Trail Driving Friesian Sport Horse Mare

To Ride The River With a.k.a. River is a Friesian Sport Horse mare standing at 16 hands tall. River both rides and drives. She was started last year in the spring under harness and then had a refresher this spring for 2-3 months under harness. We mainly trail ride with her so we haven’t done much of the driving with her.

She was hooked up and driven down some quiet back country dirt roads so she is fine with light traffic, but she has not been driven on any really busy roads or through town. She comes with 2-3 months of driving this spring.

For riding she does great out on the trails. She crosses any kind of water, logs, and little wooden bridges. She’s had natural horsemanship training.

She has seen lots of different wildlife and is fine with it all. She has had deer jump out on the trail in front of her and turkeys fly across her path. She’s been ridden alongside a river where you see all sorts of river life like geese landing or a beaver splashing down under.

She will leave home alone or separate out on the trail away from the other horse. She can ride front or back. She’s more whoa than go for the most part. If you let her sit like any young horse the first ride or two she will move out at a more extended trot or canter, but for only about a mile or two then she’s back to her slow self. But for the most part when you ride her she’ll move out if you ask but she’s always ready to stop and walk and has a slower canter and slower trot and sometimes you have to keep asking slightly to keep her going she’s defiantly more on the slow lazier side.

She loads right up in the trailer and backs right out. Gets along fine out in the pasture lower to middle of the pecking order. She’s an easy keeper and requires NO maintenance. She stands excellent for the farrier! She stands so good that she gets the hot shoe treatment for the best fit. If a horse doesn’t stand good enough, they can’t do hot shoes, so she was very good for the farrier. And the only reason she has shoes on is because we do ride on some gravel roads. She can go barefoot if you don’t need the shoes.

She stands still for tacking, grooming, and mounting. She also knows the come over cue, so she’ll sidle over to a mounting block or fence for you to get on. She’s had some arena work and she’s comfortable in the arena we have even started her on some low jumps, and she does great at it, but her favorite thing is the trails. She really excels out on the trails. But she’s young enough to go into any discipline you want to put her in she’s ready and a very willing learner.

She tackles the steep hills with no problems and goes anywhere I point her. She has great barn manners easy to groom, pick out feet, tack up, and has just a general quiet disposition. She is NOT a flighty horse, but she is still young and sometimes if she sees something new, she will stop and look at it, but that’s the worst of it she just stops and has to look at it and I just ask her to continue going and then she doesn’t care.

She also has had exposure to roping and been roped with a few times. So, she has had more experience and exposure than most horses her age and she really does have that type of temperament that is willingness to please. She knows how to move off of your leg and takes her cue for a canter right away. She has a nice slow medium paced trot that’s easy to post to and a nice smooth little lope. She’s also friendly and easy to catch. She comes up to date on shots, wormings, farrier, vet, and Coggins.

Her Sire is a registered Friesian Stallion by the name of Eise. And on her mom’s side we did a DNA came back with Suffolk/Morgan. I did send in an application to try and get her registered so as long as she matches up, she should come back with papers. However Friesian Sport Horse Registry is very backlogged. I sent her paperwork in a month ago and they have not even started working on hers yet. So, if we get papers back and someone buys her, we will forward those on to the new owners but be aware it could take a few months and there are no guarantees until I have the papers in my hand. So, you buy her with the possibility of papers in a few months.

So overall River is a nice stout size that can easily carry a bigger rider and tackle the steep inclines no problems. She’s still young and doing this well she can only keep improving over time. And she is a fun horse to ride as long as you know how to ride. She’s easy to get along with and does NOT have any bad habits or vices. She has a willing attitude and can continue into any direction you want to take her. She really loves the trails, but she has the right start to go into jumping, dressage, or continue with her driving.