USEF Horse Of The Year Voting is now open – and a Friesian stallion is in the running

Rick Osteen photo

Voting is now open for the USEF Horse Of The Year. A Friesian has never won, and this year a Friesian is in the running. His name is Sjored and his owners have accomplished a lot with him through hard work in the past few years. If you love Friesians and want to cast your vote for Sjored here’s the link: https://www.usef.org/_IFrames/hoty/Default.aspx

Sjoerd (Tsjalke 397 x Anne G)

2005 Friesian Stallion
Owner: Xena Vimercati

In the Friesian breed, there are few horses that can boast as impressive a track record as Sjoerd. In his young six years, the stallion has amassed 38 Lifetime World/Grand Champion National Champion titles and has earned more career points than any other Friesian in the history of the International Friesian Show Horse Association (IFSHA). It comes as no surprise that Sjoerd is the only one of his breed to have twice been named the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF) Friesian Horse of the Year.

In 2011, Sjoerd earned 14 World/Grand National Champion titles and four World/Grand National Reserve honors. In addition, the stallion was undefeated for the year in halter. While his first foal crops are only yearlings and weanlings, they are winning top honors in the show arena, demonstrating Sjoerd’s strength as a breeding stallion as well.