A Dark Horse Trivia Quiz

Answer: Netherlands

According to the Friesian Horse Society, all purebred examples of the breed today can trace their ancestry back to a single stallion, Nemo 51. He was born in 1885, but the breed as a whole is much older.

Answer: False

Although they have been bred in several colors throughout history, dark colors were more prominent. Today, however, most registries accept only black horses, with a few extending their books to chestnut.

Answer: cow

Both originated in the Friesland (or Frisian) area of the Netherlands. Sometimes both animals names will be spelled as 'Frisian', especially in American English.

Answer: Warm blooded

Of course, no horse is cold-blooded like a reptile; the terms simply refer, in very general terms, to a breed's temperament. Most 'high-strung' breeds (such as the Arabian) are hot blooded; draft horses (like the Clydesdale) are cold blooded; the breeds that fall somewhere in between (like the Friesian) are considered warm blooded.

While they are classified in this way, Friesians are also considered to be light draft horses.

Answer: English

While I'm sure that there are particular horses out there that do splendidly in Western, for the overwhelming majority, Friesians are shown English. However, within these rather broad confines, the breed is know to succeed in most aspects - from dressage to show jumping.

Answer: Monks

As hard as it may be to believe today, for a time in history a great deal of plant and animal breeding was done at various monasteries and like places. In addition to the monks' influence, farmers, knights, and nobility were known to have taken an interest in the horse.

Answer: True

Feathers, or feathering, is a growth of hair that some horses - mostly draft - have on their lower legs/fetlocks. If you've ever seen a Clydesdale horse that looked like they were wearing hairy socks, that's feathering. Obviously, these are not feathers like a bird has, but they are still called feathers!

Answer: H.M. Queen Juliana

At that time the studbook was know simply as "The Friesian Studbook"; it wouldn't be until 1954 that the 'Royal Society' would be added. As a side note, there is no 'of' in the title.

Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, is husband (Prince Consort) to Queen Elizabeth II of the U.K.

Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, is the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark.

There have been several Queen Elizabeths throughout history - I honestly didn't have a specific one in mind!

Answer: False

While many agree that there are two distinct types of Friesian, the ways they are referred to as include classical/baroque/heavy and sport/modern/light.

Answer: Belgian blacks

There are some sources that contend they were bred for this color by knights who would ride them into battle. Supposedly, the darker colors made the knight's armor even more frightening in contrast.