# Thinking about a Frisian



## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Do you mean _Friesian_? 

Your Arabian cross is 15 y/o, and you think he's 'getting up there'? At 15 y/o, Arabians are just hitting their stride.

Friesians are not suitable for Western riding. Dressage and pulling carriages are their forte, so unless you want to do either of those things, I'd recommend not buying a Friesian.

Plus, anything worthy of staying uncut would have to be sent to keurings in order to be considered for the stud books. Keurings are very expensive, and there's no guarantee your horse would pass and be allowed as a registered stallion in the stud books.

_Good_ Friesians are very expensive and take a lot of money, time, training, and feed in order to turn them into healthy, decent working animals.

No reputable breeder in their right mind would sell an uncut Friesian colt to anyone except a serious, already established Friesian breeder.


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## horsplay (Jan 25, 2011)

Speed Racer said:


> Do you mean _Friesian_?
> 
> *Yes I apologize for my misspelling*
> 
> ...



If that is the case I will get a gelding, but I still would like to own and work with the breed. You really should ask questions before you criticize someone. I understand that the breed is expensive and takes a lot of time and money to care for. I would not be looking to buy a horse of this breed if I had not done some research first. I am 24 and not a minor young but not a minor. Thank you for your opinion.


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## SamboStar (Sep 18, 2008)

Good luck - Friesians are beautiful, and owning one is alot of fun - and work! Hopefully you can find what you're looking for!


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## lexypoohhorton (Oct 11, 2010)

Very pretty horsses but! they have BIG feet and will need good care for them (might cost more to have done)  other then that they will bes o! much fun to have around. my friend has one and she loves him to DEATH!


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## JerBear (Jan 23, 2011)

Any horse can be a western pleasure horse FYI..... You'd just get extra looks with a friesian under you


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

I like Friesians too, they're gorgeous. If you do a google image search for western friesians you will see a lot of people do ride them Western. I'm not sure what speedracer means exactly by not suitable, but maybe she means they might not win in a show against stock horses. Of course any horse or mule can be ridden Western or English. People ride Saddlebreds Western too. 
I would say if you really want to get one, try to learn about their personality or if possible spend time around some. I have only been around several of them and the ones I met were fairly mellow and unflappable. From what a trainer told me they can have a good work ethic, but for the most part they have that cold blooded heritage so it can be hard to get them "hot off your leg." Not sure what you value in a riding horse, so that's just a comment. 
If you're not planning to breed or do breed shows, you can get Friesian crosses that have the look of the Friesian without the $25,000+ price tag. I know, people are going to say it is terrible to cross out Friesians, but I do understand the attraction of having the look of one without the hefty price tag. I knew a quarter horse/Friesian cross that looked exactly like a purebred. He was gorgeous.
Just an aside comment: don't give up on your 15 y.o. Arab cross's energy level. Maybe he's sore or just out of shape? My 20 y.o. Arab is still doing endurance rides and I definitely don't consider her old yet.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

Sorry, missed the part where you said you'd worked with one before.


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

Both Frisian and Friesian are correct spellings. Although many people think so, friesians are actually not suitable for dressage. Yes, you can do dressage with them, just like you can do it with a shetland pony, but you can't expect much from them. There are many excellent low dressage friesians but seeing a friesian at the top is very rare (I personally know two or three). Dressage is a very new thing to friesians, they were introduced to this competition just a few years ago. 

There are three types of friesians, heavy, medium and light (which is the one you'd want to get for riding, since the heavier types are most suitable for carriage pulling and showing, not trail riding)
This is the light type friesian you see more and more often these days:










I have a light type friesian, you can see photos of him in my barn.

I have no clue how it is with registrations, keurings and prices in US, over here a decent friesian costs between $6 000 and $10 000 but that doesn't really mean you can't get it for less. My friesian was much less and though he wasn't really the beauty you'd imagine when somebody says "friesian" (you can see his before photo in my barn too), with proper care, feed and training he really changed into a beautiful animal. The bond you can create with friesians is amazingly strong though I guess it's like that with many other breeds too but I can't judge since I've never owned any other horse. Colts sell for $3 000 - $5 000 here, with papers, out of proved parents and licensed studs. Those are horses directly from Netherlands, you can get many "backyard bred" friesians for $2 000 - $3 000 too. It's sad but this breed is so popular that people are able to buy literally anything as long as it "looks" friesian and doesn't cost much and there are more and more people messing with this breed nowadays. Anyway... That's just how it's here in Europe, as I said before I have no clue what it's like in US.


