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!
This Region 4 rider shares how, with the help of NetPosse, she tracked down the Friesian cross she sold five years prior, so he was able to come home for good.
By Jen Lowe
River was born on January 4th, 2016, in Georgia. From the minute his breeder posted his birth pictures online, I was in love. I knew my Friesian was getting older, and one day, I would need a replacement riding mount. River reminded me of Mulan’s (from Disney) horse Khan: big, black, brave with a white face, four white socks, and bright blue eyes – I had to have him.
River came home to Illinois at four months old. As a young colt, he was wary but inquisitive. He had a willing attitude and was game to try anything. We worked together; on ground work until he was three years old, then very light under saddle work at four (I always start my Friesians and Friesian crosses at a later age).
That summer, I sustained several injuries from a riding accident, including a torn rotator cuff. It was at this point that River was sitting, waiting for me to get better. I didn’t want to hold up his training progress, so I made the heartbreaking decision to sell him.
River was sold to a lady in Virginia in May of 2020, when River was four years old, and the world was crazy. I felt like I did a great job of vetting my buyer and knew he had a bright future ahead of him. I had a buy-back clause in place and a promise to stay in close contact. Initially, I received pictures of him progressing, and even starting to jump. I was so happy for him, but less than a year later, the lady wanted to sell him. I was still on the mend, so promises were made to keep me in the loop as another home was found.
At that point, he disappeared.
Texts and messages online stated I would get info on where River was, but I never received them. I was told little things: he was sold to a trail riding family and was doing great, then that he had gone to a trainer as a school horse. Never was I given the names of those who had him, or where he was – everything of substance was withheld. I begged for the information on his birthday (January 4th) in 2022, and was told she would look it up… but again, no information was forthcoming.
Finally, I pleaded again on October 21st, 2022, for any information, and was told he was sent to an auction. I was heartbroken.
At this point, I was lost. How do you find a horse that went through an auction, when no one would disclose the auction name or location, the past owner’s information is unknown, and his papers were never transferred? River was still in my name with the three registries in which he had been registered and inspected. With nowhere else to go, I turned to Netposse on River’s seventh birthday (January 4th, 2023).
NetPosse, lovingly run by Debi Metcalfe, was a godsend. I talked to them, filled out their forms, and then posters were made. Social media went wild, sharing River’s pictures everywhere. A couple of days later, River was found, which was amazing, as the pictures we posted showed a completely different colored horse. In the years since leaving me, River had greyed out. He was not the black horse he was when he left. A person online found River’s record through a USEF horse search, which listed his new owner, who was showing him. I finally had a place to start.
I contacted the owner of record, who actually ended up being his trainer, and then found his actual owner on Facebook. They were thrilled, stating he had come from Ohio, and that their trainer had been training him to sell, but they ended up buying him instead. Pictures and stories of him growing up were shared, and another promise was made to keep in touch. He was happy and doing great as a little girl’s dream horse, and my heart was full.
But that was not the end of his story.
In May 2023, four months after the initial contact with River’s new owners, I received a message that we “needed to chat.” Unfortunately, as they often do when horse kids grow up, the kids got busy with high school, horses were put on the back burner, and River no longer liked to jump. They had him checked by the vet, but nothing was found; I advised maybe trying something new, like dressage, and the new owners were on board to try.
Still, by August, they decided he needed to be rehomed. I don’t think I ever got the full story as to what happened at his new home, but I had moved to South Dakota two weeks after I found him in January 2023, and he was now in Michigan, across the country, and four times the price I had sold him for. Once again, I was stuck in a hard spot, not being able to afford to buy him back, and wondering where he would go next.
In December 2023, I was told he was going to be sold to the new owner’s close friend, whom she trusted, and she would pass my information on to them.
In January 2024, on River’s eighth birthday, I reached out again to see if his sale had gone through in December, and where he had gone. I was told he was working with a new trainer, and that he was doing well. He was staying put. On June 9th, I checked in again, and things were still hanging tight. Then, on September 22nd, River came available again, as the new owner’s child was not riding anymore.
By late December, more issues – unrelated to River – with his new family prompted his immediate sale. I was so happy that they had reached out again. We were finally settled in our place, and on January 28th, I shipped River to Newell, South Dakota, where he will stay in sanctuary as part of our rescue. I feel he’s had enough owners to last a lifetime.
Now you are probably wondering, how was he when he returned to me, his original owner? You would think overjoyed… but no, he’s 100% mad at me.
We celebrated him being home for a full year on February 2nd, and it has taken most of that year to undo the horrors of all the moving and owner changes. I’m sure that every day he wonders if he’ll be moved again, from this home and his family. But for once, he will not.
What have I learned? Your horse can wait; through illness and injury, and through the drama of life. A horse doesn’t have to be ridden to have value, or to be appreciated and loved. I should have just kept him and avoided all this. Now, I have a ten-year-old broken horse… not physically, but emotionally and mentally. He made it back home… but how many have not?
