Friesian horses
Friesian horses, a proud breed of the Dutch, or of the province Friesland to be more precise. Formerly used as war horses, the
black pearls of the north have come a long way. In the early days
of 150 A.D. the Friesians were used by the Friesian army. even the soldiers of William the Conqueror were said to ride black horses
very similar to the ones we know now. And a very well-known etching
of 1568 shows the stallion Phryso, owned by Don Juan of Austria.
Towards the end of 1800 and the beginning of this century, Friesians were used, mainly in Friesland, for carriage driving and short track races. Wealthy farmers went to church in a 'sjees', pulled by one ore
more Friesian Horses.
Mrs. Gerda hakker (our neighbour),
dressed in traditional costume,
with Wibrich, driving a sjees.
As times grew more modern, a lot of Friesian horses were replaced by stronger breeds, like the 'Groninger' or the 'Oldenburger', who were better build to do the heavy work on the farm. This and of course mechanisation has almost been the downfall of the Friesian horse breed. In 1879 the Friesian horse association, 'Het Friesch Paarden Stamboek' was founded and thanks to this organisation the Friesian has now become a very popular horse all over the world, and is used with a lot of love by it's owners for all kinds of disciplines.
This is just a little bit of information about the Black Beauties of the north. I have put some links on my page to other sites about Friesian horses and some other horse related sites.
Mrs. Gerda Hakker and Master
Anton 343
Friesian sites
