Calling all friesian owners!!

[Sexy Sietske]

Winter is fast aproching here in the UK (typical!!) and I have never owned a friesian before so I was just wonder what type of rug they will need and when to start rugging. Also any other friesian tips in general care or training or breeding. We are hoping to breed out friesian mare so any good friesian stallions available in the Uk would be great :D :D

[inca]

i have just got a friesian mare this year so any tips would be very useful for me to :D they are very beautiful

[Samantha1980]

could you give us some more info:)
Will your Friesian live in or out? Will she be clipped? Is there lots of shelter in her field? Is she in good health? Where in the UK do you live? I am going with my YO to pick up her mare tonight. Shes spent the last month or so running with a Friesian stallion. I will try and get some pics.

[blackhorses]

Ooooh another friesian owner!! Hi, I breed friesians up here in Cumbria and have a stallion called Wessel, I'll stick a pic on here, but there are more on my website below and pics of his offspring. He is off to the keuring next month so fingers crossed he'll get a ster!
http://www.mealrigg-stud.co.uk/website/stallions/IMAG008.JPG

http://www.mealrigg-stud.co.uk/website/stallions/IMAG021.JPG

As for rugging a friesian, I don't ever as long as they have access to shelter they don't need it! They are by nature a hardy breed and are prone to putting on weight all to easily!! My mares that don't have foals at foot are on restricted grazing all summer and just on haylage in the winter as well as a vitamin lick and salt lick. They are easy to look after and tend to be good mothers although the mares are prone to retaining thier afterbirths, so watch for that when you do have foals.
Any chance of some piccies of your mares? - am rather friesian mad as you can probably tell!!:D :rolleyes:

[Sexy Sietske]

I would put some pictures on if I knew how hehehe:rolleyes: Tell me about putting weight on!!! My little mare has a huge belly from being out in the field for 2weeks solid without a break because of a viral infection and even though she has finished her antibiotics she still has a runny nose :confused: Anyway back on to the orginal conversation. We got our friesian (sietske) a lightweight turnout rug, like a rainsheet. There isn't much shelter in the field (which is perched on top of a very windy hill) and when the wind blows its very cold and obviously good old england its always raining!! She will be stabled at night time but do you think a light rug will be enough in the middle of winter and will she need a rug in the stable?

Also what do you about keeping the mane and tail. Sietske has started rubbing her tail realy bad and the bottom of her lovely curly mane. Can I plait it in winter to keep it tidy and less muddy without having to brush it all the time without worrying about it falling out?

And...sorry to babble :p but I panic because she is my first friesian and I dont want to ruin her. Well what about shoeing her..when she is older obviously...I want to keep her barefoot if I can, what are friesians feet like in general. She does kick with her back legs when trying to pick them up (didn't think friesians were like this, but every horse is different i guess) so she hasn't had the farrier yet to 'evaluate' her hoove quality.

I am looking to breed Sietske next year when she is 2year old to have the foal then she is 3. Is this too early? a friend suggested it so she can have the foal before any of her ridden training can begin as we wish to do dressage with her.

Sorry about all the questions...just thought i would get them off my chest :D :D

[Sexy Sietske]

P.S your stallion is stunning!!! Don't spose he will be available for stud next year:rolleyes:

[blackhorses]

