New Zealand Blog: Kia Ora! Good morning!

I’m all ‘excited’ as I sit down to write my first ‘New Zealand News’ Phryso blog! How wonderful to have this opportunity, and what a great way to connect and share our story with Friesian enthusiasts all over the world.
My name is Anna Zhigareva. I’m going to vary the topics of these blogs, but I thought I’d start with an introduction to myself and my horses, then tell you a bit about the New Zealand Friesian Horse Society and some of its members!

Me and my horses

I have been in New Zealand since my third year, so call this beautiful country my home. What luck indeed! I have a background in linguistics and work for an education technology company here in Auckland that specializes in teaching children to write.
I have always been a rider! Yes, it’s in my genes! I grew up with my summers enjoying our family’s horses: helping with training and breeding. I am currently completing a Research Masters in Equine Science at the University of Edinburgh, and enjoy spending time reading about scientific advances in horse breeding and horse welfare. I have worked with many different breeds and yet I have never encountered a horse as brave, inquisitive, friendly and loyal as the Friesian horse!

From two to four, five…eh…six Friesian horses

I first fell in love with Friesian horses here in New Zealand when I went with my parents to visit Friesian horse breeders. The special thing is that I now own two of those Friesian horses that I met 8 years ago (one from Nanning 374, one from Feitse 293). These beautiful nephews are now enjoying a wonderful retirement with me in the Waitoki Hills, Auckland.
In 2020, my mother and I – also infected with the Friesian horse virus – decided to import a beautiful Stermare (Uldrik 457 x Doaitsen 420) and a spectacular 8 month old colt (Tymen 503 x Sibald 380). After much research, the dedicated help of Nicole Adriaansen in the Netherlands, as well as the attention and professionalism of IRT (a fantastic horse transport company!), Betje (Bettie) and Nandert (Nano) arrived in New Zealand on April 1, 2021.
A few months later, we decided to complete our Friesian family with a beautiful 2-year-old mare, Maike (Tiede 501 x Folkert 353), who arrived just in time for a summer Christmas, and another colt, Othello (Julius 486 x To 416), which entered the new year. These four youngsters are the heart of our little breeding farm, Lone Pine Friesians, and I’m incredibly excited to see where our journey takes us!

Join the New Zealand Friesian Horse Society

I’ve been a KFPS (and NZFHS) member for just over a year now and help out with social media and the NZFHS website. In an exciting turn of events, I was recently officially elected Secretary and Webmaster of the New Zealand Friesian Horse Society! This is a doubly exciting opportunity as our much anticipated (thank you, COVID) “Inspection” is approaching in 2023, and it is a great honor and opportunity to be involved in organizing and participating in it!
There is a lot to learn for this young and new member, but it is fantastic to experience such a warm welcome from our Frisian community down below!
The NZFHS was founded in 2018 by Louis and Marianne Weitenberg and they are an enthusiastic source of advice and help for new and old Friesian horse enthusiasts. Being part of the NZFHS is also a great way to meet members on group social outings or through virtual competitions! Of course, it wouldn’t be right to say nothing about the great founders of the NZFHS, Louis and Marianne, so read on for their story!

NZFHS Founders, Louis and Marianne Weitenberg

Louis and Marianne are the proud owners of Glenrose Friesians and have successfully imported and bred Friesian horses to New Zealand for many years. They are autonomous: they scan and inseminate their horses themselves, know everything about foaling, take care of training their horses, teach them under saddle and in harness.
Louis’ passion is breeding. He originally started with dairy cows and judges calf club days in schools. Since then he has moved on to Friesian Horses and he watches the Keurings for many nights, broadcast live from KFPS. Marianne is the driving force behind the scenes and takes care of their online promotion work. This year Louis was re-elected President of the NZFHS and also assumed the role of Secretary.
The Weitenbergs love seeing their horses go to great people and they continue to follow them on their journey. They are also always ready to help and were so great with their personal advice when I organized my first import!

Foal book Stallion Jolmer fan Twillens (Onne 376)

Jolmer fan Twillens (Onne 376 x Oege 267), who was a stallion with a breeding license as a foal stallion, has now retired. Her companion, a little gelding named Henk, is never far away. Henk is also the friend of the grandchildren!
Louis’ current dressage horse, Ninthe fan ‘e Boerestreek (Tsjalle 454 x Beart 411), was imported via Henswoude. After a failed embryo transfer, Louis decided to let Ninthe carry his own pregnancy to Nane 492, calculated in January 2023. He hopes to be able to show the foal to our inspection in 2023!

Another new board member!

Another board member who has just joined the team is Gill Chambers! During one of the lockdowns of 2021, Gill and her beautiful Friesian mare Kalani by Glenrose Friesians (Haitse 425 x Olof 315) took part in a virtual working riding competition, where they placed 2nd! They scored 68.95% for training and 78.08% for ease of handling (EOH). Watch their full presentation here: https://youtu.be/q6c0buo4pOk.
Gill’s knowledge is extensive and spans several decades of involvement in the New Zealand equestrian scene. Gill has been on the Hawke’s Bay Dressage Committee since 1999 and chaired it for 9 years. She has been heavily involved in sponsorship and fundraising, traveling around New Zealand as a Grade A judge. We are very lucky to have Gill as our Promotions and Events Manager as we have everything scheduled for 2023 New Zealand inspection!

The next time!

Hoping not to “rage” for too long, I am closing this blog post now. I must introduce two other amazing members of our Board of Directors, Baldeep Dhillon (Vice President) and Bronwyn Yucel (Treasurer). I can’t wait to tell their Frisian experiences in my next blog post!

For now, goodbye! Take care of your safety! See you later!

~ Anne