I have always wanted a Freisian...?

Question

I am considering purchasing a Freisian cross (I cannot afford a pure-bred). I am not a big shower, and I do not plan on doing any breeding, in fact, I want a gelding. Anyone out there have experience with Freisians? Are they easy keepers, do they require more than normal care? I already have horses, and have had them all my life, so please no answers about basic care....What I really want to know is are they capable of living in open pasture year round, with other horses, are they hardy, or tend to be babies, do they do well as trail horses?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

They are relatively easy keepers, but the mares often have issues foaling (the ones I've worked with all retained placentas for 24-48 hours, which required a lot of time and expense to monitor.)  They need jobs and work to keep them busy - I don't recommend them to people who just want a trail buddy to ride one or two days a week.  While every horse is an individual and while it's impossible to categorize their personalities 100%, I will say that friesians tend to be "hotter" than, say, a quarter horse.  The ones I have known tend to do best with confident riders who are not rattled by spooky horses' antics.  No, they are not ALL like that, but the majority of the ones I've known are not as calm and steady as other breeds which do not have "hot" blood in them.  

If you were to get a cross, then I'd recommend a friesian crossed with a "colder" breed, like a warmblood, QH, etc.   To me, many are closer to an Arab in temperment. Good luck!

EDIT:  As for finding friesian crosses, they are everywhere.  They are not likely out of ster mares, though - i.e., they are in all probability bred by non-approved, possibly non-registered friesians.

Answer 3

Well...I myself have always dreamed of owning a Friesian, its my dream horse.  And my dream will come true in Feb and in march of 2009 with Friesian crosses.  I have 4 mares that are prego with Friesian babies.  Now i didn't breed the horse, just got lucky i was in the right place at the right time and i have 2 Purebred Arabians, 1 APHA and 1 DraftX bred to two different Friesians.  Also one Thoroughbred breed to a Andalusian (another bred i love to death).  Now i may lose my mind during that time, babies popping out everywhere.  

Im keeping 1 or 2 for my own personal horses and will be placing the babies at a much later date.  Im so excited i pamper the mares to death, my babies are cooking in those ovens :)

I know a lot of people with Friesian cross, very nice well put together horses, great show horses and they have great minds.  The mares i have are all level headed, well 1 Arab acts like she is on speed, we are working on that LOL.  So if you have the right mare and stallion breeding, you'll end up with a diamond.  

You only need 25% to register with the Friesian Sport Horse Registry.  Like my unregistered  Draft, her baby will be registerd 1/2 Friesian.  Now let she has a filly and later i bred, then i get 3/4 Friesian, bred that baby and i have 100% Friesian, you get where im going.  My Arab babies will be registered 1/2 Arab and 1/2 Friesian.  I need to find out about the warmblood registry, never did that i think there is testing, i need to find out about that.  Im not planning to bred again, im so happy im getting a 1/2 Friesian...Sorry im babbling, you can see Im so excited about this i cant wait ")

Good luck finding your dream...If you look hard enough it will happen for you to...Good Luck ")

Answer 4

Black Dragon Farms here in Michigan raises them.  Perhaps you can find information on their website?

I am not sure about your chances of finding a Freisian cross.  The Freisian breed has traditionally been pretty highly controlled by their foreign (Danish or Dutch?) founders.  I am not sure I've heard of many, but maybe you can find a good one out there.

Also, if you're considering a cross, you'll have more than Friesian blood to contend with.  What the horse is crossed with may affect all of the things you've inquired about here.

From my limited discussions with Friesian owners, the animals are easy keepers (except maintenance of those luxurious manes, tails and the hairy feet may require more time to properly maintain).  The horses are used for all sorts of sports - I know quite a few people who use them for pleasure trail riding exclusively and they love them.

This breed, in it's earlier years in the US and overseas, was carefully controlled - youngsters that exhibited dispositions that were not of a certain caliber were either culled or gelded.  I remember speaking to a breeder at a big horse expo about them one time - I thought the idea of culling wasn't too great back then, but now that I'm a bit more mature, I can certainly see the value in it - if the goal is to create a breed that's naturally docile and accepting, you must not breed lines that have poor dispositions.

I believe they'd be of the warm-blooded type - like other warmbloods and drafts, they are efficient users of fuel, so require less feed and less supplementation than a typical light horse.

Keep in mind, horses naturally live free to roam.  It's always best to leave a horse to chose whether he's outside or not.    Even those that I have you might consider "babies" (I call them stall bunnies) actually do better left to run in and out choosing on their own rather than being out in the day, brought in in the evening....however, I am not of the opinion they should ever be forced to live outside only without shelter from storms or lighting.  They are hardy animals but if in the wild, they'd have places to go with shelter of some sort of their chosing-they don't just stand out in the storms.

Good luck with finding one!  They are more and more in demand and might therefore be more available at a range within your affordability.  With the economy the way it is, you might find someone that must give a good one up due to loss of jobs or something.

Answer 5

i've also always wanted a freisian.  they're amazing.  i personally would wait to buy a pure freisian just because to me they're better, (that's just my own thought on the matter).

they're just like any other horse, you take care of them the same.  any horse can be hardy.... but i'm sure you can put it out year round.  again any breed can be a trail horse, it all depends on the training.

Answer 6

Yeah, Friesians really aren't any different than any other horse.  I have a friend that has a couple Friesian crosses and they are great (I dind't even know they were crosses at first, I thought they were pure-breds).  They tend to be easy keepers, despite their size and are pretty hardy.  My friend uses hers for all sorts of stuff: dressage, trails, drill team, parades, and they can all pull a carriage (both single and double).

Answer 7

I use dto have a gorgeous friesain stallin.. even though he wasnt gelded, he was sweet =]

We used him for dressage mainly, as he was perfect with steps, but also jumping.

theyre fine to stay out all year, but coats are obviously a  must, as they are with anyhorse.

my friesy also occasionally got hoof rot, but thats easily sorted!

not good as trail horses, as they tend to not want to wlak for ages.