I love Friesians. They're gorgeous and they always look like they'd be great horses to work with.
These horses are super versatile and for stallion testing they have to do dressage, driving and cross country jumping in order to show off their athleticism. While many say that these horses are not bred for dressage, they can excel at it and I have seen several do just that!
It is believed that they were bred as war horses as their size would have allowed them to carry knights in armor. They also had to be light on their feet, thus they can do dressage with the correct training. Also, because of their movement and flashy long hair, they have history as a driving breed. And guess what? They really can jump! I've seen several Friesians that are really cute little jumpers.
One of my favorite Friesian stallions that I've seen is Rembrant. His is really lovely and such a sweet amazing guy. It helps that I've seen him in person on multiple occasions. He is a little small for my tastes, but if I were looking at Friesians to consider breeding, he'd be at the top of my list. 
I'm also a sucker for good Friesian crosses. I think that the best crosses are from a Friesian dam and other breed of sire. There's pinto Friesians, bay Friesians out of Andalusians or TB's, Appy Friesians, and more. I think one of the more well-known Friesian crosses is Mystic Warrior who is just stunning. To be registered, a Friesian must be completely black. They are only allowed a small white star. There have been some Friesians that have turned out a color other than black, but it is extremely rare and most are crossbred if they turn out a color other than black. It is somewhat likely to be able to get an almost 100% purebred chestnut Friesian if the parents carry the chestnut gene, which is recessive. You wouldn't know it until you bred two Friesians with the recessive chestnut gene and you get a chestnut baby! But that's highly unlikely as most chestnut has been bred out of the Friesian.
Today, breeding has shifted more towards a modern, sporthorse type body type. This picute above is a great representation of the different breed types for the Friesian.
We had a Friesian gelding in our program for training and sales.... he was super sweet and easy to train.... very easy-going. We schooled him in dressage and jumping... including cross-country! he was a very good jumper, considering his bulk! He had one of those happy-go-lucky personalities and was always up for whatever was on the schedule for the day. He reminded us of a 1200 pound labrador retriever.
ReplyDeleteThe only down side to him was that his flashy knee-lifting gaits were VERY bouncy to ride and when he was wiggly, it often took A LOT of work to stay in balance with him.
The other thing is that the canter is not their natural gait! It took a lot of time to get the canter consistent with the gelding we worked with... and I have heard similar thing from other people familiar with the breed.
But they are famous for their wonderful temperaments... and that alone is worth the extra work!
Interesting! The trainer that I work with had a lady send her four Friesians to work with, she offered to give me one to keep (!) but I had to say no unfortunately :( I know the ones that she worked with were pretty dull at first, but once she had worked with them for a while they were a lot of fun to ride. I don't remember if she had trouble with the canter, but straightness was definitely an issue. I like their bouncy gaits, Katy has a bit of that too :)
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