The fairytalesque Friesian! Throughout the month of February, we are featuring Friesians and Friesian crosses.
Did you know… dressage riders who compete with a member of this stunning breed are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program? The Friesian Heritage Horse & Sporthorse International, Friesian Horse Association of North America, Friesian Horse Society, Friesian Sport Horse Registry, and Friesian Sporthorse Association are all participating organizations!
After embarking on an incredible journey to the homeland of her favorite breed, this rider from Region 9 unexpectedly (but not surprisingly) fulfilled her lifelong dream of being able to say, “That’s my Friesian.”
By Mykal Gray
I was absolutely that kid with the stereotypical “dream horse.” You know the one — big, black, long mane, dramatic for no reason. A Friesian. Obviously.
The difference is, I actually got to grow up around them. My great aunt had several, and I always called them “my Friesians,” even though they very much were not mine. I never actually expected they would be. They were just the horses that made me fall in love with the breed in the first place.
In January 2018, my mom and I went to Leeuwarden in the Netherlands for the “Koninklijk Friesch Paarden-Stamboek” (KFPS; translating to Royal Friesian Horse Studbook) stallion inspection. As far as I knew, we were not horse shopping. We were just going to experience it. But I mean… if you’re surrounded by Friesians in their home country, it’s hard not to at least imagine something could happen.
The trip was put together by family friends we’d met through my aunt. They also bred and trained Friesians, and were all-in on the breed. We went to the Keuring, explored the city, and basically spent the whole trip immersed in beautiful black horses.
On the second-to-last day, we went to a few barns that were hosting open houses to show their stallions and sale horses. By the third or fourth barn, everyone else was watching horses go in the arena, and I kind of wandered off on my own through the main barn.
I was just going stall to stall, saying hello to horses.
Then I saw her.
She was in the second-to-last stall — a heavy-bred mare with a sweet face and kind eyes. She looked like she actually wanted someone to stop and pay attention to her. So, I did. I sat down outside her stall and scratched her through the bars.
A groom walked by and asked if I wanted to come in.
That was not a difficult decision.
When he opened the stall, I asked her name.
“Saapke,” he said, smiling.
And that was it. I don’t know how else to explain it. I was sitting in a stall in the Netherlands, giving belly scratches to a mare I had just met, and I somehow knew she was supposed to be mine.
What I didn’t know was that our friend Will had leaned over to my mom and said, “That’s Mykal’s Friesian.”
Texas Was Not in Her Plans
Saapke came home to me in February 2018. I’m pretty confident she never imagined she’d end up on a ranch in Stephenville, Texas.
She arrived during what we still call the “Saapke-pocolypse” — two weeks of freezing rain, ice, flooding, and just general chaos. It did not phase her. At all. In fact, she waited until the first night it was barely above freezing to have her colt.
Because of course she did.
Over the next few years, she weaned her colt, went off to training about two hours away, started her show career, and eventually came back home to me. This is when the real adventure began.
She’s Way Braver Than I Am
Saapke is hands down the quietest mare I’ve ever known. Honestly, she’s made me braver than I probably should be.
Saapke isn’t dull, though — and that’s part of what makes her so fun. She can get hot in the best way, especially when she knows it’s time to work. She’ll come out feeling powerful and ready, like she has somewhere important to be. But the coolest part is that the heat never turns into chaos. I can feel all that energy under me, and if I need to, I can still drop my reins and let her walk on a loose contact without worrying she’s going to make a questionable life choice. She’s forward and electric when I ask, but still sane enough to trust completely. That balance is everything.
Texas summers are no joke, so we ride late at night under the arena lights or leave before sunrise to haul an hour and a half for lessons. We’ll pull out at 5:30 a.m. just to make sure we’re home before it feels like we’re riding inside of a hair dryer.
There have been summer rides where the neighbors randomly started setting off fireworks — not even near the Fourth of July. We’ve had coyotes sit just outside the edge of the arena lights, looking like creepy shadows and sounding worse.
Every time I think, “Well, this is it. This is where she launches me.”
She never does.
She might look. She might listen. But she never loses her brain. And honestly, she would be completely justified if she did.
She Didn’t Let Me Stay Comfortable
On top of being quiet, Saapke is genuinely talented. And for an adult amateur, that combination is kind of the dream — a horse that can go somewhere, but also feel the same no matter where you take her.
If you told me four years ago that I’d be consistently showing, and signing up for clinics whenever possible, I would’ve laughed. I did not have confidence in clinics. New trainers stressed me out. The show ring? Absolutely not my comfort zone.
But Saapke didn’t really give me a choice.
She was steady. She was capable. So eventually I had to step up and match her.
Over the past few years, we’ve:
- Qualified for the Great American/USDF Regional Championships two years in a row
- Ridden in clinics with trainers I’ve looked up to for years
- Earned First Level scores toward my USDF Bronze Medal
- Started preparing for Second Level
- Won the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Award First Level Reserve Champion title for the Friesian Horse Association of North America (FHANA)
At one point, I wouldn’t have even let myself dream about half of that.
More Than Just a Horse
Saapke has somehow built her own little fan club. Trainers love her. People at shows come over to say hi to her. She’s helped me find my people in this sport.
She’s changed my riding. She’s changed my confidence. She’s made me work harder. She’s made me show up even when I’m nervous. And she’s done it all without ever being dramatic about it.
Sometimes I still think about the kid who used to call someone else’s horses “my Friesians.”
And now I get to walk into the barn, drop the reins, feel her take a deep breath under me, and know she’s really mine.
Well done, ladies! ❤️