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Australasian Warmblood Friesian Association

Friesian derivitive horses can be found anywhere where there are purebred Friesians.  These derivitives are obtained by crossing Friesian Stallions over mares of outside breeds.  The term warmblood has been used in Australia for these crosses since the early 1980's and while not technically correct, it is a good definition of the well thought out cross.

The Friesian horse has always been a preferred candidate for cross breeding, something of which nearly lead to the breeds extinction in the past.  The Friesian horse is  genetically strong and is able to pass on to the progeny of a well thought out crossing, its trainability, pleasant nature, intelligence along with a high set neck, powerful hindquarter and flashy action.

  The Australasian Warmblood Friesian Association was formed in 1995 by a group of existing breeders who wanted a dedicated studbook and wished to adhere to a breed standard to concentrate on uniformly breeding a superior performance horse.

Warmblood Friesians registered in the AWFA Inc range in height from 14.2 hands to 17.2 hands.  The AWFA breeders have found that Thoroughbred, Anglo Arab, Spanish Andalusian and Saddlebred have made excellent crosses. Mares of  breeds such as Quarterhorse, Appaloosa and ponies under 14.2 hands are not accepted.

In a short period of time, the vision of these breeders has been proved without a doubt in the performance arena. AWFA Inc horses have achieved prominent results at state and world levels. Other dedicated studbooks have been formed in the USA and the AWFA Inc is recognised as leading the way in the world for performance bred Friesian derivitives with no other studbook recording such exceptional competition results.

These results include third at a recent international event in Combined Driving, "Australia's first International Driving Classic" which is only the beginning for this team of talented Warmblood Friesians lead by Cody Rawson Harris.  His other successes with his team include Victorian State Champion - 3 phase driving, Longwood - Champion 3 phase driving and a myriad of championships at Eastern States events including the Sydney Royal Show's prestigious Private Drive.

Other AWFA Inc show results include Barastoc Horse of the Year Show 1995 and 1997 - First non hackney, and over 19 championships and places for the Warmblood Friesian mare "Francis" owned by JC and DL Kee of Victoria. Quesque'C'Est owned by Jean Still has also notched up an impressive show career including Best Driven Exhibit - Canberra Royal Show and multitudinous Champion and Grand Champion Harness horse wins all over the Eastern Seaboard of Australia.

The Federal Secretary
AWFA Inc
P O Box 37, Morley  WA  6943
css@knfpub.com

Warmblood Friesian gelding "Frederick" ridden and trained by Senor Ramon Guerrero. This jump is 6ft.

Evanna Chesson, is Australia's formost trainer of the Friesian derivitive horses.  As a professional movie horse trainer, she is looking for the type of horse that possesses superior trainability, great movement and outstanding looks.  The AWFA Inc Warmblood Friesians are amongst her favourites and she uses them extensivley for much of her movie work and also shows these horses successfully in competition on the Eastern Seaboard.  One of these talented horses in Classique Heidi, who when she is not on Cody Rawson-Harris's international driving team can be found at shows or doing television work such as "Man from Snowy River",  Ocean Girl, and at present she is starring in an up and coming show called "Thunderstone" which tells the story of a girl and a black circus horse who time travel. The temperament of these horses also makes them a lovely family horse, and they are extremely versatile, being able to do a number of disciplines successfully.  One AWFA member uses her Warmblood Friesian to discover natural horsemanship, and she must be a surprise to her neighbours as she goes past minus saddle and bridle!!