Anybody own a friesian?

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em23

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Sep 11, 2004
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I am wondering whether to buy a friesian horse. they are supposed to have an excellent temperament. The only thing I have heard is that they might be a bit bouncy.
There are three dealers on the internet, one in Holland and two in England. Is it worth my while pursuing this idea? Any advice?

Em
 
They are generally good tempered, I have been stood in field with a stallion and his mares and he would rather stand with the people than the mares if you are in the field :rolleyes: My mare is good natured but can be extremely marish, she was a cow kicker when we first had her and she nearly took my ear off when I was hanging a haynet up. This are all old habits now and she is a real peoples horse, always 1st to the gate but they are big big horses and will take advantage of their size if they know they can.

Ridden wise im not so sure as my friesian is only 3 but have leant over her and been lead around and she certainly has so motion through her back when she walks!! They make good all round horses but tend to excel in showing and dressage, my mare was placed 1st everytime out as 2 year old showing inhand
 
i have one on loan at the mo and love her to pieces - she just rising 4 and i am in the process of backing her. she was v bargy and knew her strength 4 weeks ago - now she's polite but it has taken a lot of work and determination. give her an inch and she takes a mile and then some - bit too intelligent for her own good sometimes- learns v v quicly to do things - then learns even more quickly how to avoid doing them! but is a poppet 99% of the time now. she's a v rewarding horse to work with though so long as you don't loose concentration for a second!
agree with above though - she's more of a people horse than a horse horse.
but like all breeds i imagine you get good and bad ones in terms of temperament.... i wouldn't say all freisians would have good temperaments anymore than all tb's are crazed race horses ;) depends on history/handling etc as with all horses.
i'd go and meet some/try one first and see what you think. they def do have the WOW factor and are beautiful animals. if you were nearer i'd say come and meet her!
x
 
I have a friesian and she is perfect. Her temperament is absolutely lovely! She is only just rising 2 so i havent ridden her yet, but she has had a saddle on (once, briefly cos she pestered lol) and she is walked out in hand on the roads twice daily. I can honestly say that she has not put a foot wrong in the time i've had her. She is just perfect. Nothing seems to spook her. If there is anything she is at all unsure of she just stops and looks at it lol But she will follow me up to it and have a sniff, then carry on. She doesn’t do any of the spinning and spooking that other youngsters can do, she really hasn’t got a nasty bone in her body, she’s lovely.

I think you do need to look at the breeding of the horse you are buying also. Im not an expert on bloodlines at all, but like with most breeds, there are certain ones that will produce “hot” friesian. I think one stallion in particular (Tserk or something??) has been producing some with a more hot temperament than maybe you would like if you’re a novice rider or just not sure about such a big horse. My girl is by Brandus and from a mare by Jakob, both of which are apparently known for producing very placid, even tempered foals.

As for the bouncy stride… Check out some of my videos on Youtube. I cant give the link cos im at work and they block it lol! But if you stick “una, friesian” in the search you should come up with some of my (many!!) videos of her. Obviously she’s not yet been ridden but she has incredibly smooth paces. She lifts her knees high, but her back stays pretty level.

I would suggest you ride a few friesians before you consider buying on though. I was advised the same. The stride is very different to a lot of other horses and it can feel weird at first lol But once I’d got used to it I found it so comfy!! I cant wait to ride my Una now!! :D

Anyway. Hope that helped a bit. There are a few other friesian owners and breeders on here so you should get plenty of advice.
 
I owned on when I was a bit younger, we then moved abroad so I gave him to my best friend. He was a star, but they are very bouncy as you say.

His name was Hans:

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Tam x
 
I've got 3 of them. One is just a baby (well he'll be 1 in a couple of weeks) and 2 other mares - I ride both of them plus I also ride a stud stallion.

My older mare will be ridden under sufferance but she would much rather have babies - she can be spooky and naughty but that is just her way of protesting about being ridden, she is never dangerous. My younger mare I backed myself and even though she is by Folkert who is noted as one of the 'hotter' stallions she is fine. We do have the occasional outburst of friesian big trot which looks stunning but is horrible to ride, very bouncy and on the forehand but when she starts doing it I normally dissolve into fits of laughter.

The stud stallion I ride is probably one of the laziest horses ever - he really is hard work but he doesn't put a foot wrong.

All of mine are very friendly and love human company although my younger mare does have a tendancy to be a bit mareish when she's in season - nothing worse than pulling faces though.

If you are really interested in buying then the FHAGBI are very helpful, they can help you out with bloodlines etc.

I do know of a few people who have bought direct from Holland with no problems at all but at least with a UK dealer you could go and see for yourself first. I was lucky enough to buy both of my mares in a private sale (they are mother and daughter) and the colt we bred ourselves.
 
I have a friesian and he is a lovely horse:) A very people orientated horse, but the breed is known to be people orientated:) My boy has a lovely trot, powerful but lovely and we are working on canter.

