Wednesday, October 1, 2008

A White Friesian?


So today I was wondering, could a white Friesian horse exist? Maybe an albino or something? Seems the answer is 75% yes. The story begins like this;

"If you're familiar with Friesians, you know that some of them suffer from inbreeding problems. Thirty years ago, the German-based Hillner family received permission from the Dutch Queen to cross-breed several Friesian mares with Jalisco, an Arab stallion standing at stud at Gestuet Marbach, to get some fresh blood into the breed. Exactly one of the foals turned out grey -- a stallion named Negus. After he had spent the first twelve years of his life un-trained, he changed hands.

His new owner, Sylvia Parduhn, started schooling him and was very pleased with his "bomb-proof" character, which allowed her to start riding a stallion at this advanced age. Parduhn also bred several mares with him, and again, one of the foals turned out a grey stallion -- Nero, the now fourteen-year-old horse who impressed the Equitana crowds not only with his color but also with his exceptional gaits."

And you can read the full article here: Nero - The White Mystery Friesian.

13 comments:

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Wow! I'll have to show this to my neighbor friend. She loves Friesans. Nero is gorgeous!

:)
~Lisa

Anonymous said...

Well there you go! I remember looking up this gorgeous breed a few years back and discovering that there were a few chestnut Friesians about but that people had of course been trying to breed them out...

Gorgeous horse!

Grey Horse Matters said...

What a beautiful horse. I would take a grey one in a minute. Interesting post.

Unknown said...

But it is not pure Friesian is it!

pema said...

Wow. What a beauty. Incredible for such magic to exist in the flesh.
When all muscled up (and not having run the fence for six weeks and bred dozens of mare before having his photo taken) my stallion looked a lot like that, though he is a Percheron. Take a look!
http://www.enlightenedhorsemanship.net/windsongs-justa-firestorm/

Unknown said...

No there can never be a purebred albino friesian. Friesian are so inbred that it would be literally impossible to birth a purebred albino friesian foal.

Unknown said...

What a beauty!

Char Reed said...

Well, it'd be impossible to breed an albino horse of any breed- horses can't come in albino because they don't have the gene in their makeup. Every "albino" horse is actually technically just a grey, note the eyes are never pink. Just a random factoid :)

Nero is beautiful though, I really wouldn't mind a line of white Friesians myself, especially ones with Nero's personality! Friesians with white markings are usually sold at lowered prices, so imagine the discount for a white one ;)

Unknown said...

White friesians DO exist! Mostly they are black because 100 years ago, people loves black friesians, so they only breeds with black friesians. But somethimes there is a friesian who isn't black. Just like this white friesian. This is what i think, but i'm sure it isn't an albino ;).

greetz from holland :)

Unknown said...

This isnt a pure Friesian if the great-gandsire was an arabian horse. Its still a just. Also this sint not a WHITE Frieisan, it is just a grey one. Ther eis a big differenc, even if people don't realize it. A true white hors ei born white and this guy was not born white, he was probably born black liek every other Friesian but teh arbian blood gave him teh grey gene, and being fourteen he has greyed out complately.

LEGS said...

Preface: I don't know anything about horses. That said, my cousin in Canada has and breeds a few different breeds. She purchases horses from various locations around the world. On Jan 1 of this year her fresian gave birth to an white, medicine hat. She studies the genes, pigments, etc and can explain. Her name is Sally O'Dell and I think she has a photo of it on her facebook page.

James said...

Hi - will you post your Blog at The Friesian Horse Community ay vorts.com? Our members will love it!
It's easy just cut and paste the link and it automatically links back to your website. You can also add Classifieds, Photos, Videos, etc. It’s free and easy…
We are looking for contributors to share stuff with our members. Please help.
Email me if you need any help or would like me to do it for you.
The Friesian Horse Community: http://www.vorts.com/friesian_horses/
Thanks,
James Kaufman, Editor

Unknown said...

The only reason this horse is gray (not white) is because he's a crossbreed. There are no gray pureblood Friesians and very rarely will a chestnut appear do to a lucky combo of recessive genes.