Yes he is available for stud but not to mares under 3 years old, personally 2 is way too young to put a mare in foal, especially for a slower maturing breed like the friesian - they don't stop growing till they're 8 yrs old, at 2 you can't really judge the conformation of the mare to see if she is worth breeding from, as she won't have finished growing, also I don't think they are mentally mature either, after all what's the hurry as she could live into her late 20's so there is no point rushing her! Personally if you are going to do dressage with her I would do that and then breed from her if she turns out to have good conformation etc. and the resulting foal will be worth more. Who is she by and has she got a premie or been to a keuring? Did she come over from Holland? Are you going to the keuring in Wakefield with her? If so you can talk to lots of people with friesians there.
As for her mane, I don't brush them as it breaks off too much hair, I just go through it with my fingers and a bit of coat shine every so often and sometimes plait it if I have time, and on the older broodmares if thier manes get too long I hog them - as they are not shown so I don't worry about appearences!! As for rugs, I never rug mine in or out as they have good quality haylage in the winter so it's deffinitly enough to keep them warm, obviously if your youngster looks skinny and is finding it hard to keep weight on then a rug would help.
If she is scratching both her mane and tail out I would watch that she doesn't have sweet itch as it tends to appear in yearlings onwards, is the area scabby at all? How long have you had her and have you wormed her?
Friesians tend to have very tough feet, although it can obviously vary from horse to horse, I would just wait and see how her feet turn out as she grows.

[Sexy Sietske]

She has no scabs but lots of flakey skin, she got wormed 2weeks ago. It was a friend that said to put her in foal when she was a 2 year old otherwise we was goin to wait until she was 3 or 4, what age do you recommend breeding? We just want another Sietske basically so she will most likely only being having the one foal until she not ridable. We cannot take her to the kuering because she isn't registered and her sire is an unapproved stallion but i was advised to take her anyway and let the judges take a look at her, when is it?

[blackhorses]

If she does not have the FPS papers and isn't registered she isn't aknowledged as being pure bred, even if she is. You won't be able to take her to the keuring as you have to be a member of the Friesian horse society and to do that you have to have a dutch registered friesian to join - a faff I know!
As for breeding from her I would wait to see how she turns out before deciding, as she is only a yearling I would wait until she is 3 before you make a decision - only breed from the best conformation, action and temperament wise, even if you breed her to a registered stallion her foal is still not eligable to be registerd and is considered a crossbred. Who is her sire?
The friesian horse society is very picky and has a million rules, so not an easy breed to get into!! The keuring is on the 10th of September - it is worth going just to see what's out there, and what to look for in a friesian, contact FHAGBI and ask if you can go just to watch.
As for the flackey skin check she doesn't have lice.

[Sexy Sietske]

Her sire is offspring of nanning but we don't have his name and her dam is renske and her dams sire is freark (may have miss spelt the names) I personally think it would just be alot easier to buy another friesian when we are ready for one but mother wanted to breed (parents don't always know best:p )

[blackhorses]

Maybe a more sensible idea!!! - and cheaper too!!:rolleyes: :D

[Sexy Sietske]

Yeah...I agree:D a friend has seen some lovely friesian mares FPS registered for £3000 fully trained so you can just dive on go!!!

[pengapenga]

I would agree with blackhorses you don't really need to rug friesians. I find Frits sweats under rugs (even when cold weather). Frits does not get a thick winter coat either:)

[blackhorses]

£3000!:confused: I would wonder what's wrong with them! - especially since they're fully trained - don't touch with a barge pole, they should be at least £6000 if they're any good!
Would love to see pics of your filly she sounds lovley, have you tried sticking pics on these photo bucket things - lots of people on here use them and they seem to work well - not sure how you work them though!:D

[inca]

this is my mare , still have not got the hang of posting pictures yet :D

she is beautiful center>
<a href="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h295/inca_2006/tsjerkje004.jpg" target="_blank">
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[URL=http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h295/inca_2006/?action=view&current=tsjerksje004.flv][IMG]nter>

[blackhorses]

Can see one of them - a head shot and she looks gorgeous!:D

[inca]

i cant believe she is mine , she has a very sweet nature and is very affectionate:D
one of her gt gt grandparents is called wessel,
your stallion looks very handsome!!

[blackhorses]

Thanks Inca, I can't believe Wessel is mine either, or any of my horses for that matter - I never thought I would have a horse let alone 21!!! - and yes I am mad!!:D :p

[Sexy Sietske]

If it works.....

