Friesian horses, or Frizian horse,
are a horse breed
that originated in Friesland, which certainly makes sense. FYI: Friesland is in
the Netherlands. They are used both in harness and under saddle and most recently
they are being used in dressage.
They are black with
some occasional white marking; however, the only white marking allowed on a studbook-registered
horse is a small star. They are 15.2 to 16.0 hands tall on average and weight 1300
+ pounds.
Friesian horses have the
conformation of a light draught horse; however, they are very graceful and nimble
for their size. There is some evidence that during the Middle Ages, ancestors of
Friezian horses were in popular as war horses since they were big enough to carry
a big heavy guy in metal armor, while nimble enough to dance around foes.
Unfortunately, Friesian horses nearly became extinct on more than one occasion. Luckily these days
Friesian horses are growing in numbers and popularity. There are currently more
than 45,000 Friesians registered worldwide. Approximately 8,000 of those horses
are in North America.
About Friesian Horses
