. Never found a Friesian to have problems with canter, and they are superb at collected work (in my experience). They also extend with ease.

Plenty of Friesians on the BD circuit, competing and getting good scores.
 
savannahcat said:
Hello

I am looking at them as a breed more suitable for a novice owner?.
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Be very careful if you are a novice. The sports horse Friesians generally are being bred from hot bloodlines. I would never describe a young Friesian as a suitable horse for a novice. There is huge disparity between what the Dutch describe as novice-friendly, and the same term in the UK!!!!!
 
Hi, I bought a Friesian specifically to do dressage with and he is 10. He hasn't had much schooling in his life and is slightly unbalanced because of that. I think he will be great eventually and I would say he panics a little in canter so I am trying to calm it down and build up the balance and bend in other paces, but I think those are the problems I would have if I had bought another breed with a similar background and lack of education.
 
Maiko said:
Be very careful if you are a novice. The sports horse Friesians generally are being bred from hot bloodlines. I would never describe a young Friesian as a suitable horse for a novice. There is huge disparity between what the Dutch describe as novice-friendly, and the same term in the UK!!!!!
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this, the 'modern dressage type' ones are not always, from observation, a good choice esp as a youngster. For a start they are very tall, and can be quite stubborn (and with legs their length if they decide to kick, they can reach for miles and really hurt). And while they can be good dressage horses including canter, their physique is primarily bred for generation upon generation to be focused on an amazing trot. which is no bad thing!

The only one I knew bought by a novice ended up being walked in hand round the local lanes as she was too nervous to ride him out hacking....and he was bored rigid.
 
I think Toni Terry has one for dressage at Oldencraig - not sure if she rides it herself for shows but remember seeing it in a magazine.
 
In my opinion, Friesians are difficult to train correctly. The naturally high head carriage causes issues. Its difficult to really get the horses back up and round because they give a false impression of being engaged when they're not. An inexperienced person could have problems with that. I do have issues with engagement, but that just means I have to be more skilled and have more tools to help train for collection. I have a trainer who's experienced with Friesians and their issues.

I absolutely Love my Friesian, but wow... You really have to be a very thinking rider to train them correctly. They're smart. Plus... I have issues with the head/neck carriage. I just woke up so forgive me if this sounds inane... Bits he gives a false impression of engaged. To a less experienced person,she looks round, but she tightly the baseof her neck. She has balance issues, so I have to get her balanced first and then I can ask her to lower her neck and come round. All the while ensuring that she stays balanced and that I am completely balanced. If I do much as tip my head down, she loses her balance.

From personal experience... G
Friesians are great horses, but needs a skilled and very balanced rider. Get an older, more trained Friesian if you want one. Don't try learning dressage on a young one.

Also, scoring at First Level - if I ride the horse correctly, we clean up. If I'm "off" even a little during the test, we place, but not high. There isn't wiggle room for rider issues. You have to be 100% on your game, thinking about each stride and how to set up the next stride.

Regardless of all that... I am utterly enamoured by the Freisian personality. They will work their little hearts out for you if you treat them right. Mine is very brave and very quiet. Her second show ever, I put a costum on her an ride the anything goes test. She never batted an eye at anything.

Treat them wrong and you're likely to die a very forceful death. They don't trust easily, they are one person horses, and they can be extremely rude if you don't set clear boundaries from the get-go. Rude to the point of very dangerous.
 
I do not think they are a horse for novices either. Plenty being sold/marketed as that,due to (and relying on!) their nice temperaments but doesn't make it ok. Both of the two I know well would rather trot all day than canter but maybe that's just them:)
 
Generally speaking they are not great for novice riders because;

they have very big movement which novices will find it hard to balance on
they very often have difficulty with canter, which novices will find hard to overcome
they can be bolshy and novices may have trouble providing consistent discipline
they can overbend very easily and novice riders can end up riding the front end
they can be sensitive and overly worried without a positive 'leader'

Having said all that they are the most fabulous horses and I wouldn't trade mine for the world. He's doing very well at affiliated dressage and can hold his own with the best of them.
 
OP - what has been said is true for the Modern Friesian. The 'Baroque' type Friesians are not so hot.

Look for posts by Worried1 on this Forum. They compete a Friesian for owners and also teach.

My Friesian was a Baroque type (heavier) however when I bought her 19 years ago they were the more common type. She was a sweetheart, although strong she wasn't in anyway malicious neither did she have a hot temperament - quite the opposite. However she was very clever and would take the p*ss with other riders who didn't know her like I did - I'm not saying I am a better rider than they were; just knew my horse.

They are the most beautiful horses and if you really want one, you should take your time visiting Holland and learning about them, networking with breeders so you get the right one for you.
 
Thank you for all your replies. I have to admit mixed opinions on temperament.I would not be buying a youngster. I would be looking for something from seven upwards. Ideally that had some training and life experience. Visiting Holland and trying different types i think would give me a better feel for my own limitations.
 
