What does the Friesian Horse Mean to me?

My journey with the Friesian horse began many years, three careers, three last names, and three addresses ago – indeed Friesian horses have been a part of three of my very different lives. By now, I believe the Friesian horse will be a part of me until my time on this earth ends. The Friesian horse is, in and of him or herself, incredible, but he also means life-long friendships, support, community, scholarship, and creativity.

So how does a life-time of devotion to the Friesian horse begin? For me it was around 1987. I was a novice recreational rider, taking lessons here and there at local huntseat barns. I soon wanted my own horse and spent a year looking for draft crosses and visiting Percheron farms in Ohio. The Friesian horses in an early magazine article captured my eyes and there was no turning back! I couldn’t afford one at the time, but I knew I would work toward it.

I lived in upstate New York and worked for a landscape/retail garden center in the 1980’s and had joined FHANA by then. I hounded my Dutch bulb salesman to translate selected portions of the PHRYSO© for me, much to his chagrin, and I started my search for my own Friesian gelding. It took some years, but around 1993, when I was hired by Cornell University, I took the plunge. I bought my Sebastian – my incredible, one-of-a kind, trick trained Sebastian. I bought Sebastian from Judi Knapp in Oregon, taking the long flight across country alone to check him out and meet with his trainer, Clay Maier, and take my first driving lesson with Clay and Sebastian. I took a loan out to buy Sebastian and I gained not only the most incredibly intelligent horse, but also a mentor and friend in Judi.

I love research and I love to write about that research. Friesians gave me a plethora of material to research and write about. On the farm, I was driving Sebastian and, later, his stable mates, Friesians from here in the States and imported from the Netherlands. I was riding Sebastian on hunter paces, in dressage lessons, and playing around with his trick commands, but I was really spending more and more time doing research and writing about Friesians. Judi asked me to assist FHANA with a history piece for the anniversary celebration. I’m sure she never expected it to be a full blown, in depth study, but it consumed my time for many years, as I expanded on the research and primary interviews for the work. I traveled to Ohio to meet with Tom Hannon and spent the day with him on his farm; I conversed with Leslie Kozsely and a great many of the original lovers and owners of Friesian horses all across North America. I corresponded with many of our FHANA founders, was granted rights to original photographs, and wrote the history of the association up until 1989. I also compiled the extensive Friesian KFPS/intro to North America timeline that has been on the FHANA website.

Sebastian had a personality no other Friesian of mine has come close to; we had a very close bond and he was highly intelligent. He became a different horse away from home, where he soaked up every bit of the spotlight and his smaller frame would swell up with intense energy. He had to lead the pack during a trail ride or drive. Yet he would just hangout with me after a trail ride or hunter pace, calmly watching all the goings on, simply content to be there with the lead line slack and his head over my shoulder. He could pick up a new trick in a matter of just a few replications. This sometimes made for a less then ideal situation because he figured things out on his own! Clay taught him when young to stand on a platform. Every time we approached a mounting block he insisted on attempting to climb it, so I was forced to abandon use of a mounting block. He was taught to lie down completely under saddle, stay down for a couple of seconds, and then stand up. When he got confused about some dressage signals, he simply went to the move that he knew he had been praised for – he would lie down, BAM, out of the blue (though he never did that to me, just to an instructor who was riding him). I taught him to wave a hoof one night while in the aisle of the barn and for years after this I wished I hadn’t – he would wave his front hoof whenever I accidentally tapped his leg while grooming.

In 2002 I joined the FHANA Board for a term and inherited The Friesian© magazine from Judi. At that time, it was a fairly thin publication, all black and white, and primarily consisting of minutes of the board meetings, financials, etc. I began to write articles for it and to seek out other authors of articles and to solicit photographs. I delved into a major research project investigating the claims that Don Juan of Austria had a Friesian horse (I can say ‘no’ with great confidence) and if Stradanus was the actual artist of the “famous” portrait of “Phyrso” (not the original artist, no!). My research had to stop at the point where it was clear I would need to travel to Madrid and either read or pay for translations of original Italian and Latin texts. I WAS able to make a trip shortly after 911 to downtown New York City to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and be able to handle several sets of original 16th century woodcarving prints. While I have not been able to get back to this in-depth study, I have been editing and laying out The Friesian© ever since. I’ve spoken with, and met, many incredible people over the years: FHANA members, KFPS members, equine health experts, equine faculty at universities in North America and Europe, artists of many genres, writers, breeders, competitors, business owners, and on and on! This has been an incredible journey with Friesian horses as the lynchpin.

More than anything else, though, the Friesian horse means FRIENDSHIPS and a COMMUNITY. When my life was at its lowest point – the ground fallen out from underneath me, my world, and my horses – it was these friendships and community that were there for me. I will never forget, when I finally reached out to a FHANA friend across the country, what she said to me, “Laurie, I have always admired you. For how you treat the horses. For how you treat people. For who you are. You don’t realize the support you have from your FHANA family.” I didn’t deserve this – I still don’t feel I do – but what a difference these words made to me, because I was very depressed! My two remaining Friesians made solid, warm, unconditional walls of support, also, to sob into, but they couldn’t help me with solutions. She brainstormed with me how I could manage all I was being forced to do and how I would support and keep my horses. Many of you assisted me by listening, providing support, offering kindnesses – being there! And a trip to the Netherlands, meeting many more great FHANA friends old and new, was cathartic!!

In an amazing turn around, life had a golden side just waiting around the bend and turn of the calendar. FHANA friends again shared in this, joining me for the happiest day I could ever imagine – my wedding to Allan Williams. I only wished my Friesian boys were still young and able to pull a carriage. In fact, the bitter moment of losing Lolke fan ‘e Hynsteblom after his years’ long battle with megaesophagus came two weeks before our wedding, when he was 23 years old. Yet, although my Friesians were not there, a great many of the guests there with us that day were those I met because of the Friesian horse – driving friends, FHANA friends, barn managers, riding instructors, the publisher of The Friesian© magazine!

I can’t imagine a life where I never experienced Friesians. Each and every one of my dear horses are with me still in spirit: Sebastian, Zane, Whitney Lynn, Shakespeare, Zoe, Chellis, Petite (Silke), Harmen, Lolke fan ‘e Hynsteblom, and Maurits. Maurits, Anton’s first son, is my sole Friesian now. I have kept my promise to Lolke, and so far to Maurits – that I would care for them for their life, to the very best of my ability. Maurits approaches 25 now – and he is still at heart the 10 year old he has always been! He is at the best barn, with the best caregiver he could ever have and I am very grateful to FHANA for allowing this to be.