| |
| A
Short History of the Friesian Horse and
the Original Friesian Studbook
|
The following is an extract from the Summary
in English which is part of the Dutch book
titled “Het Friese Paard” by
G. J. A. Bouma, 1979, and printed by Friese
Pers Boekerij, b. v., in Drachten and Leeuwarden,
The Netherlands. It is reproduced here by
the Friesian Horse Association of North
America with the kind permission from the
author and Het Friesch Paarden-Stamboek.
Summary
This book was written at the occasion of
the hundredth anniversary of the Royal Society
“The Friesian Studbook”. This
studbook is the oldest in the Netherlands.
It was founded May 1, 1879. The book deals
with the Friesian horse which resembles
the ancient western European horse and the
knights' horse called destrier.
Country
and people
“Friesland” (“Fryslan”
in the Friesian language) is one of the
eleven* provinces of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, situated in the northwest of
Europe. It covers an area of ten percent
of the Netherlands 750,000 acres and it
has only four percent of the population.
The main source of income for the 550,000
inhabitants is agriculture. Over nine-tenths
of the soil is permanent grassland on which
the well-known black and white Friesian
cattle are kept. Cheese, condensed milk
and butter are exported. The much sought-after
Frisian seed potatoes, grown on the arable
land, are sold mainly to the countries around
the Mediterranean Sea.
Friesland
is an old country. 500 years B.C. Frisians
settled along the borders of what is known
now as the North Sea. Frisian horsemen served
in the Roman Legions, e.g. the Equites Singulares
of Emperor Nero (54-68), and in Great Britain
near Hadrian's Wall, built in the year 120.
A tombstone of a Frisian soldier, who had
served in the Roman Army, has been found
in Cirencester (Gloucestershire) in England.
Around the beginning of our era, the area
extending from Belgium (the Swin) to the
Weser (in western Germany) along the coast
of the “Friesian Sea”, as the
North Sea was then called, was under Frisian
jurisdiction. Later this area reached up
to and beyond the borders of Denmark. The
name “Friesian Islands”, in
German “Friesische Inseln”,
for the islands along the coast, still reminds
us of this time. The Frisians were seafarers,
tradesmen, horsebreeders and farmers. Before
the Vikings also took to the seas (800-1000),
they were the great seaborne traders. They
sailed the Friesian Sea, the bordering rivers
and the adjacent seas. In the English town
of York they had a permanent trading post
for centuries. Dorestad was their own trading
town. Cloth was an important merchandise.
The gradual rising of the sea, caused by
the melting of the ice on the poles together
with the sinking of the earth, forced the
Frisians to built mounds (Du.: terpen, wierden),
on which they could build their houses and
safeguard themselves against floods which
came ever higher. One thousand of these
mounds are known. Most towns and villages
along the coast were built on them. Around
the year when the territory of the Frisians
was restricted to the North of the Netherlands
and neighboring Germany, sea-walls kept
the land free from the continually higher
floods. Heightening the sea-walls, a process
that has been carried out unremittingly
through the centuries, is now again in progress.
The sea-walls are now built up nearly four
times as high as four hundred years ago.
The height at Harlingen was then (1570)
2.60 m above N.A.P. and in 1977, after the
latest construction activities, 9.70 m above
N.A.P. (N.A.P.: “nauwkeurig Arnsterdarns
peil” = “exact Amsterdam water-mark”,
originally the average height of the water
in the open lake called “IJ”
at Amsterdam).
The
territory of the “Westerlauwers Frisians”,
as they are called now, is nowadays restricted
to the province of Friesland in the northwest
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Four
of the five inhabited Dutch Friesian Islands
form a part of the Province of Friesland.
The Frisians have a language of their own
which is spoken as a matter of course by
four/fifths of the inhabitants. It has more
in common with English than with Dutch.
Typical for the silhouette of the flat landscape
are the towers with saddle-roofs, the large
head-neck-and-trunk-type farmhouses and
the “stelpen” with living quarters,
cattle-shed and stack for hay and corncrops,
all covered by one large roof. From West
to East the soil consists of clay, peat
and sand, respectively, each of these nearly
covering one third of the area. In the North
and West the country is open. The South-West
and the middle harbor the Friesian Lakes.
The sandy soil in the East and South is
more heavily wooded.
In
this country lives the somewhat conceited
Frisian, attached to tradition, sensitive,
often passionate, who loves to meet others
in sports and games and who has retained
his Friesian horse through the centuries.