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i305/34lanny34/HPIM0565.jpg

Having a snooze after trashing her stable, its hard work being nosey!!!

[**jet**]

Blackhorse-WOW your stallion is stunning!! went and had a nose at your website was looking at your stuff for sale, (i dont have friesian was looking for broodmare)

[inca]

what beautiful horses:D :D

[blackhorses]

Thanks Ince and Jet!! Sietske looks lovelly, she looks like my yearling Otto, although Otto is going through that awfull gawkey phase - typical yearling!!
What kind of broodmare are you looking for Jet as we have 2 TB mares in foal to Wessel for sale, I love the TB cross, I would really like to keep breeding them but as we are in the middle of nowhere it is difficult to sell them as people won't travel, which is a shame as they are going for alot of money down south!!!:rolleyes:

[pengapenga]

Hi:)

Your friesian is lovely:)

I have a five year old stallion, which my daughter rides from time to time (she is 11), and he is soooooo lazy. When I work with him on the lunge I use a whip with a plastic bag at the end otherwise he will not go faster than a walk:eek: :D It is in the breed to be very quiet and somewhat lazy:) When I bought Frits they told me he was a hot friesian:eek: well if he is hot then a less hot one must be almost dead!:D

[inca]

i have been told that friesians dont find it easy to canter, and i have had a few problems trying to get my mare to canter, and have only done a few steps as well, i have only had her a few months so hopefully we can sort it out, although she manages to canter perfectly well around her field on her own looking beautiful!! :D

[vciky]

More friesian owners YEY!!! I have a 6 yr old mare called Antsje - I am taking her to the inspection this weekend, so I will see you there Blackhorse!

My friesian is barefoot and has very good strong feet, although they were out of shape when I bought her. We now do 12 mile hack on and off road easily now with no problems. My mare is not lazy at all - in fact she is pretty sharp:eek: We are just begining canter work and she does rush a bit - I dont know if any other friesian owners find this but Antsje is like bambi on ice and quite unco-ordinated and she walks into things and looks :eek: :eek: Im sure my legs wernt THERE!!! I am sure this is due to them being late developers and she still needs to find herself and her balance. Unridden she has a lovely uphill canter so I am sure it will come eventually;)

We just won our first dressage test this weekend so I am very proud of her at the minute:D

[Sexy Sietske]

When and where is this inspection. Could we go just to spectate (sp?) would be nice to see what sort, type size and shape friesians are there and maybe speak to one of the judges about my mare.

[vciky]

The inspection is on Sunday (10/9/06) at Manor Grange Stud Riding School, Criddling Stubs, Knottingley, North Yorkshire. It starts at 09.30 am and is £5.00 admission. Anyone can go and spectate:) There will be just over 30 horses and riding / driving displays so it should be an interesting day. Also there will be many knowledgable people there to talk to and you can find out more about joining FHAGBI the UK friesian society - it is worth it if you own a friesian.
Hope that helps

Vicky

[inca]

my friesian was shod when i got her but she has been barefoot for 3 months now and the blacksmith says she has very good feet, so i hope she wont need shoes again, i am going to get some lessons on her so maybe the canter will be sorted out i hope!!!

my mare has just turned 8 so she is still quite young,

i am getting her teeth checked this weekend, as she has been shaking her head and seems a bit distressed, when i have ridden her lately,

i told the dentist what she was doing and he said that in Holland they dont really bother sorting horses teeth out ,(he has seen a lot of dutch warm bloods that have been imported and their teeth were in a bit of a state) so he thinks they will have never been rasped,

also he said that friesians dont have very good teeth anyway,(although i have not seem anything about this anywhere) so i will be glad when he has been and checked them for me,
i just hope she is good , i hate it when they rasp there teeth it gives me the creeps:eek: :eek:

[vciky]

I had my Mares teeth done in Feb and the dentist said the same thing - they had never been touched:eek: It made a huge difference in her accepting a contact much better.

