Friesian Horse Breed

From: Horse Breeds • Driving Horse Breeds List

Friesian Horse
A good looking compact horse who has good overall conformation, active paces and a kind and generous nature. It is an excellent all round horse who excels in riding and looks stunning as a driving horse.

Originates
The Friesian horse originates in Fries land in the Netherlands.

Height 15 to 16 HH

Color
Black.

Conformation

The head is full of character and fairly broad with a generous eye and alert mobile ears.
Thee neck is well muscled with a gentle crest along the top line.
The withers are fairly low.
The back is short, broad and strong.
The girth is deep.
The chest area is of medium width.
The shoulders are sloping and powerful.
The limbs are short and strong and have a light feather to the lower limb.
The tail is low set and the mane and tail are full and thick.

History
The Friesian was named after the area in the Netherlands where it comes from. The Friesian was originally used by knights in the medieval period to carry them into battle, and has been used throughout history for riding, driving and farm work. Nowadays they excel in the field of dressage as well as carriage driving and make an excellent all round horse.

The Friesian was used for farm work and light carriage work often pulling native Sjees which is an open carriage for two people often ornately decorated. During the eighty years war the Friesian was first mated with Andalusian blood to give a lighter breed of horse. When the demand for a lighter horse capable of more ridden work emerged the Friesian was mixed with Hanovarian and further Andalusians with great care being taken to keep the breeds high stepping active and agile paces and wonderful temperament.

The Friesian has been used to influence many other breeds such as the Fell, Dales, Clydesdale and Shire horses, the likeness can be especially seen with regard to the Fell and Dales ponies.

Uses
Are as an all round riding and driving horse, who excels in the sport of dressage due to its active and agile paces, stunning good looks and trainable temperament.

Friesian Horse Association Of North America
The association helps to protect this beautiful breed and can offer assistance to breeders and owners.