Horses
Primitive drawings on the sides of caves
in Spain and southern France and the bones
of game found there and elsewhere show that
even during the Ice Age (some hundreds of
thousands of years ago) there were both
bigger and smaller horses. Labouchere (1927)
found bones of larger and smaller horses
in the Friesian mounds. From the types Equus
occidentalis (western horse) and Equus germanicus
(German horse) he forms the Equus robustus
(big horse). As for the smaller bones, he
supposes these to belong to the Equus Przewalsky
(Przewalsky horse). Slijper (1944) thinks
these to belong to the Equus Gmelini (Tarpan).
It is difficult to determine if crosses
have been made and if so, to what extent.
The Friesian horse descends from the Equus
robustus. During the 16th and 17th centuries,
but probably also earlier, Arabian blood
was introduced, especially through Andalusian
horses from Spain. This has given them the
high knee-action, the small head and the
craning neck. Because of his temperament
the Friesian horse is considered warm blooded.
The Friesian horse has been kept free from
influence of the English Thoroughbred. During
the last two centuries it has been bred
pure. Breeding horses and dealing in them
was very important for the Frisians. The
monks in the many monasteries in Friesland
before the reformation did a lot of horsebreeding.
Through the centuries the Friesian Government
has made many regulations in order to safeguard
good breeding. Now the Dutch Horselaw of
1939 (modified) gives rules for studbook
and breeding.
From records of the past we know that the
Friesian horse of old was famous. There
is information from 1251 (Cologne), 1276
(Munster), 1466 (Aduard), 1617 (Markham),
1771 (Kladrub), and there are books in which
Friesian horses were mentioned and praised
from 1568 (Blundeville), 1568 (Guicciardini),
1629 (Pluvinel), 1658 (Duke of Newcastle),
1680 (De Solleysel), 1687 (von Adlersflugel),
1734 (Saunier), 1741 (Gueriniere), 1744
(Oebschelwitz), 1779 (Le Francq van Berkheij),
1802 (Huzard) and 1811 (Geisweit van der
Netten).
Export
of Friesian Horses
According to the chronicle of Dubravius,
the Hungarian King Louis II used a heavy
Friesian stallion when he took field against
the Turks on June 15th 1526, a campaign
which culminated in the battle of Mohacs
(August 29th 1526).
Etches by Stradanus (Jan van der Straat
1568) show a Friesian stallion from the
stables of Don Juan of Austria. Because
of their good qualities Friesian stallions
were imported, for example, by the Electoral
Prince George William of Prussia in 1624,
later by the famous Danish stud at Frederiksborg,
by the stud at Salzburg and by the stud
in Kladrub in 1771 and again in 1974 (stallion
Romke 1966 FPS 234). Up to the beginning
of this century Friesian horses were imported
for mourning coaches in London.
The well-known English writer on horses,
Anthony Dent, and others are of the opinion
that the Friesian horse influenced the Old
English Black Horse and the Fell Pony. Dent
proposes that the Norwegian Dole hest (Gudbrandsdal
horse), which shows great likeness to the
Friesian horse, must have got there from
Friesland either as booty or by regular
trade. The Northern Swedish horse was greatly.
influenced by the Norwegian Dole. Dent also
suggests a Norwegian influence on the English
Dale pony. In the Pyrenees in southern France
there is a pony “Ariege called after
Merens” (“Ariege dit de Merens”)
that looks remarkably like a small Friesian
horse.
The resemblances of the types mentioned
can be traced back in some cases to the
influence of Friesian horses, in other cases
the similar way of breeding will have caused
the similarity.
As early as 1625 Friesian horses were being
imported into what later would become the
United States of America. The Dutch founded
New Amsterdam in the region they discovered
in 1609, but they had to abandon it to the
English in 1664, when the name was changed
to New York. Advertisements in the papers
(e.g. on May 20, 1795 and June 11, 1796)
offer trotters of “Dutch” descent.
These must have been Friesian horses. The
able writer Jeanne Mellin proposes in her
books “The Morgan Horse” (1961)
and “The Morgan Horse Handbook”
(1973)the possibility that this well-known
American horse is of Friesian descent. The
ability to trot fast, the heavy manes, the
long rich tail and the fetlocks at the feet
of the original forefather of this race
may be an indication. Again in 1974, 1975
and 1977 nine Friesian horses in all were
imported into the United States by Thomas
Hannon, Friesian Farms, Louisville near
Canton, Ohio.
