I am looking for information on whether Friesians have a smaller lung capacity overall then other similar sized breeds - and how that would shape their training program, especially in warmer climates. I think I had read something along these lines on COTH a few years back in the Dressage forum but could not find the thread.
I have read this before - on a German Horse Forum. I don’t own a Friesian and I am no expert on them. But I did hear this info (that Friesians have a small lung volume for their size).
I am not sure how serious this is and if it presents a problem. Curious to hear some other opinions.
Friesians are harder to condition and build stamina than your average warmblood. But any serious Friesian trainer will tell you that isn’t a huge issue to overcome. One trainer I’ve talked to puts her Friesians on a Euro-Walker daily to build stamina. The nice thing about the Friesian mentality is they WANT to please their people, and will work hard to do so.
i don’t think the issue is really the lungs being smaller as in tiny little lungs. the type of horse is just harder to condition.
euro walker is incredible for any sort of fitness. i am my own cheaper version of euro walker, LOL.
Thank you - yet another reason I am not going to buy my Daughter a Friesian.
I have a 1600 pound Friesian and he is doing 3rd/4th level work. He never said no but he is a heavy breather. He does take a longer time to recover in the warmer weather. I totally enjoy riding him and he is a true partner. He will never make an endurance horse or anything like that but his desire to please is far greater than any other horse I have ever ridden.
[QUOTE=Woodland;3229522]
Thank you - yet another reason I am not going to buy my Daughter a Friesian.[/QUOTE]
They are really wonderful horses. Obviously, if you don’t want one, don’t get one, but for temperment, they are unsurpassed! I cross breed them because I want a bit more stamina and athleticism, and they tend to stamp that good mind/eagerness to please.
[QUOTE=FriesianX;3229584]
They are really wonderful horses. Obviously, if you don’t want one, don’t get one, but for temperment, they are unsurpassed! I cross breed them because I want a bit more stamina and athleticism, and they tend to stamp that good mind/eagerness to please.[/QUOTE]
The problem in my area is all the crosses. I think if you want a breed get that breed.
We have gone shoping several times for one. I have to say they are all MUTTS no purebreds just a variety of mixed breeds- like designer puppies. And no consistancy they have been half morgan, TB, QH, Paint, saddlebred, standardbred, TWH(YIKES), no purebreds. Few of them “look” Friesian. Fewer move “friesian”.
I worked with a few that were imported from Holland years ago when they were very new to the US and I was not impressed. They were never very willing, and They never “fitted” up right. Probably the tiny lung thing - hmmm makes you wonder if it’s just a whole lot of pretty and little else.
My Daughter RIDES HARD every single day - i doubt one would hold up
But they sure are pretty to look at.
We do have one that “pants” especially when the weather is warm. He will actually do this even when he is just standing around in the sun - I think they don’t tolerate the heat as well as we notice he does much better if we keep him bodyclipped all year round. They also can have EPSM so that can factor in to getting them fit. If you encounter one that seems to have a temperament issue I would definitely look into EPSM…
BTW, we did have this one scoped for his breathing issues and nothing unusual was found. Although he is wide he is not so deep in the girth so maybe not alot of lung room??? But the harder we work him the more go he has so I’ve not found that the panting has limited his work ability and we’ve taken his temp numerous times during hard work outs plus hot weather and he has not shown any overheating…
I have heard this also, from someone who trains a variety of horses for driving. The story is that as breeders worked to refine the Friesian, they ended up sacrificing lung capacity.
If you are serious about finding out the facts, then you might contact a real, live trainer who actually has to condition these horses, preferably someone who trains more than Friesians, as they would have a better base of comparison.
I don’t know about lung capacity or the lack thereof, but I’ve known several over the years. One thing that has been in common is allergies, anhydrosis (which can leading to panting/breathing issues…maybe that’s what you recall) and various skin issues. They are way too high maintenance for me, but I’ve seen a few at the FEI levels (so they do get worked hard) but I know what it took for them to get there. Add on all that “hair care”…forget it!
