Hey there, did anyone get a chance to see the Friesian World Championship Show this past week in Del Mar? I was a little disappointed with the low turn out, and unfortunatly the quality of the horses. Some “World Champion” classes only had ONE horse in them…so that is declared the world champion? There were more “part breds” than full Friesians and some of those were the most god awful put together horses I have ever seen! Still 2-4 to a class average participating. If this is what the world has to offer, I am starting to not be impressed at what they are turning out nor when people claim…“i have the 6 time World Champion part bred Friesian”. I guess we can blame it on the economy! Best part bred mare??? Lets breed that!
[QUOTE=TullyMars;6612391]
Hey there, did anyone get a chance to see the Friesian World Championship Show this past week in Del Mar? I was a little disappointed with the low turn out, and unfortunatly the quality of the horses. Some “World Champion” classes only had ONE horse in them…so that is declared the world champion?[/QUOTE]
You’re talking about the IFSHA show, that show has always been that way from what I’ve heard. I prefer to see how the horses do in Open Competition. There are some super Friesians and Friesian Sporthorses winning Open Dressage classes, but these aren’t probably the ones who go to IFSHA.
People were breeding bad crosses before the economy went bad though so that’s nothing new. That’s why I prefer to stick with Friesian Sporthorses. Partbreds with guidelines :yes: Saves you from lots of the fugly crosses.
Look at these pretties instead :yes:
My uncle breeds some of the best Friesian horses in the world (literally) and certainly his horses don’t attend those types of shows. He is very traditional (originally from Holland and a lot of his horses travel back and forth from there) and is a firm believer in not cross-breeding Friesians to anything else. I believe his horses are registered with FHANA, but don’t quote me on that, b/c I don’t know much about the breed/various registries. I’m sure all registries have some nice horses in them, but finding high quality Friesians (as with all breeds) requires more work than attending one registry’s “Championship”.
Thank you! I did not realize that there was more than one type of organization for it to be claimed as the “world champion”. I am a horse person, but not a Friesian person per say. I have always admired thier beauty and grace and just the awesome presence that they have. I happened upon this show and it just floored me. This was not what I had expected. I will have to educate myself to the different organizations and the standards and the traits that the true Friesian breeder should be looking to even in the crosses. Thank you Hillside and Donatella! I did like the pics that you attached Donatella! Curious…how many “registries” are there?
[QUOTE=TullyMars;6612761]
! Curious…how many “registries” are there?[/QUOTE]
Don’t even ask. The disparity in the requirements for registration/approval are HUGE. Some are ‘real’ registries with standards…others not so much. Friesian Bloodheritagebaroque Horse Registry…hard to keep track.
One breeder around here pretty much made up their own.
I will leave it to those more knowledgeable than I to fill in the details.
I fully admit that I own a mare registered with one of the ones I consider a joke. She came that way. Nice mare, though 
[QUOTE=Hippolyta;6613109]
Friesian Bloodheritagebaroque Horse Registry…[/QUOTE]
Friesian Bloodheritagebaroque Horse Registry lmao :lol:
You’re right though, there’s too many and most are a joke.
TullyMars you’re probably safest with FHANA for the purebreds and FSA for the crosses. Hippolyta maybe your horse is eligible for one of these and you could dump the joke registry.
FHANA= Friesian Horse Assoc of NA
FSA= Friesian Sporthorse Assoc
Thank you so much! Now I can explore! Who knew?! I wanted to bring a horse just to add to the compitition! I guess that one mare hit me particularly, and there are Facebook posts everywhere claiming her glory and fame and tooting the breeding/performance horn and I just feel like cringing. Are there any local(So Cal) breeders that are of good reputation if I wanted to follow up with a possible interest?
I’m not on the west coast, Tully. But you may enjoy checking out some of my Friesian Sporthorses.
Here a couple of videos of two of my 2012 foals.
The first is my colt, Hesperus SCS, by EH Hofrat (Trak - by EH Gribaldi) out of FPS Friesian mare - Magic of FGF. Totilas is his uncle. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPQdwyZk4-I
And this one is my filly, Saving Grace SCS, a 3/4 Friesian by approved FPS Friesian stallion Haitse 425, out of my FSA mare Sable Serenade (By Hanoverian stallion Sinatra Song out of FPS mare Magic of FGF)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yctz1UPDjyg
Lots of other examples to check out on my website as well.
Jde, they are both stunning! I appreciate the cross much more now having seen a few quality youngsters! I love them both! The filly has some sass in her and seems just to love life! Now off to your website to peruse!
I invite you to check out my website as well. I’m located in Florida and currently don’t have anything for sale, but I’ve got tons of photographs of Friesian Sporthorses I’ve bred and sold over the years, if you’re interested in learning/seeing more about Friesian Sporthorses. www.RiverOaksFarm.net
And here is a video clip of my stallion, Lexington and Lexington’s webpage. He just wrapped up 2012 ranked 15th for USDF Horse of the Year for Prix St George with a year-end average of 69.74%, and he only just turned 9 in August, so almost all of those scores were earned when he was an 8YO.
Here are photos of the 2010 and 2011 FSA Inspection & In-hand Champions, which I bred (they are both by Lexington):
Lancaster ROF
Lily ROF
The second one, Lily ROF, was also the 2011 USDF/DSHB Southeast Regional Champion “Foals of Current Year”, so Friesian Sporthorses can hold their own against Warmbloods also.