With
the help of the Friesian Studbook Friesian horses
have been imported into Western Germany by Baron
Clemens von Nagel, and into the Union of South
Africa by P.C. Slabbert in 1957 and by B.F.
Mostert in 1958. The imports into South Africa
occurred to improve the type of horse called
the “Flemish Horse” (het “Vlaamse
Paard”) over there, imported long ago
from Belgium and called after the Flemish part
of the country of export. Nowadays this type
of horse is not found in Belgium anymore, except
when imported from Friesland.
February 1978 Herman Kiesrra who was going to
settle near Inverness in Scotland took with
him four Friesian mares and the Friesian stallion
Bjinse 1970 FPS 241.
The Friesian
Horse as a Trotter
Apart from its high knee action .and elegant
performance, the Friesian horse was sought as
a trotting horse for the short distance of 80
rods (325 m). In the 18th and 19th centuries,
and probably earlier as well, these horseraces
were very popular festivities in Friesland.
For important races the prize was a silver or
even a golden whip. The Friesian Museum at Leeuwarden
has a fine collection of them. In many villages
and towns these races were held annually. Between
1800 and 1850 there were 2847 advertisements
of these races in the papers. At first the races
were on horseback, but later on they also included
the Friesian “sjees”. May 1st, 1823
King William I started a horserace at Leeuwarden
that was to be held each successive year in
the beginning of August. It became known as
“the Kings-Golden-whip-day” because
the King awarded a golden whip each year as
prize. The race was to be held in remembrance
of the battle of Waterloo in Belgium, June 18th,
in which the French Emperor Napoleon was beaten
and Europe regained its freedom. The races at
Leeuwarden always attracted many visitors. They
ended in 1891 when H.M. Queen Regent Emma awarded
the golden whip for the last time. Russian and
American horses, bred and used for racing only,
were faster and this brought Friesian horseracing
to an end. The Friesian horse influenced the
breeding of the Russian Orloff and of English
and American race horses.
The
Friesian Horse in the Circus
Once the Circus Strassburger began, in 1939,
training Friesian horses in the Academy style
of riding and put them very successfully through
various perfor mances, many other circuses followed
suit. His intelligence and his gentleness makes
the Friesian horse extremely suitable for this
purpose. The stately black hair gives the show
a touch of eminence.
The Studbook
By the middle or the end of the 18th century
crossing in horsebreeding became a fashion.
At the very start of the Studbook, on May 1st
1879, (the first studbook in the Netherlands)
opinions differed whether only horses of the
Friesian Race should be registered, or crossbreds
as well. The problem was solved by opening two
registration books: Book A for Friesian horses,
and Book B for crossbreds, From 1884 till 1896
the Studbook was also open for the registration
of horses from the adjacent provinces Groningen
and Drente. For this reason the name “Friesian
horse” was temporarily changed into “Inland
horse”. By 1896, however, Friesian horses
had nearly disappeared in those provinces: in
Groningen altogether, in Drente a few years
later.
The fashion of crossing grew to such an extent
that the decision was taken in 1907 to close
the separate books A and B and to register all
the horses in one book in future.
This could have been the end of the Friesian
horse. However, in 1913 a tiny group of true
lovers of the Friesian horse started the society
“The Friesian Horse” (“Het
Friesche Paard”). This society worked
in close cooperation with the studbook and succeeded
in keeping and improving the Friesian horse.
They bought good Friesian colts and they gave
awards for good types of horses. In 1914 the
Studbook decided, at the request of the Society,
to open two registration books again in 1915:
Book A for Friesian horses and Book B now for
“Upland horses” (“Bovenlandse
paarden”). In 1939, when the number of
Friesian horses had increased considerably,
the Frisians got a board of their own within
the Studbook. Finally, in 1943, the breeders
of non-Friesian horses left the Studbook. Since
that year the “Royal Society The Friesian
Studbook” (the designation “Royal”
was added in 1954) registers only purebred Friesian
horses. H.M. Queen Juliana honored the Studbook
by becoming its Patroness in 1949.
A condition for registering a Friesian horse
is that it must be 2 1/2 years old. A stallion
must then have a height at the withers of at
least 1.58 m and at the age of 4 of 1.60 m (rod
measures). Mares must be 1.50 m, “star”
mares 1.55m , “model” mares 1.58m,
and geldings 1.50m.