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

Oh and friesians are quite wonderful in Western. I was thinking about switching to Western just because of my boy too! But I'm too much of a dressage person... I know a few people who ride their friesians Western and they do and look gorgeous. I had a photo of one of my friends' western friesian but I can't find it...









(googled this)

Beautiful.


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## Gizmo (Dec 19, 2010)

Try Friesians of Majesty. That is a farm near me and everyone is super friendly there. Robert really knows what he is doing and talking about he could give you advice on anything. Right now his foals from 2010 are selling i believe, and he has some yearlings as well. I think his foals usually start out at around $8000 and have really awesome blood lines. He currently has the number one rated mare, and boy is she gorgeous! He also imprints all of his babies like as soon as they are born, so they are all wicked friendly. And just to let you know all his foals from last year are 1st Premie or 2nd Premie. Which is amazing actually.

http://www.friesiansofmajesty.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=182
Apparently they are going to keep him a stallion, but Robert will probably only sell him to someone who is going to make sure everything gets done for him to be on top. So I don't know if you could get him or not.


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## horsplay (Jan 25, 2011)

Thank you for all the help the friesian I worked with was named sweet pea and she was a carriage horse, the owner wanted to eventually put her under saddle but was kind of big guy and not used to riding much so was nervous about starting her. I think she was 3 and I just loved her. I think your right I would want a med-light friesian. I knew I had seen pics of them in western but also knew it wasn't common. In fact I did learn while working with SP that a registered friesian has no more than 3 white hairs, has not and can not be cross bred or bred with a non registered friesian and have to have been passed at a Keuring at cretin ages. Sadly yes the breed is becoming more popular and people are becoming more careless. The boy who had SP also had a cross bred named Navar and he was a sweet heart but had a very weak back and could not carry a person for a long ride. This is my fear with a cross breed. Here in the US because they are so uncommon if you want a papered horse it either has to be imported for a hefty fee or the prices I have seen are between $12,000 and over $100,000. It's crazy! But I really love the breed and though I am going to try to get a true friesian and do right by the breed, there are so many dishonest people I could spend a fortune and still end up with a cross breed. Thank you for all the helpful comments guys esp mumiinek.


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

Here there are four registries - _Main registry _for horses by studs licensed in NL, _Bijboek I _for horses by studs licensed out of NL, _Bijboek II_ for horses by nonlicensed studs and _KFPS-D boek_ that I'm not really sure what's for but as far as I know it's only a German thing. It's not really rare to find an unregistered friesian because you can register them later in their life, many breeders simply don't want to invest in registering the horse so they leave it to the new owner. As long as you know the parents of the horse (and I think they have to be registered too) you can register anything (providing it's not a cross). Friesian crosses tend to be wonderful horses too, usually much easier to take care of (not that much hair, weight and "clumsiness" - or should I say more athleticism?) and you still get the qualities of the breed, the beautiful personality and looks. There are many friesian crosses out there, I think in US even more than in Europe since here it's not such a pain to buy a purebred one. I'm not a fan of crossbreeding but I know for some people it's the only way to get what they want/need, many successful friesians in dressage are actually friesian/warmblood crosses, riders want friesian high action and looks and a talent and "room" of a warmblood. I never knew what a "friesian sport horse" is, isn't it a cross too? About white markings - Friesians are allowed to have a little star (doesn't matter how many white hairs). My guy has one. That's however the only white allowed on their body - what's strictly not allowed are leg markings and white in their hooves. I wish I could help you more but there are many things that are different in US.


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## xXEquestrianBalletXx (Jan 3, 2011)

mumiinek said:


> Oh and friesians are quite wonderful in Western. I was thinking about switching to Western just because of my boy too! But I'm too much of a dressage person... I know a few people who ride their friesians Western and they do and look gorgeous. I had a photo of one of my friends' western friesian but I can't find it...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very beautiful indeed. A question- you seem very educated in the breed. Would this be a medium Friesian? Or heavy? If it were to be a medium horse, what would it be called? Heavy Friesian would be Baroque, correct? And what for the light weight Friesian? I'd love to know their proper names.


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## Countrylady1071 (May 12, 2010)

just wanted to subscribe because i love friesians and lots of interesting facts about them in this thread! i think they look GORGEOUS both western or in dressage (or pulling a cart)  i had a job opportunity working at a friesian dressage barn, my goodness are those guys beautiful to watch. very elegant horses.


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## KatCashen (Aug 17, 2010)

oh they are Beautiful animals an have awesome personalitys.. i board my Liberty at a Friesian Ranch an they are very nice to watch !!


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