And recently a Friesian Sporthorse colt I bred (by the Warmblood Sempatico, and out of an FSA mare) competed in a USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) competition and had the highest score of all horses presented.
I can’t say enough good things about these horses, when they are properly well bred to registry guidelines.
-Gigha
RiverOaksFarmFL@aol.com
Tullymars – Also figured I’d pass along a link to the July/August online edition of Warmbloods Today magazine. It has a special section about the FSA (Friesian Sporthorse Association)
I’m not a “Friesian person” either, but I’m fairly certain that Iron Spring Farm is a well-known and respected breeder. I know they import quite a few mares and stallions.
[QUOTE=TullyMars;6612391]
Hey there, did anyone get a chance to see the Friesian World Championship Show this past week in Del Mar? I was a little disappointed with the low turn out, and unfortunatly the quality of the horses. Some “World Champion” classes only had ONE horse in them…so that is declared the world champion? There were more “part breds” than full Friesians and some of those were the most god awful put together horses I have ever seen! Still 2-4 to a class average participating. If this is what the world has to offer, I am starting to not be impressed at what they are turning out nor when people claim…“i have the 6 time World Champion part bred Friesian”. I guess we can blame it on the economy! Best part bred mare??? Lets breed that![/QUOTE]
You should check out the USEF show results for the Friesian horse that the USEF proclaimed as Horse of the Year for 2011. I remember checking the show results out last year. Afterwards, I was surprised this was considered the award winner.
I think that same horse entered over thirty classes at the Friesian World Championship show this year. Like you mention, many classes with 1-3 entries.
[QUOTE=LetsRide;6614853]
You should check out the USEF show results for the Friesian horse that the USEF proclaimed as Horse of the Year for 2011. I remember checking the show results out last year. Afterwards, I was surprised this was considered the award winner.
I think that same horse entered over thirty classes at the Friesian World Championship show this year. Like you mention, many classes with 1-3 entries.[/QUOTE]
Yea, personally I give very little merit to anything “IFSHA”. In fact – IMO, IFSHA does more harm than good for the reputation of Friesians and Friesian crosses. You do know that the person who started IFSHA is that crazy woman who faked her own death - Genevieve DeMontremare, right? There’s a fairly current thread discussing her on this forum under the title “Just when you thought you knew every nutbag in the breeding world…” :lol:
The Friesians and Friesian Sporthorses that compete in open USDF competition are the ones to watch for. In the FEI levels, as River Oaks mentioned above, her FSA stallion, Lexington ranked 15th this year for PSG, Julio Mendoza and Ivan, a purebred Friesian, ranked 4th in I-1, Nicole Gluesenkamp and Eeltsje F., a purebred Friesian, ranked 12th in I-2. There are probably others as well.
Ivan’s a cutey, no doubt about it, and Julio does some great work with him.
Yeah, IFSHA is well, interesting to say the least–you can meet some really cool people and catch up with friends, but as far as performance goes, not something I would give any merit toward when choosing a stallion or mare.
It may have something to do with the founder -
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301267
[QUOTE=jdeboer01;6615284]
The Friesians and Friesian Sporthorses that compete in open USDF competition are the ones to watch for. In the FEI levels, as River Oaks mentioned above, her FSA stallion, Lexington ranked 15th this year for PSG, Julio Mendoza and Ivan, a purebred Friesian, ranked 4th in I-1, Nicole Gluesenkamp and Eeltsje F., a purebred Friesian, ranked 12th in I-2. There are probably others as well. :)[/QUOTE]
There is another Friesian Sporthorse nationally ranked in the USDF Horse of the Year Top 20 – Celtic Grace is ranked 7th at Second Level with a year-end average of 71.8%
-Gigha
Regarding IFSHA… While I don’t compete in IFSHA shows and I don’t put much stock in IFSHA titles (and I think a “World Grand Champion” title from a class with only a handful of competitors is silly), I do think IFSHA serves a purpose in tapping into the amateur market of Friesian owners and giving them something to do with their horses.
IFSHA isn’t a breed registry – it’s an umbrella organization which hosts shows for Friesians and Friesian derivatives which are, in turn, registered with other registries. So when something ‘fugly’ shows up at an IFSHA show, it’s not IFSHA’s standards to blame (because they have none, they’re not a breed registry.) The gentleman who runs IFSHA is actually quite nice, even if the whole thing seems a little silly to those of us out actively competing in the ‘real world’.
I’ll be the first to admit Friesian crossbreeding in this country needs an overhaul. I believe 100% in Friesian Sporthorses – but I’d also estimate less than 5% of the Friesian crosses bred in the US are Friesian Sporthorses by definition. The lack of education is a huge black hole. For too many years there was nothing and nowhere for breeders to turn to. (And no resources for buyers either.) The FSA seeks to address this with programs to recognize and encourage responsible breeding; programs to recognize, promote, and award the Friesian Sporthorses which are out there successfully competing in open competition; and with breeding guidelines which provide basic “recipes” for breeders to build from. But Rome wasn’t built in a day…
-Gigha
RiverOaksFarmFL@aol.com