In order to be registered a horse has to be
written into the Foal Book. Only foals with
a document proving the mating of the sire and
dam are included in this book; moreover, both
parents have to be registered in one of the
books of the Studbook. To be registered a horse
may have no faults and it must be true to the
type of the Friesian breed.
Examining the mares, the “star”
mares and geldings for registration takes place
at the shows of the Breeding Associations (see
below) or at home. During the Major Mare Show,
in the autumn, it is possible to have “model”
mares examined for registration. To obtain this
classification the horse has to be four years
old. Since mares of six years and over are no
longer shown at the Major Mare Show, these mares
can be examined for the classification as “model”
mare at the shows of the Breeding Associations,
or at home. They must pass a test.
The pre-examination of two year-old stallions
takes place in the autumn. Only approved stallions
can be presented at the Stallion Examination
Show for registration, in spring. They also
must pass a test.
The
Friesian horse nowadays is bred exclusively
black. The only white allowed is a small white
spot between the eyes. In bygone days Friesian
horses could have different colors.
On January 1, 1978, 2058 horses, including 21
approved stallions, were registered in the Studbook.
The Studbook Society had 1193 members and 281
contributors besides, all told 1474 names. A
third part of these live outside Friesland.
The number of Friesian horses kept in the Netherlands
is minimal when compared with the total number
of horses registered in the sixteen studbooks
(8 for horses and 8 for ponies) approved by
the Dutch Government. In 1976 these studbooks
had 51,390 members in all, the Friesian Studbook
1404. In the same year out of a total of 45,542
matings only 715 were of Friesian horses. The
good qualities of Friesian horses promote the
extension of the breed.
There are seven Breeding Associations, each
with its own board and members. Four of these
are found in Friesland: one in the West, one
in the East, one in the middle and one in the
Southern part. In the province of Gelderland
there is one for the center of the Netherlands,
and there is one in the province of North Holland.
Groningen and Drente together have one Breeding
Association. The aim of a Breeding Association
is to strengthen the ties between the breeders
of Friesian horses and to promote breeding,
and to exchange experiences and ideas. In the
shows of the Associations prizes and championships
can be obtained.
There
is one Rural Riding Association which has used
Friesian horses exclusively since 1947. It is
called “De 0orsprong” (“The
0rigin”) after the stud (1880 till 1930)
of the late Jhr Mr C. van Eysinga at Huis ter
Heide near St. Nicolaasga (Fr).
There is another association, “Het Friese
Tuigpaard” (“The Friesian Show Horse”),
again with its own members and board, which
in accordance with the “Nederland sche
Hippische Sportbond” (“Dutch National
Organization of Hippic Sports”), arranges
the participation in shows of Friesian Horses.
This Association also arranges games of ringspearing
and the quadrille. In 1977 this game of ringspearing
was played in twenty different towns and villages.
In this game the lady riding in a Friesian “sjees”
and dressed in the old-fashioned Friesian costume
has to spear rings from between the fingers
of a wooden hand with a little stick. The Association
shares its offices with those of the Studbook.
In 1977 the Board of the Studbook installed
a “Breeding Commission” with four
members only one of whom is also a member of
the Board. Their assignment is to give advice
about breeding, with a view to the restricted
number of horses of the breed and the desire
and necessity to keep as many different bloodlines
as possible. The “Contact and Propaganda
Commission” promotes the Friesian horse
and arranges different shows in close cooperation
with the Board of the Studbook. The Foundation
“It Fryske Hoars” (“The Friesian
Horse”) tries to collect funds in order
to improve the breed and to extend the use of
Friesian horses.
In 1969 Dr. R.H.J.J. Geurts, a medical doctor
at Heerlen in the province of Limburg in the
South of the Netherlands, wrote a doctoral thesis
at the University of Utrecht on the breeding
and genealogy of the Friesian horse. In 1968
he had made a survey of the families of mares
of the Studbook.
Dr. J. Hendrikse and Drs. W. van der Hoist,
of the Clinic of Vetenarian Obstetrics at the
University of Utrecht, developed the artificial
insemination of horses in the Netherlands, choosing
the Friesian breed. Semen of Friesian stallions
has been frozen.
Paintings
There are many paintings and pictures, dating
back some centuries, showing Princes of the
House of Orange-Nassau and other leading people
with horses remarkably like the Friesian horse.
