Lynn and Dick Jenkin
PO Box 92
Dungog NSW 2420

Ph (02) 49921158 a/h

e-mail
django@westnet.com.au

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About Tashkent Friesians  ... by Lynn Jenkin

We would like to welcome you to these pages and introduce you to our horses and this wonderful breed. - the Dutch Friesian.

My husband Dick and I own and operate a stud in NSW and have become passionate in our enthusiasm of this beautiful ancient breed which boasts elegance, temperament, movement and a nature that makes them want to become your friend - what more could a horse lover want?

Pictured right is our purebred stallion Django of Cacharel competing at the AWHA Gala Weekend in 2005.  In this picture he is just 4 years old and shows the best qualities of his breed, along with the posture and balance to make him an outstanding Dressage horse. He is in training with Jeremy Janjic who is also his competition rider and is now competing at Medium level and training the higher movements.

Our first introduction to Friesian horses was watching the movie 'Ladyhawk', the star of the movie was a magnificent black Friesian stallion.  Anyone who knows the movie will tell of the unforgettable image of this beautiful black horse!  Dick and I began to research the breed and we found photos and other information and were eventually able to track down one of these magnificent horses in Australia - Friso Royal Avalon who stands in Tamworth. Unfortunately, purebred Friesians were just not available at the time, so the thought of owning one did not seem feasible, back then.  However, we were besotted and owning a Friesian had become an obsession ... something we knew we would do when we found the right horse.

Several years later we came across an advertisement for a Friesian Stallion, Geert W.  He was then located at Williamtown, NSW.  We  arranged a visit and fell 'hook line and sinker' for his spectacular presence and fantastic movement.  However, it was this stallion's playful and showy temperament that made a great impression!  His gentle nature and willingness to please were obvious and very appealing.  This meeting sealed our fate ... we knew we could not rest until we had found a suitable purebred Friesian.

We bought our first Friesian filly (at the time I thought she would be the only one) as a six month old foal.  She was bred in Victoria and her dam descended from the first Friesians imported to Australia in the 1970's. Her sire was a newly imported Stallion from the Netherlands.

To be eligible for full inclusion in the adult stud book, Friesian horses must be inspected after their 3rd birthday.  Younger horses are inspected for premium awards and entry into the foal stud book. Up until the year 2000, no horses had ever been inspected in Australia, but now that member numbers are increasing and enthusiasts are encouraged by some new imports, the Australian Friesian Horses Society (AFHS) has arranged for accredited inspectors from the FPS in the Netherlands to visit Australia to inspect our horses.  The inaugural Inspection (Keuring) was conducted at Tamworth in 2000 and we took along our Friesian filly together with a grey TB mare, who was her traveling companion.

This is where we first saw the tall and elegant mare Renske fan e Olde Hoek, who was being presented for inclusion into the Adult stud book, it was hoped that she would gain a Ster rating.

This mare stood out, as she was 'head and shoulders' above all the other horses that were presented on the day.  Her inspection was completed and Renske fan e Olde Hoek was awarded the highest recognition of excellence - a Ster rating.  Renske fan e Olde Hoek was in foal and some time later we were advised that she had had delivered a colt.  We had not considered contacting the breeders as they had told me at the Keuring they wanted to keep the foal - no matter what the sex - and we had never contemplated the prospect of becoming stallion owners.

At this time frozen semen was becoming available for breeding Friesians but in the early days, the results were poor.  In Australia, the Friesian gene pool is very small and our filly was closely related to every Friesian, except one stallion located in South Australia. We were concerned about our options for breeding with her and selecting the right stallion was proving difficult.  We heard that Renske's foal was for sale and I immediately contacted is breeder Carl Mitchell to make arrangements to go up and inspect his colt foal.  It goes without saying that we loved him and made the necessary arrangements to bring him home when he was old enough to make the trip from Queensland to NSW.

Django had an interesting start to life!  His mother decided that motherhood was not her thing and she had done her job carrying him for 11 months then giving birth.  She felt it was someone else's job to feed and' nanny' him.  Feeding duties became a 'round the clock' job for Carl and his wife Anne.  Nanny duties were shared between an old mare and a young male camel called Sam.

Eventually Django was developed enough to travel and was placed on transport to come down from Queensland. Once he arrived he joined our two old TB geldings who took over the job of teaching him to be a horse.  He was introduced to cattle for the first time and his new experiences were accepted with inquisitive interest and ease.

