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18th Jan 2006, 09:23 AM
Thanks to Pengapenga for writing this up :)
The Friesian
The History of the Friesian Horse
The Friesian is a native of Friesland which is a Northern Province of The Netherlands. It is thought that the Friesian descends from the Equus Robustus an enormous horse that roamed Northern Europe.
The Monks in the middle ages were known for breeding horses and it is thought that they crossed the draught type descendants of the Equus Robustus with lighter breeds of horse resulting in the Friesian horse; an animal with strength, agility and kind temperament. These monks also created one of the world’s first warmblood horses and one of Europe’s oldest pure horse breeds.
The first Friesian horses were not particularly refined looking animals but they had strength, endurance and were docile. The Friesian became the horse it is today because of breeding with the eastern breeds during the crusades and the Andalusian horses during the 80 years war when The Netherlands was occupied by the Spanish.
The Friesian horse carried the Knights to the Crusades and the medieval nobility favoured them as saddle horses.
The breed is also said to have influenced many other breeds such as the Oldenburg, The Dales, Fells and The Morgan. The Standardbred, Swedish Warmblood and the Norwegian Dole Gudbrandsdal were also influenced by the Friesian. Through the Old English Black the Friesian also influenced the Shire.
In the early part of the 20th century the Friesian breed almost died out and through careful breeding programs the numbers of Friesians have increased. The breed was re-established through the Oldenburg breed.
Breed Description
The Friesian is always black with long flowing manes and tails and feathers. They have eye catching movement and are one of the world’s most versatile breeds. They can be ridden, harnessed or jumped.
The Friesian is evenly built with a noble head, bright intelligent eyes, small attentive ears slightly turned towards each other. His neck should not be too short and it should be slightly bent. He should have a strong back ending in a croup that is not too short and should not be slanted. Powerful shoulders that should be long and slanting, long ribs that are well arched, strong legs and feet and a well developed upper arm and good position.
The Friesian should have smooth, square, elegant and grand gaits that are accentuated by feathers on the lower foot. He should have a nice mane and a nice long tail. He is an honest horse with a lot of presence and is eager to work. At the age of three the ideal height at the withers should be 1.60m. The preferred colour is jet black.
The walk should be straight, powerful and springy with a good length of stride and the hind quarters swing forward with power.
The Trot is a reaching forward movement with power from the hindquarters. The hock flexes as the Friesian moves forward.
The Canter is lively and with power from the hindquarters and flexion in the hock.
Inbreeding
Most of the inbreeding in the Friesian horse occurred in the earlier part of the 20th century. When breeding with a mare it is recommended that the inbreeding should be 5% or less.
The coefficient inbreeding percentages is calculated using the Wrights method, and is measured by the increase in homozygosis.
The breeding of the Friesian is founded on three sire pedigrees. They are called the Age, Tetman and Ritske lines.
Types of Friesian
There are three types of Friesian.
Baroque Type
The baroque type is a warhorse or pulling farm machinery type. He is shorter and stockier with a lot of muscle. He has a short broad back compared to the modern type. His neck is short and heavy for pulling power. The chest is very broad and the withers are not very well developed.
Modern Type
This type is the riding or sports horse type. He is fine and elegant. His back should not be too long, he should have a well developed topline. His croup should not be higher than his withers. He should have a normal to broad chest.
http://photobucket.com/albums/a269/Vicky_Whitlock/friesian/?action=view¤t=CAG1UJWH.jpg
Classical Type
This type is the harness type. He is similar to the modern type but heavier. His back is shorter, neck is long. This type has an elegant appearance.
The Keuring
The Keuring is what they call the Friesian inspection shows. At a keuring your horse will be inspected and then given ratings accordingly. Stallions may also get their breeding licence should they pass the strict breeding criteria.
Stallions, mares and geldings can receive Ster (Star) rating if they meet the criteria. The criteria for ster rating is that the horse has the correct conformation, good extended movements, straight walk that is powerful and flexible, hind legs are powerful and are bought well forward underneath the body, the trot is extended and elevated with good flexion of the hock.
Mares can also receive the following –
Model Mare - The requirement for this is that the mare is usually 7 years or older be a minimum height of 1.58 m and must have had and nursed a foal.
The term Model indicates that the mare is an ideal Friesian horse. She will also have to pass a suitability test which takes one day and an aptitude and ability test which takes five weeks.
Preferential Mare – The requirements is that the mare is a minimum of 1.50m and the status is based on the quality of four of her foals.
A preferent status is given to very few horses.
Performance Mother – The requirement is that the mare is a minimum of 1.50m and the status is based on the performance level of three or more of her foals.