The Friesian
“Sjees”
From the middle of the 18th century, possibly
earlier, date the elegant carriages called “sjees”
after the French word “chaise” (chair),
indicating a chair on wheels. This French name
does not imply a French origin. The better classes
of the times often used the French language
as being very fashionable.
The
wheels of a “sjees” are 1.50 m high
or more. They have 14 spokes. The elegant little
body is suspended high above the ground on solid
leather thoroughbraces. The body has nicely
bent panels and ornaments in the rococo style,
also called after the French King Louis XV.
Newer “sjezen” also have Louis XVI
ornaments.
Probably
these “sjezen” were developed in
the Netherlands, perhaps in Friesland. The Friesian
branch of the stadtholders, the Nassaus, held
Court in Friesland from 1584 to 1747 (Marijke
Muoi 1765). Queen Juliana is a lineal descendant
of this branch. The Court had a great influence
on industrial art. Friesian gold and silver-smiths
were famous. Well-known is the beautiful silver
collection of the Friesian Museum at Leeuwarden.
There
is a registration book for these “sjezen”.
Twenty-six measurements are taken and recorded
before a “sjees” is admitted into
this book. Every “sjees” gets a
registration number. Over seventy “sjezen”
have been registered.
A Friesian “sjees” drawn by one
or two Friesian horses is an impressive sight
at a horse show. The “sjees” is
manned by a gentleman and a lady dressed in
the traditional costumes of the 1860's. The
lady wears a solid golden casque that all but
covers the back of her head. Over it she wears
a lace bonnet. The gentleman wears knickerbockers
and a black tophat. The Friesian “sjees”
is the only carriage, apart from agricultural
wagons, in which the driver is seated on the
left-hand side. He keeps his lady on his right
as being the place of honor. At the “Frisiana”,
the great exposition held at Leeuwarden in 1963,
the quadrille was ridden for the first time:
a performance involving eight Friesian “sjezen”,
an unforgettable experience.
Use of
the Friesian Horse
As in most other parts of the western world,
the agricultural use of horses has declined
in Friesland. Fortunately there is a growing
interest in the use of Friesian horses for sport
and recreation, both for drawing carriages and
for horseback riding. Apart from the Circus
Strassburger, Captain dr H.L.M. van Schaik also
showed the aptitude of the Friesian horse for
the stylish paces of the Riding School in the
years following the World War II. Now Mrs W.
Gerrirsen-Fiedler and Mrs J. Hofer-van Diest,
both from Amsterdam, have great success as well
with their Friesian stallions Feycko and Drys
at horse shows. As has been mentioned, the Rural
Riding Association “De 0orsprong”
at Huis ter Heide near St Nicolaasga (Fr) has
used Friesian horses exclusively since 1947.
At Zuidlaren (Dr), the 44th Armored Infantry
Battalion “Jobart Willem Friso”,
named after the famous Friesian Stadtholder
(1687-1711), has a Friesian colt as its mascot.
It is to be sold each successive year at the
famous horse market at Zuidlaren and to be replaced
by a new colt at the recommendation of the Friesian
Studbook.
Mrs E. Korthagen-van Til from Breukelen (northwest
of Utrecht), honorary member of the Studbook,
bought her first Friesian horses in 1960. She
started to drive four-in-hand in 1969 and the
horses responded magnificently. She was soon
emulated.
Conclusion
The Friesian horse is gentle, honest, sober,
high-mettled and clever. It is descended from
the western European horse that has been in
general use from the earliest days on and that
attained high perfection in the Knight's horse,
the destrier. So far, it has been preserved
in Friesland only. There is an increase of numbers
outside the province. That it is able to achieve
great performances is shown by the fact that
during the demanding marathon championships
for four-in-hand teams in 1977 as many as five
teams of Friesian horses participated. Tjeerd
Velstra from Deurne (North Brabant) became Dutch
Champion and in the same year Reserve European
Champion at Donaueschingen (Baden-Wurttemberg
in Western Germany). The maintenance and improvement
of the Friesian horse is supervised by the “Het
Friesch Paarden Stamboek.”
Notes:
* Since the original publication of this article,
a twelfth province has been added to the Netherlands.
On 27 June 1985, the Dutch Parliament passed
an act whereby the Province of Flevoland was
to be created on 1 January 1986. This new province
was created from land reclaimed from the sea.
All contents copyright
© 1997- 2002, Friesian Horse Association
of North America. All rights reserved.
Last revised: February 08, 2000
|
