is only 25 cents per day. The Business Memberships will be reduced from $150 to $130 and that is only 36 cents per day. The Associate Membership will remain at its low $50 per year and as before all Memberships will run for an entire year from the date you sign up.

We also want to take this time to remind you that you have “perks” that come with your membership. You all received a membership card that has your member number on it. This is the number you should use when you purchase anything from our vendors that give FHS members a discount. Those businesses, including the amount of the discount you receive, are advertised on the FHS website and we are always on the lookout to add businesses who are willing to give discounts to our members. If you have any favorite vendors you like to do business with, let us know and we will contact them to see if they are willing to give our members a discount! Another important benefit you receive is free advertising on our website.

As a final note, anyone who renews their membership at least 30 days early, will receive a complimentary LARGE Boiselle calendar. These are the 2012 calendars, but many people remove the photos which are excellent quality and suitable for framing.

The FHS is a non-profit corporation and the work done for you is all volunteer, no salaries are paid! Therefore, all money is used for you, the members! We hope that 2013 will be a better economic year as you breed and sell your beautiful Friesians.

 Sincerely,

The FHS Board of Directors

hyperplasia was observed in 5 of 6 Friesians with megaesophagus and secondary tears. Esophageal idiopathic muscular hypertrophy is generally regarded as incidental finding in aged horses. However, in humans, a hereditary condition characterized by thickening of the esophagus due to circumferential proliferation of smooth muscle, called leiomyomatosis, causes subsequent dysmotility and achalasia. We speculate that caudal muscular hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the esophagus represents a similar hereditary condition in Friesian horses that can cause severe esophageal disease, such as megaesophagus and esophageal tears.

Dr. med. vet. habil. Matti Kiupel, BS, MS, PhD, DACVP
Fachtierarzt für Veterinär Pathologie
Professor, Section Chief Anatomic Pathology
Michigan State University
Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation
Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health
4125 Beaumont Road, Room 152A
Lansing, MI 48910
USA

The FHS supports this study and encourages Friesian owners to contribute to the future health and well being of this magnificent breed by asking you to send in samples from your horse(s). Here are a couple of links including a letter detailing the study/requirements and a sample submission form (for your convenience) that is not required to send in with your samples, but can walk you through the process and make it easier for you.

Letter from Dr.s Ingeborg Lanhor & Matti Liupel

Sample Submission Form

Did you ever wonder why you have to get those DNA samples before your horse can be registered? Even though it may seem to be quite a tedious process, the benefits of having it done are worth it.

First of all, it proves the ancestors or lineage of your horse. There are many organizations that are willing to print out a “registration” document based on nothing more than the printed registration of a supposed sire and dam. The problem with that is twofold:

1. There is no documentation to prove that those papers actually belong to the sire or dam.
2. There is no way to prove any relationship between the horse being registered and the supposed sire and dam.

It is like an adopted child not knowing who his birth parents are. This is important for health, i.e. issues such as megaesophagus, dwarfism, hydrocephalism etc., allows prospective owners to know exactly what they are buying, and if the horse is destined for the show ring, will not be able to compete in USEF Friesian shows unless the registration is issued by a foreign or domestic registry that maintains proof of Friesian heritage through DNA testing and record maintenance.

This is Number 4 of the United States Equestrian Federation, USEF, rules for the Friesian and Part-Bred Friesian so anyone who thinks they don’t need DNA testing for their Part-Bred Friesian will be disappointed when they are not allowed to show.

So, before you breed your mare, make sure DNA is on file for the stallion you have selected or if it is not, the stallion owner is willing to make a DNA sample available.

If you are purchasing a Friesian or Part-Bred Friesian, make sure the “Registry” does parent verification through DNA on all horses.

If your horse has an International Registration, you a part of a very special group of people that can say their horse is unique and there is no other like it in the world!

Since horses travel frequently throughout Europe, they have passports just like humans to positively identify them and their health records. In order to be eligible for a passport, the horse is registered with a unique system so that NO OTHER HORSE can have that identity and once the horse is registered with this numbering system, it is NEVER changed or removed from the registry of origin.

Additionally, registries that have a UELN should not “double register” a horse.

For example, a person buys a Friesian in the Netherlands and imports it to the USA. They then decide they would like to participate in the FHS programs for breeding and inspection. All they have to do is become a member of the FHS. Their horse is automatically in the FHS database exactly as it was before it was imported. If it was a Ster in the Netherlands, it remains a Ster with FHS. The original registration is NEVER taken away from the horse.

The system is called the Universal Equine Life Number (UELN). The first three digits of the registration are the Country Code. (840 is for the United States). The second three numbers are the code for the registry. The FHS has the UELN for the Friesian in the USA and Canada and our UELN code is 037

The KFPS (mother studbook for the Friesian in Europe) is 004 and the Country Code for the Netherlands is 528

The last nine digits are the registration for the horse and this is recorded on the document in conjunction with the microchip number. Once the horse is given this registration, it can never be changed and the horse will only have this one registration in its entire life.

This is why you can have several Friesians with the same name. It’s not the name that makes the horse unique or positively identified. It is the UELN.

This system is also valuable because it insures the identity of the horse. Registration papers could not be switched among horses or given to a horse that had not gone through the DNA parentage verification process. By matching the microchip to the registration document, the owner is assured to get the correct horse.

The Fenway Foundation

The Fenway Foundation, founded in 2010 by Scott and Shelley Kelnhofer, is a non profit corporation that was formed to help preserve the Friesian Horse by focusing on Genetics, Health and a Rescue program.

The FHS supports the Fenway Foundation’s mission and encourages all Friesian owners to take a look at their website here to learn more about what they have to offer, and assist and support their organization in any way they can.

The FHS is a Participating Organization in the USDF All-Breeds awards and our members can be awarded 5 certificates (The maximum allowed by USDF) in every Division/Level for which the FHS has eligible horses.

The USDF has asked that you are also advised of the following:

1. There is no fee for you to participate in the award program. The awards are paid for by FHS It is a benefit of your membership in FHS.
2. Your horse must be shown under the Breed Registered name. (No barn names etc.)
3. The horse must be registered with FHS or a registry that maintains proof of Friesian Heritage through DNA testing and record maintenance.
4. The FHS will accept other (foreign or national) registration papers but a copy must be sent into the FHS office and the horse officially recorded with the FHS. (Since a horse can only have 1 registration in its lifetime, you keep the original papers. Entry in the FHS database is all that is required.)
5. You must be a member in good standing with FHS.

FHS has the Universal Equine Life Number to register the Friesian horse in the United States and Canada.

All Registries that participate in the International recognition that a UELN provides, have a UELN for their breed in their country. For instance, the KFPS has the UELN for the Friesian in the Netherlands.

This UELN will insure that your FHS registered Friesian can be uniquely identified throughout the world! Registries participating in the UELN have the ability to exchange important data concerning the horses such as the pedigree, owner, breeder, etc.