I think if you buy from the Netherlands the horses are kept pretty much as farm animals and they do very little to them. Antsjes feet were very out of shape (although they improved rapidly!), her worm count was off the richter scale:eek: and her teeth were very sharp. I would strongly advise to do a full MOT on any imported Friesian as you can bet something will need a bit of attention;)

Vicky

[inca]

will be glad when the dentist has been ,i am just hoping that it is her teeth, cant wait to get back riding her , her worm count was also very high, with redworm, so they must all be the same when they come from holland they have the most beautiful nature she is very affectionate,:D

[twinkle11]

im taking my mare to inspecyions on sat cant wait nice to see two others going will have to cme and say helo blackhorse how many horses you taking with you wessel is lovely by the way and ansje is lovely to cant wait to see them both my mar had taking a nice chunk of mane out which is great just before inspections this is her anything i can do to improve days before:)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/Twinkle11/DSC01800.jpg:)

[twinkle11]

sexy siestke and razzle your horses are lovely to all friesians are so great

[inca]

very stunning mare, good luck at the inspections everyone:D

[Sexy Sietske]

Twinkle11 - your mares mane looks great, my fillies mane is all curly and bushy, rather funny but it suits her personality.

As it goes I think my filly has poor teeth because she is coughing up/choking on her food and she spits it out somehow and you can see that it hasn't been chewed properly. Her feet are still in a state too because she won't pick the hind legs up without kicking but we are working on it, and she came from holland. My farrier says in holland they do alot of work on hard surfaces so it tends to keep thier feet tidy, but as Sietske has been on grass since she got here they have got much worse.

Hope to do some road work with her soon, maybe this month, she is so brave for a yearling its shocking!!

I think im going to go to the inspection to have a look so I can see what goes off and see if I can get Sietske registered somehow, even if it means going to the extremes!!!

[twinkle11]

thanks good luck to all who are going to the inspectons

[friesian]

Where did u get your friesians from?

[inca]

can anyone who goes post some pictures please:D
would love to see the horses

[Sexy Sietske]

I need directions if some one can PM them to me, getting very excited about going. Would love to take my mare, will have to see what the judges say!!

[blackhorses]

Don't worry Twinkle about your mares mane, Wessel has taken a huge chunck out of his - actually about half - typical, it's been perfect for the last 2 years and he has to do something to it now!!:rolleyes: :rolleyes: Look forward to meeting everyone!:D

[vciky]

I need directions if some one can PM them to me, getting very excited about going. Would love to take my mare, will have to see what the judges say!!

Here is a multimap link to the inspection
Inspection Location (http://uk8.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&search_result=&db=pc&lang=&keepicon=true&pc=WF110AZ&advanced=&client=public&addr2=&quicksearch=WF11%200AZ&addr3=&addr1=)

Larger Scale (http://uk8.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=450000&Y=420000&width=700&height=400&gride=451995&gridn=421477&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=pc&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=WF110AZ&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=true&zm=1&scale=200000)

You can zoom in and out of the map yourself though according to where you are;)

I dont think you can take your horse unless you have entered your horse into the show - I doubt if you will have time now to do this. Try contacting http://www.fhagbi.co.uk/ the UK friesian horse association for more info - they are very helpful.

Here is my Mare:D

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/Vicky_Whitlock/willowback016.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/Vicky_Whitlock/4.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/Vicky_Whitlock/crctest001.jpg

[kelly11]

im going i will try and take loads of pics and show you all

Razzle my mare is 16.2

Friesian i got her from holland

Blackhorse i no how you feel she has had really good mane all this time and 2 weeks before she comes in with a chunk missing i could have cried

Look forward to seeing you all

[inca]

looking forward to seeing the pictures of the gradings
vciky your mare looks beautiful:D

[vciky]

Had a wonderful day at the Friesian Inspections - here is a link to piccies etc:D

Friesian Inspection Piccies (http://newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90500&highlight=friesian)