Friesian Horse Association

Friesian Horses

Primitive drawings on the sides of caves in Spain and southern France and the bones of game found there and elsewhere show that even during the Ice Age (some hundreds of thousands of years ago) there were both bigger and smaller horses. Labouchere (1927) found bones of larger and smaller horses in the Friesian mounds. From the types Equus occidentalis (western horse) and Equus germanicus (German horse) he forms the Equus robustus (big horse). As for the smaller bones, he supposes these to belong to the Equus Przewalsky (Przewalsky horse). Slijper (1944) thinks these to belong to the Equus Gmelini (Tarpan). It is difficult to determine if crosses have been made and if so, to what extent.

The Friesian horse descends from the Equus robustus. During the 16th and 17th centuries, but probably also earlier, Arabian blood was introduced, especially through Andalusian horses from Spain. This has given them the high knee-action, the small head and the craning neck. Because of his temperament the Friesian horse is considered warm blooded. The Friesian horse has been kept free from influence of the English Thoroughbred. During the last two centuries it has been bred pure. Breeding horses and dealing in them was very important for the Frisians. The monks in the many monasteries in Friesland before the reformation did a lot of horsebreeding. Through the centuries the Friesian Government has made many regulations in order to safeguard good breeding. Now the Dutch Horselaw of 1939 (modified) gives rules for studbook and breeding.

From records of the past we know that the Friesian horse of old was famous. There is information from 1251 (Cologne), 1276 (Munster), 1466 (Aduard), 1617 (Markham), 1771 (Kladrub), and there are books in which Friesian horses were mentioned and praised from 1568 (Blundeville), 1568 (Guicciardini), 1629 (Pluvinel), 1658 (Duke of Newcastle), 1680 (De Solleysel), 1687 (von Adlersflugel), 1734 (Saunier), 1741 (Gueriniere), 1744 (Oebschelwitz), 1779 (Le Francq van Berkheij), 1802 (Huzard) and 1811 (Geisweit van der Netten).