Me too. He just passed away recently at the age of 25. Amazing breed, that.
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If he did I doubt you would have come here in the first place. The picture you shared shows a lovely , lovely boy. I don’t see much ( if any) downhill build to be concerned about and he is still young.
He is stunning.
The Frisian mustang on the other hand is stunning for a completely different reason. Some horses are better off left alone and wild @eightpondfarm ??
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LOL…i totally agree! I wish they could TNR like they do cats. But, this poor guy was removed from the desert about three years ago, gelded, and then sifted through the hands of a couple different trainers. I just heard that he has since been passed to a cowboy in Michigan who can work miracles. So, i think i’m out of this one. Fine by me, i think he just needs to be monitored and allowed as much freedom as possible. I sure wouldn’t try to make a saddle horse out of him. …They say he knocks down walls to get out…
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So this would be concerning, yes? – If he is (which I can’t tell either from the photos). Can I ask the PPE vet about this?
He is absolutely lovely but please X-ray hocks at minimal plus whatever your vet and trainer think are necessary. OCD is a thing in the Friesian world.
Over at the knee isn’t anything to worry about unless it’s so bad the vet doesn’t think horse would be suitable for what you are buying him for.
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If you’re not going to jump, i typically don’t find it too concerning.
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UGH. Haven’t yet connected with the vet who will be my DVM with this new guy, and trainer hasn’t mentioned it (she doesn’t have experience with Friesians). I had a German Shepherd with elbow dysplasia years ago, due to OCD…ugh. So another $500 on rads to add to $600 for base PPE… and the PPE is in a few hours, so I have to make that decision to ask for rads pretty much now. Sigh…
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Rads are always a good idea if you can afford it. I would do front feet too. The reason? As a baseline for comparison. If the horse is sound and there is nothing concerning on the rads, great! Then down the road, if the horse has an issue and you take new rads, you have a better chance of knowing if something seen is new and likely the problem, or if it is just normal for this horse. (Front feet rads can also inform shoeing)
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Keep in mind that if you x-ray everything you won’t buy anything. Good to rule out major red flags, but a lot of horses have minor things that if you over analyze, you’ll talk yourself out of 95% of prospects based on what COULD happen.
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Fingers crossed! He is lovely. Around here Friesians do very well up to Third Level and a few go higher. It’s really horse dependent! I like the way this guy is built and hope the PPE is going well!
I also have a really downhill QH mare who schools all of Third and has a change if you know what you are doing. This horse is MUCH more suitable for dressage than she is…but she can still score high 60s if I ride accurately at USDF shows, and never below 60 because she’s just so darn consistent. I spent a year showing her and don’t think she ever got below a 6 on anything at First Level 3. She just goes in there and lays down clean test after clean test, and that means a lot. She’s a solid 2 inches downhill (she wasn’t purchased for dressage—I “inherited” her from my dad.). She’s a good egg and now is leased out to my trainer for lessons.
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What a lovely story! and such a good reminder that a desire to do the work, and good training, are as important as conformation.
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It is true you can’t freak out over every tiny thing if you choose to radiograph. It really helps to have a realistic vet put things in perspective.
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Not a big deal if you aren’t doing conformation hunters or anything tremendously stressful, OP.
See my post above about how we can over-critique horses for stuff that won’t matter at all for what we intend to do. Plenty of imperfect horses do just fine at their jobs. The vet can give you tips for keeping him sound.
Also get a look at the knees on the great racehorse Seabiscuit.
Won 33 of 89 races 1935-40.
Beat the equally great KY Derby winner War Admiral.
If I had one like that I don’t know if I’d ride him at all! 
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Pffffttt yeah, most people would pass on that without a PPE, but he sure could gallop.
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WHOA. I had no idea!
Update: PPE this afternoon went well. Examining vet said “sure do not have any worries about him!”. Said hind feet slightly sensitive to hoof tester, big concave sole, might need shoes (he’s barefoot in back right now). A bit toed out, a bit cow-hocked. The detailed invoice said “his range of motion is, if anything, excessive compared to most. I feel this is quite a nice horse.”
So sh*t is now real. Arrange payment, horse will be delivered Thursday midday (before winter weather arrives that night).
I need names! I’ve looked up a bunch of names that mean black, dark-haired, son of the dark-haired one, etc. Some good ones:
Ashur (Hebrew)
Bran (Irish for “raven”…think of Game of Thrones)
Colby…Corbin…Darcy, Dargan…
…and, of course, Navarre.
His current registered name is clunky and weird. I’m thinking of one name for both, avoiding obvious ones like “Ebony”, “Shadow”, etc. But I’m not averse to a good basic guy name for call name (eg, “Danny”).
I’ll start a separate thread on training plans.
And…I can’t BEGIN to thank all of you for the support, encouragement, perspective, and your time!!
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Congrats! You do realize more pics are mandatory, right?
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Yes 
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Left alone and wild, after being gelded.
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Pantera
Black Panther
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