Friesian
Horse History
The modern
Friesian descends from one of Europe's oldest breeds of
warmbloods. Yet as little as one hundred years ago, it
was nearly extinct. The Friesian is a prospering breed
today due to the efforts of a few admirers of this magnificent
warm-blooded horse.
The breed
originated in the Dutch Netherlands in the early 16th Century.
It takes its name from Friesland, a Dutch province bordering
the North Sea, long known for its open pastures and wealth
of horse breeding. Because of the wars of this time the native
Friesian came under the influence of the great Spanish Andalusian
horse. During the Dutch Independence War against Spain (1568-1648),
the Spanish influence was renewed to lay the foundation of
the modern Friesian.
During
the 18th Century, the Friesian lost its favor as a war
horse but became respected as both a trotter and carriage
horse. Its muscular body, high natural step, well-developed
hindquarters, energetic intelligence, and gentle temperament
all lent their strengths to these demands.
But the
19th Century favored other breeds increasingly available
in the widening world equine trade market. Imported trotting
horses from Russia and America replaced the Friesian horses
at almost every race course. The once-famous Friesian was
so rare it was in danger of becoming extinct. In 1879 a
few admirers tried to save what was left.
The result
was the Studbook Society, which included two registries:
Friesians in the "A" Book, and other warmbloods
including crossbreeds and Bovenlander (Oldenburg and East
Friesian horses) in the "B" Book. The first studbook, "Paardenstamboek" was
published by 1880. After the fusion of the registries in
1906, the studbook was renamed "Friesch Paarden Stamboek" (FPS)
in 1907, a registry which included Friesian and Oldenburg
stallions. The Oldenburg blood was added because it was
the opinion of some that this warmblood would "improve" the
Friesian horse.
By the
turn of the century, the ravages of the foreign trade influences
as well as the extensive cross-breeding of remaining Friesians
had sadly left only a few purebred stallions and mares.
The Dutch society "Het Friesche Paard"(The Friesian
Horse) was founded in 1913 to promote the breeding of purebred
Friesian horses, and by 1915 were able to convince FPS
to agree to split the registries once again. By 1943, the
breeders of non-Friesian horses of the B-Book left the
Studbook to form an entirely separate registry called NWP
(NWP=Noordnederlands Warmbloed Paarden, which later became
Warmbloed Paarden Nederland (WPN, a.k.a. KWPN). The remaining
Friesian breeders of FPS concentrated such intense effort
to re-establish the Friesian that it can be fairly claimed
that no breed has been researched more scientifically than
the Friesian.
Thus,
thanks to the efforts of a few Dutch Friesian admirers
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, purebred Friesians
are now seen and enjoyed around the world, with the majority
being in the Netherlands and Germany, followed by North
America. |
