Discover the Magic of the Friesian Warmblood: A Comprehensive Guide
Friesian Warmbloods are versatile Australian favorites defined by having at least 25% Friesian blood, blending the Friesian’s striking presence and kind temperament with complementary breeds, colours, and sizes. This guide explains the Australian Friesian Warmblood's (AFWHS) role in registration and promotion, responsible crossbreeding for hybrid vigor, and common breed pairings. It also offers practical tips for finding and assessing horses for sale—verifying breeding/registration, checking conformation, vetting, test rides, and float loading—plus care notes like managing weight and feed manners. The conclusion affirms their suitability for both competitive and leisure riders, prioritising the horse’s wellbeing.
Hubert Luc van Merindah (87.5% Friesian) - photo taken by breeder and owner Kerrie Baker
A Friesian Warmblood is a horse that has 25% Friesian or more in it's genetics. The balance of the horse can be any other breed, ie Australian Stock Horse, Percheron, Arabian or it can be a combination of other breeds. They can be any colour and there is no height restriction.
Friesian Warmbloods are a versatile horse with the eye-catching presence of the Friesian horse infusion. They make excellent competition horses in a wide range of disciplines and also make wonderful riding and companion horses.
The Friesian temperament also brings the wonderfully kind and lovable disposition that 'just wants to be in your pocket' - they are by nature a very engaging horse which makes them incredibly easy to train.
For those who don't yet know Friesians, they are the perpetually hungry horse so one consideration of this breed will be knowing how to manage their weight and diet as well%as their manners around being fed.
The Friesian Warmblood Society - Breeding and Registration
The Australian Friesian Warmblood Horse Society is the governing body for this beautiful breed, they keep a breed register and promote the breed by hosting state events and sponsoring classes at shows. Local agricultural shows are always looking for entrants to the Friesian Warmblood events and there are specialty shows that showcase the Baroque breeds.
To register a horse with the Australian Friesian Warmblood Horse Society (AFWHS) the owner must be a financial member, they can apply for a stud prefix. A valid breeding certificate from the Friesian side of the horses bloodline must be included in the application to have the horse registered.
Friesian Warmblood Crosses
The breeder who applies careful cross breeding using horses that are an excellent example of their breed and are conformationally correct, will bring a beautiful fusion of both breeds. This planned breeding creates a versatile and highly trainable horse also exhibiting hybrid vigour. Hybrid vigour is the tendency to show qualities superior to those of both the parents, hybrids are often stronger, healthier and more fertile than their purebred parents.
Breeds commonly used in crosses are Australian Stock Horses, Andalusians, Arabians, Percherons, Gypsy Cobs, Thoroughbreds, Warmbloods, Clydesdale, Knabstrappers and Appaloosa's. Each of these breeds brings a particular set of traits that, combined with the Friesian horse, will create a special progeny with particular abilities and their own 'look at me' wow factor.
Friesian Warmbloods Hann (75% Friesian), Rembrandt (85% Friesian) and Bandit (50% Friesian) - photo by owner and breeder Kerrie Baker
Finding a Friesian Warmblood
To find a Friesian Warmblood for sale, breeders websites and places like Horse Deals or relevant Facebook pages are an excellent way to find horses for sale. Facebook pages can also serve as a good reference, to see a bit of background of what sellers are doing with their horses from a training and riding perspective, what their living circumstances are and for example, how their feet are cared for.
Some tips for buying and evaluating a Friesian Warmblood are
Ensure you can either sight a registration certificate or a valid breeding certificate and photos of the horse as a foal with it's dam, if the horse is not registered. There are plenty of black horses out there that can be posed as having Friesian in them, ask for proof.
Know what basic good conformation looks like so you can make a good assessment of the horse, poor conformation will affect the horses ability to have a long and robust life. Horses with poor conformation should not be bred from as they will likely pass these traits on. If you aren't confident, take someone with you to view the horse, that understands correct horse conformation.
Get a full vet check done, including blood tests to make sure the horse you are buying is healthy and has no underlying conditions. This will be at the purchaser's cost, but is excellent insurance for the horse's overall health.
If the horse is under saddle, ask the owner to ride the horse outside of an arena ie out in a paddock. Watch the horse's manners as it is caught and saddled and then mounted. Does it walk, trot and canter out freely in the paddock and behave calmly and safely? You should also ride the horse, make sure you take a helmet and boots to the inspection so you are safe and ready to do a test ride. The horse owner should be happy for all this to happen, though they may ask you to start your ride in a yard or arena so they can assess your ability and safety with the horse they are selling, that is their right to make that decision.
Ask the owner to float load the horse and go for a short drive with them, you need to know if the horse can float load and travel safely.
Conclusion
The Friesian Warmblood is a wonderfully versatile horse that has the inherent characteristics of both selected breeds, with the strong visual presence and ever loving nature of the beautiful Friesian horse and and the characteristics of the selected other breed, plus the hybrid vigor that results in a robust and beautiful horse.
A big thing to remember when owning a Friesian Warmblood horse, so long as all their physical and emotional needs are being met, horses don't need to be competitively ridden to be a happy horse, they simply don't aspire to climbing the competitive/corporate ladder, that's a very humanised ideal..
You are allowed to own a horse and ride it as much or as little as you personally find fulfilling and your horse will be perfectly happy with that decision, so long as their 'horse' needs are being met appropriately.