Soon after he arrived it was time to consider the breaking in and education of our mare Tsjallinkje.  I was discussing this  with well known FEI Dressage rider Christine Crawford and she mentioned meeting a lovely Friesian colt who had been 'off loaded' at their property whilst in transit to his new home.  "That's OUR boy"  I said, knowing he was the only Friesian colt in the area at the time.  This conversation sparked a special friendship, which has developed into a very happy partnership.

Tsjallinkje was Christine and Jeremy's (Janjic) introduction to the Friesian - and according to the glowing reports, she made a great  impression!  When time came to commence Django's  (right) preparation for the next Keuring, it was logical for him to be sent to the experts for some handling and preparation.   Due to the small number of Friesians to be inspected in Australia, the officials only visit us every three years.   Jeremy was to train Django to run out and present himself to the judges.  Jeremy would also handle him on the day of his inspection.  Things did not go quite to plan and the week before the event, Jeremy found himself in hospital with acute appendicitis.  I was left with no alternative but to take Django,  the two mares and two foals by myself.  Luckily, I was able to "borrow" someone else's runner to show the horses for me. 

At the completion of this early training Django had worked 'his magic' on Jeremy and the pair had formed a great relationship.  When it was time to break him in and commence his education under saddle, there was no other option but to send him back to Jeremy and Christine.

Up until the time when Django arrived at their stables, Jeremy had been the one responsible for starting the young horses and when they were ready, Christine campaigned them at competitions.  Both Christine and Jeremy work with Django,  but now that they have three talented stallions in training, Jeremy has made his competition debut and rides them at competitions.  He says, "Django has the perfect competition personality, he loves attention from his many fans and seems to have a sense of occasion"!

Django is a young stallion and we aim to progress his training at a rate dictated by his acceptance and ease with the new lessons. Not all Friesian horses are blessed with a good canter and it is Django's exceptionally good canter that makes him very special.  The breed is best known for it's breathtakingly beautifully trot and Django has the softness and lift that is only found in the best of his breed.  These qualities are highly heritable and make him ideally suited as a sire of Friesians that will excel in dressage.  At his first competition appearances when only 4 years of age, the judges and spectators have been wowed by his lightness and elegance.  Django has received accolades regarding his talent for collection and self carriage - he is setting a new standard for elegance and power.

In 2006 Django (right) was presented to the Keuring for a classification as Ster.  He will be assessed for his breeding permit. We will use him, along with selected frozen semen stallions for our own mares ...  and he will be available to other Friesian mares in the future.  If he gets a breeding permit (which would be an endorsement of him as being a world class stallion equivalent to the top 1% of stallions) his foals can be registered in the BBook1. Only foals sired by stallions that have undergone full performance testing in the Netherlands can be entered in the main studbook (so in Australia that means only frozen semen foals). Without a breeding permit his foals are registered in the BBook 2 register. The FPS (and thus the AFHS) do not register partbred Freisians. . There is no equivalent to the WID (Identification) register for Warmbloods.   They are all purebreds with no outside blood introduced for many many generations (the last major introduction of new blood being Andalusian when Holland was a Spanish vassal state). The different registers are largely an indication of the official status granted the breeding stallion, which is very strictly controlled and based not just on conformation and movement, but other factors like the number of stallions of a particular bloodline already breeding as it is very important to manage the limited genetic pool in this noble and very special breed.

Django is the only Friesian in Australia from Renske, who tragically died as a result of foaling complications shortly after giving birth to her second foal, a filly and full sister to Django. The filly was subsequently exported to New Zealand.

In 2004 she beat Django in the Ridden class at the AWHA Gala Day, we were very proud of her and she reflects the quality of the broodmare band at Tashkent.

We are very proud to see our 'baby' Jacana TK (pictured above right) now all grown up and exceeding our most optimistic expectations regarding his type, quality and aptitude for dressage.  We always believed that he would mature into the taller, finer type of purebred Friesian stallion that is favoured by many ... and considered the ideal type for open class competition. 

Jacana TK (pictured right with Jeremy Janjic in the saddle) just 'oozes' elegance and has exciting, expressive movement with lots of cadence and energy.  Jacana TK qualified for ... and took part in the prestigious Dressage with the Stars event in Melbourne, April 2008.  After the big trip down to Melbourne he arrived in good spirits and settled well to finish the competition in 9th place from a strong field of the best 5 YO Dressage horses in Australia.  Jacana TK 'sparkled' and won many new fans at his first interstate appearance.

Django of Cacharel and Jacana TK stand at stud at Christine Crawford and Jeremy Janjic's North Kaludah Stud.

Mares visiting North Kaludah receive the best professional care with close monitoring of their cycles to ensure best results for the breeder and minimum time away from their homes.

We hope you enjoy learning a little more about Friesians and in particular, the horses of Tashkent.