When Ashley Simmons, owner of Black Magic Farms, traveled to The Netherlands in search of the perfect Friesian stallion, she didn’t realize that she would be bringing back a first-of-his-kind superstar. “Margo and I went over for 3 days and rode 24 stallions,” she explains about the trip she made with trainer Margo Gogan of Hilltop Dressage, “We looked at everything from 3-year-olds to 10-year-olds, and from barely broke to Grand Prix level.” Simmons describes that she had almost given up hope of ever owning another dream-horse, but then, they found him – a horse that did something no other Friesian has done before. On July 8th, at the KNHS Subli Championship in Kootwijk in The Netherlands, Friesian stallion, Ype (show name Yabring), received an impressive 80.20% and took reserve champion in the FEI 5-year-old test within a field of warmbloods. It is the highest score ever received by a Friesian in the history of the Subli Championships.

“He is just the right age,” Simmons says about Ype. “He has the build and the movement of a horse capable of going all the way to Grand Prix. And he has a track record,” she adds. Trainer, Judith Pieterson, had been working with Ype for only 15 months prior to the show. During that time, she also rode the 5-year-old to win the first game of the KNHS- Subli Championship for young horses in Almelo with an amazing 76.6% and is consistently receiving 9’s for his phenomenal trot. Jury member Marleen Le Mat stated, “Yabring is a horse who creates a lot of publicity for the Friesian breed. He has much balance and freedom in his movements.”

Ype’s sire is Tsjabring 429 Sport. In the Friesian registry, the “sport” predicate means he excels as a show horse, and in his case, dressage. His dam is Helina who has the distinction of being a Ster/Preferent mare. Ster means she is of higher quality, and preferent means she produces foals of higher quality. His dam’s sire is Naen 264 Preferent, which again distinguishes the stallion as one who produces foals of higher quality. In fact, Ype has a very exceptional pedigree within the Friesian registry. Every dam in his pedigree is either Ster, Ster/Preferent, Model (perfect) or Model/Preferent. In four generations, he has nine sires that are either Sport, Preferent or Sport/Preferent.

“A Friesian look with Warmblood movement is what I look for,” states Simmons, and she considers herself very fortunate to have found Ype, who fits this bill perfectly. Not that long ago, Simmons didn’t think she would have the strength to be able to look for another horse, let alone find another Friesian of this caliber. Last April, she faced a devastating loss when her beloved 6-year-old Friesian stallion, Tennyson, had to be put down. “You wait your whole life for that one horse, and then suddenly he’s gone,” she explains. “I just thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’” However, with the support of her encouraging husband she made the trip to The Netherlands, and gave it one more try. And now, Black Magic Farms has a superstar in the barn, ready to continue to show the world what a Friesian can do in the dressage ring, and shine all the way to the top. So, look for Ype in the ribbons in 2013 and beyond.

Ype (show name Yabring), received an impressive 80.20% and took reserve champion in the FEI 5-year-old test within a field of warmbloods at the KNHS Subli Championship in Kootwijk in The Netherlands. It is the highest score ever received by a Friesian, and Ype was recently imported to the United States to continue his dressage career. (Photo courtesy of Moniek Rozemeijer)