The History Behind T & T Friesians

How we got connected with the horses. I think it’s a family virus. Three of my brothers have Friesian horses. Two live in BC and one in Germany. When we were young we always played with the horses, and did some tricks with them. Tina and I got married in 1969, when I worked as manager on a dairy farm. In 1976 we took over the family farm when my dad and mom retired. Two of our children still live in Holland. Our daughter Nynke lives with her family in Gorredijk and one of our sons Johan and his wife are farming in Bornwird nearby Dokkum. He took over our cows and quota when we immigrated to Ontario in 1999. Our oldest son Willem Henk and his wife Martine are farming in Teviodale on a dairy farm, and we farm with the youngest son; Andre and his wife Lisanne in Otterville. They are also both involved with the horses.

Something about our horses. In Friesland we had two mares: Baukje and Meintsje who were two full sisters. We also had some other horses who did not immigrate with us and Johan has them now. Baukje and Meintsje, however immigrated with us are both full papered STAR mares and so far all their daughters have become STAR too. Around our farm we have some woods with trails, on which we try to ride the horses a couple times per week in the summer time. We also drive for weddings with our Victorian carriage that is over 100 years old. Lots of people like that. I enjoy training our own young horses. It takes a lot of time, but it is worth while. In the winter time when there is snow we take out the sleigh for rides, so you can see we do a lot with our horses.

Ted Vanderkooi