Confusing Terms
"Dutch registered," "purebred," and more. One I recently found is "studbook approved stallion." Turns out it's one of the American registries that can only hand out watered-down "papers." It's sad that people are being misled by these loaded terms with big implications. Where the real confusion comes in is not even so much with the various registries but with the term "Dutch registered" or "KFPS." On top of this confusion we now deal with multiple "registries" in the United States, people breeding B-book horses in the United States, breeding Dutch stallions to German mares in the United States, and the EU forcing KFPS to give FPZV horses (still purebred Friesians after all) a place within the registry (luckily in separate/marked registers, but it's tricky!). More than ever it will be important to understand how to read the KFPS papers so you are fully aware what you are buying.
Dutch registered merely means the horse was born as a KFPS horse with KFPS papers, which it will have for life but, meanwhile, the horse could have been reregistered with a different registry here in the U.S., and thus not be in good standing and registered with the current owner with the KFPS, and therefore no longer eligible for breeding to approved KFPS studbook stallions as those can only be bred to KFPS/FHANA mares in good standing. For stallions, the KFPS papers do not mean they are approved for breeding, meaning that breeding to such a stallion would give you either a B-book foal out of a KFPS mare or a crossbred or a Friesian of one of the other registries and none of these papers have the value the KFPS/FHANA papers have, The horse cannot be presented at KFPS/FHANA inspections, not to mention that breeding to such stallions is random without any statistics and proper testing available. The B-book is the auxiliary KFPS registry for offspring from B-book mares or by fully registered KFPS/FHANA mares but from a KFPS stallion without breeding privileges. It is an inferior rating and this offspring cannot be presented for inspections or return to the studbook registry. It is merely a place to go for these still-KFPS-purebred Friesians to go. For the most value and best results based on statistics and rendering data for the next generation, we need to breed to approved KFPS stallions that can only be bred to Dutch KFPS mares and thus the best value is with KFPS/FHANA.
Often confusing are the premie ratings. Crossbreeders, and those standing unapproved stallions, like to use the foal premies to boast about their stallions. These ratings don't have much meaning once the horse is an adult and should be brought in for the adult and final studbook rating. Of course they do not bring them in as they are no longer members of FHANA/KFPS and, as much as they boast about the KFPS Friesian, they do not breed according to KFPS regulations. If it does concern adult horses with adult ratings then still the owners ride the studbook's coattails and do not adhere to its standards of which they profit. Also study the pictures posted. More often than not, if you know what you are looking at, the pictures do not portray the horses properly (i.e. not properly posed, groomed, and showing good form), another sign the stallions are not the real deal and owned by knowledgeable Friesian owners.
Another confusing term is "purebred" Friesian. Purebred simply means the horse's heritage is all Friesian. However, pay attention to its papers and ask yourself these questions and compare the answers to your goals. What registry is it with and, more importantly, from? What are its future possibilities and value? What will it contribute to the Friesian's legacy and future? What can it be bred to? There truly is unequaled value in KFPS/FHANA registration.