We have four and I have yet to have any sort of problem. I think you need to get into a real planned training program and youll be fine. My first level mare does 30-40 minits of cardio work three times a week where I do only intervals of trot and canter spaced with walk breaks and then the other days are strength days/lateral work ect. To be honest I have never even noticed a significant difference between my friesians and Hanoverians. This should not be a deal breaker, friesians are very cool, fun horses that love their people and aim to please all the time.
My local instructor rides several. She has one almost ready for GP (green at it) but they all pant, breathe loudly, and are very hard to condition. They seem to reach a certain level of fitness and no matter how hard they are ridden, they do not become more fit (unlike a TB for example). They tend to be very cold to the leg, and require really firm and tototally consistent use of the whip to get infront of the leg. They are very sweet tempered, but dull to ride without very good training. They are body clipped year round, they do not sweat well. She takes a bucket of water with rubbing alcohol down to the warm up ring at shows and the horse is sponged and sweat scraped frequently in order to be able to do the upper level work in the show ring. After an I-1 test the horse is blowing like a snuffeluffagus. Yet, they were regional champ at PSG and I-1. Too much work for me, but beautiful to watch.
We do have one that “pants” especially when the weather is warm. He will actually do this even when he is just standing around in the sun - I think they don’t tolerate the heat as well as we notice he does much better if we keep him bodyclipped all year round. They also can have EPSM so that can factor in to getting them fit. If you encounter one that seems to have a temperament issue I would definitely look into EPSM…
Yeah, I agree with this!
I can just give personal experience. I live in the Northeast and have had 2 Friesians. They are more sensitive to the heat. Perhaps because they have more muscle mass like a draft horse. They are football players not marathon runners. They do fine in dressage but you cannot use them for combined driving because of the marathon phase. I’ve never had any problems in dressage but I would condition them properly. I use a heart monitor and do some interval training. Some Friesians do need to be clipped year round and that will help. It will be interesting this year because my new young Friesian is a sporty build wereas my beloved Friesian who passed away was a stockier build. This summer I’ll see if there is a difference. Do I consider this a problem? Not at all. I LOVE my Friesian and consider him a wonderful dressage partner.
i rode a friesian gelding for 6 years. he was 15.3hh and medium build.
i live in south-africa where the summers can be 35 degrees celcius plus.
he never struggled during normal dressage training sessions of about 45mins.
if we jumped he would puff a bit but recovered quickly.
we entered in english style showing and did show hunter classes where you have to show a gallop (not extended canter… GALLOP). after that he would be out of breath and take about 5 mins to recover.
i think its a combination of the heavy body, high knee action and perhaps smaller lung capacity?
A man in Holland put together a team (4) of driving Friesians (and one spare). He said he had to look at 100 horses to get a suitable group he could campaign. I believe Friesians have the smallest heart as relative to size of horse which is why their recovery and conditioning is such a challenge for this breed.
All of them? Of course not…but it’s a limiting factor.
As for the crosses you’ve seen being mutts, that’s all about the breeder. You DON’T crossbreed for hair and colour. You breed type to type, and you outcross for an improvement reason, as FriesianX said–more athleticism & stamina… or a predisposition for neckset, etc. Crossing is as much art as science, but it should never be done just to get a ‘half’-whatever.
*Nico and Cadence In Color are examples of the cross done very, very well. I bred a custom foal from *Nico and the filly is outstanding. It’s a super nick though, with the mare’s lines and the stallion’s Dutch lines in addition to all his hair and blackness. The filly is spectacular. The owner chose not to go through inspections, I’ve no doubt this filly would have beat her 1/2 siblings who got silver and bronze. 
People who cross because they think a pretty stallion will make a pretty foal out of a mare who shouldn’t be bred in the first place… well, there’s enough threads going on elsewhere right now about those issues, no? :uhoh;
I think not all of ‘getting to a certain level of fitness and no further’ is really specifically about the breed.
when a horse is getting over his level, this is what happens, regardless of what their breed is.
My Daughter RIDES HARD every single day - i doubt one would hold up
But they sure are pretty to look at.
Mmm…so do I and alot of other people who have been competative with their friesians including Iron Spring Farms (and their FEI winning friesians), Sabine Schut Kery, Chris Hickey, Imke Bartels ect. I doubt they are dinkiny around when they are schooling their friesians. They can hold up fine if you do it right.
