Like so many people, you and I are astounded by the Friesian's lovely movement and romantic looks. Here are a few things everyone should know before choosing a Friesian as their competition horse:
1) Friesians are more cold blooded than warmbloods. Breeders are steering away from "lazy" bloodlines and in fact, more responsive horses are being discovered now. There is a difference in trainability just in the fact that these horses a bit more difficult to condition because they get sort of heavy on you when they are tired. They are big on top of that. Be careful of what you wish for!
2) Friesians haven't got a warmblood's canter. Many baroque or old style Friesians don't really even have a true canter. It is often laborious for the Friesian to be in this gait and he will have to be conditioned to be comfortable doing his work at the canter.
3) Friesian horse value is dictated by its bloodlines and its keuring, not by its level of training. There is a downside to that if you are buying a prospect for competition. Properly started colts are hard to find. In comparison, if you were to be looking for a quarter horse, you might find thousands with the same quality of conformation and their sellers would be competing with eachother through each horses level of training and performance ability. Friesians are valuable without having any substantial foundation of training or (as of yet) much proof of performance ability. Watch out! It is far more fun to buy a soft-mouthed, athletic young companion than to buy a hard-mouthed, unathletic but good-looking horse-in-training. Be picky! There are great Friesians out there but be ready to pay for the good ones and don't buy too big of a horse. The smaller, modern ones are much nicer feeling under saddle and usually more nimble. With some time the whole breed should become more athletic like this, and the breed is getting taller at the same time. There are some gems out their but ride (hard) a great many before you settle on one.
4) Friesians are inbred. They are very, very inbred. This means all kinds of tragic diseases crop up and can sabotage your prospect's career before it starts, when he's two, when he's three or four, or when he is ten. Be very careful to corner your breeder and inquire about the history of things like OCD, myoclonus, bone cancer, early death, the whole lot. X-ray the joints and look for the beginnings of these diseases. Have an expert in these matters read the x-rays. It will pay off. When buying young horses, look at the dam if she is around to assess her health and abilities. Be extremely cautious. Although I don't know offhand which bloodlines carry high risks for which diseases, there are many people who do. Ask around. Also, good breeders minimize their inbreeding coefficient although that in itself is a bit of a meaningless action since the genepool is so horribly small. One generation doesn't matter that much because going back a few shows how these horses are all related.
Good luck!
All said, I love Friesians and I wouldn't trade them for anything. I think they are very functional and the breed standard is starting to recognize its career dressage performers. These next few years are pivotal for the breed as the public and the Dutch registry reconcile their differences over the purpose and future of the breed. We are likely to witness a quick change toward a shortbacked, refined, but nice moving animal that is more versatile undersaddle. Of course, there is no harm in the old standard and the original Friesian is a gentle and loving soul. There is nothing like driving Friesians in the whole world! That won't ever change.
-Deirdre
Posted on Oct 4, 2005, 9:24 AM from IP address 66.127.114.124