Links
www.horsetalk.co.nz/friesian/
www.fps-studbook.com/
The Friesian
The History of the Friesian Horse
The Friesian is a native of Friesland which is a Northern Province of The Netherlands. It is thought that the Friesian descends from the Equus Robustus an enormous horse that roamed Northern Europe.
The Monks in the middle ages were known for breeding horses and it is thought that they crossed the draught type descendants of the Equus Robustus with lighter breeds of horse resulting in the Friesian horse; an animal with strength, agility and kind temperament. These monks also created one of the world’s first warmblood horses and one of Europe’s oldest pure horse breeds.
The first Friesian horses were not particularly refined looking animals but they had strength, endurance and were docile. The Friesian became the horse it is today because of breeding with the eastern breeds during the crusades and the Andalusian horses during the 80 years war when The Netherlands was occupied by the Spanish.
The Friesian horse carried the Knights to the Crusades and the medieval nobility favoured them as saddle horses.
The breed is also said to have influenced many other breeds such as the Oldenburg, The Dales, Fells and The Morgan. The Standardbred, Swedish Warmblood and the Norwegian Dole Gudbrandsdal were also influenced by the Friesian. Through the Old English Black the Friesian also influenced the Shire.
In the early part of the 20th century the Friesian breed almost died out and through careful breeding programs the numbers of Friesians have increased. The breed was re-established through the Oldenburg breed.
Breed Description
The Friesian is always black with long flowing manes and tails and feathers. They have eye catching movement and are one of the world’s most versatile breeds. They can be ridden, harnessed or jumped.
The Friesian is evenly built with a noble head, bright intelligent eyes, small attentive ears slightly turned towards each other. His neck should not be too short and it should be slightly bent. He should have a strong back ending in a croup that is not too short and should not be slanted. Powerful shoulders that should be long and slanting, long ribs that are well arched, strong legs and feet and a well developed upper arm and good position.
The Friesian should have smooth, square, elegant and grand gaits that are accentuated by feathers on the lower foot. He should have a nice mane and a nice long tail. He is an honest horse with a lot of presence and is eager to work. At the age of three the ideal height at the withers should be 1.60m. The preferred colour is jet black.
The walk should be straight, powerful and springy with a good length of stride and the hind quarters swing forward with power.
The Trot is a reaching forward movement with power from the hindquarters. The hock flexes as the Friesian moves forward.
The Canter is lively and with power from the hindquarters and flexion in the hock.
Inbreeding
Most of the inbreeding in the Friesian horse occurred in the earlier part of the 20th century. When breeding with a mare it is recommended that the inbreeding should be 5% or less.
The coefficient inbreeding percentages is calculated using the Wrights method, and is measured by the increase in homozygosis.
The breeding of the Friesian is founded on three sire pedigrees. They are called the Age, Tetman and Ritske lines.
Types of Friesian
There are three types of Friesian.
Baroque Type
The baroque type is a warhorse or pulling farm machinery type. He is shorter and stockier with a lot of muscle. He has a short broad back compared to the modern type. His neck is short and heavy for pulling power. The chest is very broad and the withers are not very well developed.
Modern Type
This type is the riding or sports horse type. He is fine and elegant. His back should not be too long, he should have a well developed topline. His croup should not be higher than his withers. He should have a normal to broad chest.
http://photobucket.com/albums/a269/Vicky_Whitlock/friesian/?action=view¤t=CAG1UJWH.jpg
Classical Type
This type is the harness type. He is similar to the modern type but heavier. His back is shorter, neck is long. This type has an elegant appearance.
The Keuring
The Keuring is what they call the Friesian inspection shows. At a keuring your horse will be inspected and then given ratings accordingly. Stallions may also get their breeding licence should they pass the strict breeding criteria.
Stallions, mares and geldings can receive Ster (Star) rating if they meet the criteria. The criteria for ster rating is that the horse has the correct conformation, good extended movements, straight walk that is powerful and flexible, hind legs are powerful and are bought well forward underneath the body, the trot is extended and elevated with good flexion of the hock.
Mares can also receive the following –
Model Mare - The requirement for this is that the mare is usually 7 years or older be a minimum height of 1.58 m and must have had and nursed a foal.
The term Model indicates that the mare is an ideal Friesian horse. She will also have to pass a suitability test which takes one day and an aptitude and ability test which takes five weeks.
Preferential Mare – The requirements is that the mare is a minimum of 1.50m and the status is based on the quality of four of her foals.
A preferent status is given to very few horses.
Performance Mother – The requirement is that the mare is a minimum of 1.50m and the status is based on the performance level of three or more of her foals.
Links
www.horsetalk.co.nz/friesian/
www.fps-studbook.com/