If you are going down the road of buying a friesian, contact the society in your country. There are unfortunately some dodgy dealers around so take care. Also look into the bloodlines as there is a bloodline that are know to be 'hot' horses.
 
i also have a friesian mare she now 8 i got her when she was 21/2 she was hardly touch t be honest so was very very bulshy and arragant but she is now a diffrent horse like others have said you let something slip an inch she will take a mile but like any horse i suppose!
she can be very marish on the floor but never goes into her ridden work i think she quiet likes having a purpose! when i first had her backed and got her back she was the most laziest thing ive ever came across which i continued to have lesson with (the person that backed her) in the end i got so feed up that i changed instructors and straight away he diffrence was amazing she is on the ball all the time and its a struggle trying to contain all that energy ( i now have a EE instructor by the way) and as im only 4ft11 and she is a big bouncy 16.1 i can tell you she is bloay bouncy but when workign properly she gives the best trots/canters/walks ive ever sat on i love her to bits!
anymore questions and i will be willing to answer
and make sure you get a registered one with yellow/green papers if you want a registered one that is! my mare is by rypke321
heres a piccy from our first dressage test last year a prelim test and a riding holiday
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Hi,

I'm also a friesian fan and owner!!

Fantastic tempered horses generally.
The Tsjerk offspring tend to be 'hot', however, they are great for sport since they are so forward going.
And yes, they can be 'bouncy' under saddle, due to their high stepping action, but this is not always the case -you tend to either get the Friesians with the high knee action, or super stretch.

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ooooh i got one, i got one. She is 7 now and is a star. She can get a little stirred but appart from that she is as good as gold. She does have a very bouncy trot and canter and i'd recommend you try one out before you go looking to see for yourself. Mine is from the tsjerk line and can tend to be a little sharp, but have a look around im sure you will find one to suit you.

Good Luck,

Speedy
x
 
I don't know whether to be pleased or worried that Tsjerk is being put forward as 'hot' I'm putting my older mare in foal to him this year!!! Although we already have one by Folkert who is half brother to Tsjerk and he has a bit of a reputation as well. The one thing that did draw me to Tsjerk was his breeding percentages - more of his foals achieve 1st premie than any other stallion.

Echo the others - it's nice to see so many friesian owners on here, are any of you planning on going to the gradings in September?
 
madlady said:
I don't know whether to be pleased or worried that Tsjerk is being put forward as 'hot' I'm putting my older mare in foal to him this year!!! Although we already have one by Folkert who is half brother to Tsjerk and he has a bit of a reputation as well. The one thing that did draw me to Tsjerk was his breeding percentages - more of his foals achieve 1st premie than any other stallion.

Echo the others - it's nice to see so many friesian owners on here, are any of you planning on going to the gradings in September?
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but Tsjerk is a wonderful stallion!!
Even a hot Friesian isn't generally a problem - most of em are just damn lazy!!! at least with a brilliant bloodline like his, you will have a more responsive forward going horsey!! lol!
 
madlady said:
I don't know whether to be pleased or worried that Tsjerk is being put forward as 'hot' I'm putting my older mare in foal to him this year!!! Although we already have one by Folkert who is half brother to Tsjerk and he has a bit of a reputation as well. The one thing that did draw me to Tsjerk was his breeding percentages - more of his foals achieve 1st premie than any other stallion.

Echo the others - it's nice to see so many friesian owners on here, are any of you planning on going to the gradings in September?
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Me me me! :D Reserved my hire lorry, all set now!

But im going to annoy you all with questions when it gets closer. Im clueless and had to miss the FHAGBI training day cos i was judging a dog show :rolleyes: So have no clue what i have to do!
 
haha - I don't think they mind really - I know I don't and supposedly back through the ages the very old friesian stock was used a lot in the breeding of fells, dales and shires.

Jessica re the grading, keep your ned as black as possible over the summer, I invested in a good fly rug, practice trotting out (or get someone very tall to do it). Also at the grading very advisable to pay for the services of a runner. Once in the ring though they will run behind your horse cracking a driving/lunge whip and rattling tins with stones in. Dandea didn't bat an eyelid cos we practiced with her at home but on the day some of them got a little upset with it.

I know that the 'done' thing is to have them in a white open face bridle but we didn't bother, I just took her along in her ordinary black one but took the noseband off.

Please feel free to pm me though if you've got questions - I didn't go to any of the training days that they did either, I just went with what I'd seen at the central stallion gradings in holland and presumed it would be something like that.
 
my mare is by Tsjerk and i definitly wouldnt say she's hot, you have to be very firm with her when you ride, as she would rather be sunbathing eating etc , but she is fantastic on voice commands and really well behaved, even if she plays up if you give her a telling off she settles down. But she is a dream to handle and the sweetest horse i have ever met:D

although she pulls horrible faces if you disturb her when she's having her dinner!
 
Oh Inca your mare sounds just like mine - she is by Folkert (half brother to Tsjerk) and he is reputed to be a bit of a handful.

She is a great one for pulling faces, when I'm grooming a bit she doesn't like (girth area), when I walk the colt past her stable, at feeding time, but that's the worst she does. Ridden wise she is a dream - most of the time - but when she is in season she can be a bit marey and put the odd buck in.

I'm looking forward to my Tsjerk baby now, we're putting Dandea in foal to Doaitsen who I think is just amazing so fingers crossed for 2 little stunners next year.
 
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