he T Friesian hor sQ 1., a time-honored h l or ~r in use

ti FRIESIAN HORSE IN DETAIL human f . sian horse bas served us s or many ce . Since fr&e nturaes is known from old documents. , ,be h F . . was us d flJiJ f time t e raesaan horse e as a war h were Frisian illg o orse U). Already in Britain there "ee P , i,e the English writer A h , I tbe fourth century their presence by Carlisle. They 111 nt ony Dent described pS• ,,o 0 ca . 11 · wn horses. Presumably in both F · • sta aons. . O ses at concer ns r1s1an mercenaries with Friesian bear cre t . ~ and influenc d bese horses stayed behind e 1ocal breeds. e of t 5offl den /Jsse/ ·a Teekens • Translation: Anneke van res t: ~tarJ

e and other writers the horse was then popularity of the heavier horses. th t . . Traditionally nY oen / upland ,1 nt110 hat the Fries1an horse 1s the ridden with only a small orange so-called 'bovenlandse' ted t the Friesian reP0 r f both the English Shire blanket on its back. During that time horses, kept plaguing father o beginning of the 2o•h fore ell as the Fell pony. William the Friesian horse was most likely breed. In the d as w quickly went downhill bree eror ( 1) used horses in the used in the breeding of the Orlov century it (onQU . At . In 1913 there were onl}' three 1he ry that bore great resem- horse and the American trotters again 1•• centu th studbook stallions left available 1 •ith the Friesian breed. Of the e nd of the 19 and the beginning older blanc es " . . th period breeding (4). various dep1ct10ns are known of the 20 century a difficult for . (iu S era . . . horse had to . k ights ndmg Fnes1an-type followed. The Friesian 1" 1111 n e 1 crusades and later compete with the heavier horse Expertis During the in Friesland horses. 'show horse' of Luckily there were people . the 80 year war between The breeds. The dancing during to save the breed from wealthy farmers was less suitable who wanted Netherlands and Spain the Friesian the to even­ extinction. They brought new life influenced by for the heavy work. The farmers was most likely the horses by expertly bree d to heavier breeds or the breeding of Andalusian horses. The tually switched Arabian and purchasing and raising still present crossed the Friesian horse with them. first written proof of the name 'Frie­ colts of suffi­ for the Friesian purebred stud from This almost proved fatal sian horse' is seen in writings quality according to a policy Friesian breed. cient the German elector Johann Friedrich policies were successful and Romers in Roordahu­ plan. The He traveled on a In cafe De Orie von Sachsen in 1544. the Friesian breed was saved (4 ). izum on May 1, 1879, the Friesch friesian stallion to the Reichtstag in stud farm Stoeterij De was founded (4). Among others the Paarden-Stamboek Spiers (3). Three years later Oorsprong, founded in 1885 in Huis The founding of the new studbook elector rode the same stallion during by the Van Eysinga famil y , owners to register the ter Heide already stimulated the the battle of Muhl berg. He was played an important role (2). remaining Friesian horses but still the spotted by Emperor Charles the Fifth from afar. The etching of stallion I 68 owned by Don I Phryso ( 1) from 15 ( Juan of Austria in Napels is well known with many Friesian enthusiasts. In the I I 7• h century, the Friesian horse was ) well represented at various riding J schools where the art of haute ecole classical dressage was practiced. I ,f limited The use o f the Friesian horse was in th e 19"' and 2Q•h centuries more or d les s limIte• to what currently is the Province of Friesland. In the rural areas of Friesland the Friesian horse · I was main Y a symbol of wealth and was most! f Y used to take the w e althy arrners t h h O c urch. In addition the ✓ ------orse w -- __, ------in __, ------as u sed for entertainment ------___ _ 1 ng r ro tu short tra cks a nd aces on as luxury driving horse. Und er Sa ddle . The Friesian 73 Ph.-., __ . - ~ t - ' I. -- ~ Th.: rnes1.111 horse h,1s 111 ,u1d1ti,111 to 11 ~- 1/'.' -~~ ,1 f;i11 t;1st1c cx tniur .1 µe rSlH1,d 1l \' tll, tel­ 1s ch.1r.1cte r1z L•d LJ ,, fr iend li11 l'SS, i11 I ..,o,,,i# ...... l1 1'L' 11 cc . .1 d.1µ1;1t 10 11 , ,111 d .11 1 e 11 orn 1011s amou nt of ll' il li11 g11 css to work for th~ir hum.rn co mp,111 io ns. Esµ eci all y - thi s pe rso 11 ,tl ity made it that thro ughout hi story there have been µeop le ll'ho would do a nyt hing for the Fries ian horse. Supporters of the up la nd horses were often equ a ll y hars h in th eir opinion about th e Frie sia n horse. The Friesian l'f ., ch in front of the plow f --;.-i<' 'danced' too mu ~ t .. and wasted energy. In all reality the people who preferred the uplanders .' we re s om ew hat right but they did not ~ know the his tory of the Friesian horse. l·_::< ., Also the deep connection between I,' and ho rse like that between the L -~-~ human ... as an agricultural horse .... Fri esi an ho rses and their owners as is people who were not raised Wi th so often seen (3) was underestimated. Promotion horses. The riding club LR. De After 1913 , there was no choice left: In the 1960s a crisis in breeding the _ the Frie­ Oorsprong crusaded through during the agricul tural phase ; there . Pro, followed . Farms mechanized · f Fnesan . I d tnl967topr si an h ad to compete with the uplander. inceo 0 rnote was no more use for horses in agricul­ the heavy labor in the Friesian horse. From March 28 In order to perform have the ture. Most farmers did not of e h the field the horses were bred for through April 1, this parade nt U11. money to keep a horse just for fun, strength ins tead of luxury. The Friesian asts rode their Friesian horses from made it that many horses a bit smaller which (2) Th h· ho rse became therefore Huis ter Heide to Workum · at I 11 disappeared from the farms. In 1965, and heavier in conformation. That is tour was effective was Friesian mares promotional to be that there were only 500 how the type of horse came evident from the swift increase in registered with the studbook (3). Also is cu rrently less desired. Studbook and the the popularity of the breed in to in the 1960s enthusiasts came to breeders want to nowadays return people horse. They put following two decades. Man y xury and long lines in rescue of the Friesian the original lu characteris­ spotlight on the breed with, e.g., discovered the wonderful confo rma tion (4 ). the tics of the Friesian breed and used it for many purposes of use. In 2007, over 40,000 horses were registered with KFPS and annually some 7000 breedings are registered. •

Sources. ,v~, . l l Het _Friese P~ard/Jhe f~ an Horse, ma, E: Dijks( ..,...... _ . 2 Friese r KFPSst '".c.91f~r_ . ;J, ·: .~~ro me elen·van 4i~spectf~ ons?J~ltoge _ _oer, . : · ·· ema. a ::;.~...... '. . and a modern sport horse.' - mittff ro 7'1- · nal 20 · Ph ryso lnternatio Jliliia