I was told by an american lady that the modern Friesians had been developed by the use of saddlebred stallions - mind she was a huge fan of saddlebreds as wondered why anyone would bother to buy a warmblood for dressage in the USA when they could use a saddlebred instead. She trained a saddlebred to a high standard but she wasn't interested in competition dressage.
 
I have a half Friesiam mare that does some dressage, not her primary job - she's a display horse - but she has competed a little and done exceptionally well. I agree with those who are telling you to proceed with caution; the breed as a whole can be difficult to work over the back, and the canter issues have been mentioned. I have had mine since she was an unbroken 3 year old (she's 14 now), and it is only in the last 6 months I can really say her canter is balanced. They're the most lovely horses ever for trying to please, but not for nivice riders.
 
I would agree with most of what has been said here re the "sport" type. My share is that type, and also a failed driving horse, which brings issues of its own (and there are probably physical problems we haven't uncovered yet). He still finds canter a big challenge, even in a straight line (can go disunited for England...), and is difficult to work correctly to the contact. He's a really kind horse, but also pathologically nervy/spooky and has little sense of personal space. He, at least, is not a horse for a novice - and he's nine.
 
Not for the beginner or for someone wanting to progress quickly.

Mine is behind the leg, poor work ethic and has canter problems. Poor aerobic capacity.

Hard to get round,hindleg engaged, false bend and a host of other issues.

May sound negative but quite honest.

They are the most gorgeous looking horses, great personality, super friendly a great companion.

But take a lot of training, need a very balanced rider, and a rider who wants to ride the horse 100% every time, just sit back and he would stop at a breadth.

hacking makes a huge difference to work ethic but at the price they forget about being round, very looky type of horse when out easily distrated will go very big trot and can be a handfull.

But when he is working well he is a super ride, lovely paces.

Oh and if youre friesian is lazy try baileys no10 racing mix, makes them work well and not fizzy, but still poor endurance levels.
 
The thing is, a Friesian is essentially a fine driving horse, and so has an upright neck, high movement and powerful shoulders. Which is not what you want in a dressage horse, and will not help with a relaxed outline. They're beautiful horses, but if you want to do serious dressage you would be better off with a thoroughbred, sporthorse or warmblood.
 
Missed the novice bit! Definitely not a horse for novices, they are very powerful, can be strong and hot tempered.

You'd probably be best off with a sensible, older ISH :)
 
How serious is serious?

I think the video of Jasper 366 is a pretty good example of why they're not very competitive at international Grand Prix dressage. He looks just a little bit flat, lacks the engagement of the warmbloods and Iberians you see at that level, and, especially in canter, the hind end never looks quite coordinated with the front end.

On the other hand, how many of us are very competitive at international Grand Prix dressage? I think Friesians, like many other breeds, are perfectly capable of making their owners very happy riding at whatever level they fancy or are capable of riding at. Jasper there is certainly doing the Grand Prix -- perhaps not as well as the Valegros, Undercovers, Bonfires, Rembrandts, and Fuegos of the world, but a hell of a lot better than anything I am likely to ever own.
 
I think the thing is, you're making more work for yourself by training a carriage horse for dressage, than you would be by training something with more suitable conformation, at any level really.
 
Tried to insert the cartoon on YouTube .. The Dressage Horse by Appugliese 1975 but can't get link to work :(

Old thread and this was the best way of summing it up. :)
 
One of my liveries is a Friesian who does dressage, and my god does he float. He's working and competing at PSG at the moment, and is an absolute dream to ride. One of my other liveries is an advanced dressage rider who has represented GB, and is very much a warmblood person.

Having watched the glorious Friesian work, she has completely changed her mind about them as a breed.

I've never seen one move quite like this one does, he does really have a natural talent for dressage, but I would never discount one again!
 
Yes, though I've seen arabs and RIDs competing at those levels. These are exceptions rather than the typical. :) If you wanted to compete seriously in dressage, surely you would buy a horse bred for dressage, with the ideal conformation for dressage, it's just common sense!

For a novice rider wanting to do dressage, I think trainability and a good temperament is more important than conformation.
 
I'd also agree strongly about them not being a horse for a novice. There are some around with good temperaments but also a lot that are very difficult. I currently have two friends with real problem Friesians, one of which is violently explosive, the other a bolshy thug with no respect of people.
 
Inca2 said:
Generally speaking they are not great for novice riders because;

they have very big movement which novices will find it hard to balance on
they very often have difficulty with canter, which novices will find hard to overcome
they can be bolshy and novices may have trouble providing consistent discipline
they can overbend very easily and novice riders can end up riding the front end
they can be sensitive and overly worried without a positive 'leader'

Having said all that they are the most fabulous horses and I wouldn't trade mine for the world. He's doing very well at affiliated dressage and can hold his own with the best of them.
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Totally agree here :)
 
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