Anja was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 2008. Her mother, Mintsje, was imported by Melanie Reid from the Netherlands when Mintsje was in foal with Anja. At just a few months old, Anja headed to the UK Inspections where she was awarded a 1st Premie, achieve by only 5% of foals each year. To top it off, she was also UK Reserve Breed Champion the same day as our Model Mare, Femma L, who was UK Overall Breed Champion.

It was very clear to see that Anja had a bright future, but on paper her breeding was not the best. Both her father and her mother’s father lost their breeding rights with the KFPS after their offspring did not prove to be consistently good enough.

Melanie contacted us when Anja was a yearling as sadly, due to unfortunate circumstances, she needed to sell her. As we had fallen in love with Annie as a foal, we agreed to take her in and give her the very best start in life that we could.

When Anja turned three, she returned to the UK inspections. She had only done a minimal amount of groundwork the few weeks prior, and had shown little energy or expression. However, when she entered the ring, Anja turned into the most impressive, powerful and expressive-moving mare in the ring that day. To our delight, Anja was awarded 2nd Premie Ster and went on to be awarded Overall Breed Champion.

Anja was backed the following Spring. She showed us she didn’t have a great deal of interest in work or forwardness which created training challenges. In 2013, now age five, Anja returned to the UK Inspections where she not only upgraded to a 1st Premie Ster but was also awarded the `Provisional` Kroon title. This title is only awarded to the very best 1st Premie Ster mares and meant Anja would need to do an IBOP performance test in either Dressage or Driving with a score of 77 points or above.

For Anja to score over 77 points on an IBOP performance test was going to be challenging. She was a complicated character to work with, and at the time, Tracey did not have the necessary knowledge and skill to work with her. So, with the help of trainer Melanie Turner who worked on Anja’s fitness over the next year, Anja completed the test, scored a respectable 77.5, and her Kroon title was confirmed.

Anja started to take part in Experience days in the early stages of `The Friesian Experience when we allowed our Friesians to be ridden by visitors. However, she soon let us know that she was not happy with different riders. With her strong-minded characteristics, she made it clear that she only wanted to be ridden in a way she was happy with. Anja appeared to lack forwardness. However, over the years, Tracey feels Anja has taught her more than any other horse how to get the best out of a Friesian horse who is not considered naturally 'forward'. She will always be a one-person horse who will not give anything unless you give her 100% of your attention. It is “all or nothing” with Anja--but when you ride her correctly and with consideration, she is the most amazing mare to ride with an incredible, powerful energy.

In 2015, Anja was put into foal to the famous stallion Tsjalle 454 who is known to throw offspring with a good work ethic. Even though Anja’s breeding on paper was not the best, she was a great example of the Friesian breed. In May 2016, Ciska fan de Groenbank was born. With Ciska at foot, Anja returned to the UK inspections, entering the ring with her impressive energy, resulting in her being awarded Overall UK Breed Champion for a second time.

Due to Anja producing a foal naturally, she met all the additional requirements for the prestigious title of Model mare, the highest a Friesian mare can be awarded. In 2018, we returned with Anja to the UK Inspections with the hope she would be good enough to achieve this title. She entered the ring, put on her typical magnificent display of energy, and was awarded the title of Model--and, for the third time, was UK Overall Breed Champion.

Sadly, we lost Anja's foal, Ciska, very suddenly in 2020. We suspected the cause was the same hereditary heart condition to which we lost Ischka in 2015. As such, we took the decision not to breed Anja again. Despite her being an incredible mare, until there is further research into these genetic issues, we do not feel it is right to breed her when she clearly is a carrier of the condition. In 2021, Anja was diagnosed with low grade ‘Wobbler Syndrome’ which explained so much about the challenges there had been in her training as she struggled to coordinate herself, particularly her back legs in the slower paces. This also explains why it is so important for her to have consistency and a strong bond with whoever works with her.

Anja will be a beloved resident here for life and spends most of her life “free-reining” round the yard. She continues to go out for gentle hacks with Tracey and loves spending time with visitors to the Friendship Barn, whether they have chosen her as their companion or not!

You can watch our gorgeous Anja's journey on our YouTube channel and social media pages.