Friesian History and Status Guide

Friesian horses are originally from Friesland, a province in the Netherlands (or Holland, as it is called also). The Friesian Horse Association of North American ( FHANA) has good information on the history and use of the Friesian horse.

These horses were almost lost because of war. They are now listed as a RECOVERING breed. If you notice on the Friesian page, each horse has an Inbreeding Coefficient listed. Since so few were left, pairings are carefully watched so that they do not become overly inbred. The lower the coefficient, the less the inbreeding.

These big, bold, impressive horses were used in front of the sword and in front of the plow. We use them for companionship and pleasure - even art! Each fall, we travel to the Netherlands to visit farms and The Stallion Show. We watch and learn and, if we find the right horses, bring them home with us. We take care of all of our own importing and quarantine procedures.

Maps and boundary data are copyrighted by FOTW
Flags Of The World

When reviewing Friesians, check out the designations behind the names. You will see that most of our horses have Ster (Star) status, or Premie (Premium), or even Preferent (Preferred) status in their bloodlines. These statuses may be given during or after a "keuring" (a judging event to review horses). Here is what these mean:

Premie (Premium): Status given to the very top quality horses at a keuring. Those judged as Premium may then be listed as 1st Premie, 2nd Premie, or 3rd Premie.
Studbook (stb): A Friesian judged to be fit for breeding and placed in the Studbook.
Ster (Star): Status given when a mare or gelding is judged to be in the top 25% - 30% of Friesians at a kuering. If a mare has a stallion offspring make it through the second round of the stallion approval process, she may be considered a 2-Star mare (rare).
Model: Designation given when a mare is considered the very, very best of the Star mares.
Perferent (Preferred): Status given when a mare has at least four of her offspring achieve Star status or better.
Prestatie (Performance Mother): Designation given when a mare has at least three of her offspring competing at the top levels of their sport.
Approved: A stallion that has passed inspection for breeding purposes and his get are inspected and of quality. This is a very difficult status to achieve, with less than 100 stallions rated as "Approved" world-wide.

Also, when a horse is of exceptional bloodlines, they may be considered Full-Papered. This indicates they are out of at least 3 generations of Ster mares.