The Beginnings of the Friesian Breed:

Since the days long ago in the Roman Empire, the Dutch province of Friesland (the northern part of the Netherlands) created the basis for what we know today as the Friesian breed. Friesians are actually not considered a "cold blooded" breed but actually predate the hot blood genes which came from the Thoroughbreds in the 19th Century.

During the Middle Ages, the Friesian breed was known for their courageous attitude and athletic ability in addition to being completely versatile for the knights of the time period. The breed itself began to develop to its' modern day status as invaders from Spain in the 1500s began to breed their Andalusians to Friesians for a horse more suited to the changing of battle arms. Friesians of lighter build and even more versatility resulted from these pairings. These horses began their use as High School dressage mounts in France and Spain, urban carriage horses and lighter forms of cavalry. The typical breed characteristics that resulted from the crossbreeding were long cresty necks, smaller ears, an elegant high stepping gait, along with the already known gentle temperment, outstanding intelligence and powerful hindquarters with an all over proud appearance.

The breed continued to evolve throughout the 18th and 19th century as it slowly moved away from the role as a cavalry mount into the role as an agricultural horse, dressage horse and even for use in trotting races. The breed was used to influence and develop new breeds in that time period such as the Orlov Trotter, the Morgan and the beginnings of the Hackney breed (Norfolk Trotter). As cross breeding took place in order to fulfill the need for heavier plow horses and faster trotting horses , the Friesian breed almost became non existent in its true form. It was through the efforts of some Dutch farmers in 1879 that developed the Friesch Paarde Stamboek (FPS) to preserve what purebreds were still left in Europe at the time.

As technology made a major influence on agriculture and significant wars were breaking out in Europe, the breed faced even further detriment. Most people could not afford to keep a Friesian in front of a plow that needed a much heavier horse in order to do its job properly. By the late 1950's only three Approved stallions were left in the breed and a few hundred mares of excellent quality as well. It was through this group of horses that the modern horse has evolved and kept its' ancient bloodlines.

Post war economics in Europe boosted economic growth so that it was feasible to have stables again which included the Friesian horse which enabled the breed population to flourish. World War II itself even served as another boost for the breed as fuel rationing began to heavily take effect on European countries and as an effect the need of carriage horses was apparent again. The registry kept a careful eye on the breed, insuring that inbreeding did not infect the new Friesians and that cross breeding was kept away from the breed to preserve the true Friesian horse.

During the 1970s, some German breeders invested heavily in the Friesian breed and made the breed known again for the superb quality as a dressage horse. The German breeders took a different approach to the ideal Friesian horse and formed their own breeding association in 1979. By 1988 this registry became an official breed organization and became nationally sanctioned in Germany as the Friesenpferde-Zuchtverband e.V. (FPZV).

By the late 1990s, Friesians had started to emerge into most European countries, North America, South America and Australia. Today the Friesian breed is less than 50,000 total and Approved stallions for breeding only account for a very small percentage of that number.

Friesians and North America:

The Friesian breed came to North America in the 1600's by the Frieslander Peter Stuyvesant to New York. Over the course of time these original Friesians influenced the Morgan breed but they themselves were crossbred out of existence in the States. In the late 20th Century was when Friesians began to get imported from the Netherlands and Americans fell in love with Friesian all over again. They were shown the intelligent, versatile, gentle, noble and elegant horse that made up the breed. Friesians later showed up in competitions, media and even Hollywood movies (Eragon,The Mask of Zorro, Alexander, Chronicles of Narnia and 300, just to name a few). More Friesians began getting imported from all over Europe and the breed was able to sustain itself over in North America. Friesians now bred in North America can many times rival the offspring in Europe which says how far the breed has really come along.

References:

1. "Wikipedia" Web Page accessed July 15th, 2008.
2. "FPZV USA" Web Page accessed July 14th, 2008.