What a Friesian horse should look like, the first answer would be "Black!" As well as being black, the luxurious mane, tail and "feathers" on the feet are the most important exterior characteristics of the breed.
The head should not be big or long and the eye should be clear and kind, with small attentive ears, with tips pointing slightly inwards. The head should be noble and expressive.
The neck should not start too low from the chest, and should be sufficiently long and not too heavy. The upper line of the neck should show a graceful elevated curve, the "crest", and give the appearance of a swan's neck.
The withers should be well developed and blend into the back.
A height of between 1.58 m and 1.65 m is a good size for a Friesian horse.
The shoulder should preferably be long and not steep.
The back well muscled, very strong and not too long. The connection between the back, loins and croup is very important. This part must be strong enough to pass the energy from the hindquarters to the forehand. The croup should be slightly slanted and sufficiently long.
The bone structure is very important and must be correct in all aspects, sufficiently hard and clean.
It is very important that a Friesian horse has a good walk; it must cover the ground and show sufficient suppleness. The movement at a trot is characterised by an elevated and forward movement of the front legs with room in the shoulder, and knee action, which is made possible through sufficiently strong, driving and bearing hindquarters.
A great deal of ground should be covered at the trot. Through hundreds of years of severe selection these movement characteristics are deeply rooted in the genes of the Friesian horse.
This also goes for the unique nature of the Friesian horse: lively, intelligent, honest and loyal, always willing to work, but proud like the Friesian people themselves.
A Friesian horse is one which has an original Registration Certificate issued by "Het Friesch Paarden-Stamboek" from their offices in Drachten, the Netherlands. Registration Certificates issued by any other Breed Society will not be recognised with the FPS.
From the latter part of the 20th century until the present, demand for purebreds, particularly the finer-boned, taller, more agile version of the Friesian increased, so breeders began to produce both purebreds and crossbreeds with valued characteristics.
Today, there are two distinct conformation types. The baroque type has the more robust build of the classical Friesian. The modern, sport horse type is finer-boned.