Born in 2002, we bought Hidde over to England as a three year old stallion having fallen in love with his extravagant movement, cheeky temperament, and enormous quantities of hair! Hidde’s father is one of our favorite stallions, Jasper 366, who has well and truly put his stamp on Friesian breeding today--so much so that in January 2011, he was given the prestigious Preferent title because of his contribution to the breed.

We took Hidde to the UK inspections in 2006 where he was awarded Ster in recognition of his fabulous movement.

Hidde was a very versatile little horse who loved his work. He worked in our wedding carriage, and more often, in our smaller carriage taking visitors on trips around Cartmel Village. However, he was at his happiest when in the dressage arena. Having won many unaffiliated competitions, he won his first time in an affiliated competition with a score in the 70s.

Hidde was a very safe but occasionally bouncy ride because of his extravagant trot. We called him our ‘wiggly worm’ as he was so flexible and bendy--but when you got him going well, he was an absolute joy to ride. He loved to hack out and have a good gallop across the fields when he had the chance.

In 2011, we felt it was in Hidde's best interest to have him gelded. Unfortunately, he suffers from several skin conditions, including the rare 'Pemphigus Folliacus', which affected him primarily during the winter months when the weather turns cold. With the help of some occasional medication and his snuggy hoods and rugs, we helped him through the cold winter nights, and now the conditional has resolved itself.

Hidde had quite a lot of time off in 2012 for treatment of a sarcoid in his saddle area. As he loved his work, we were concerned he would get stressed at not being involved in the da- to-day work on the yard. However, it's amazing what a good companion can do. Hidde found true love with Renske and they lived happily together like an old married couple. Luckily, the sarcoid was successfully treated, and happily Hidde went back to work at the end of 2013. By the time Summer 2014 came around, he was in top shape again and made many Experience Days and hacks to great success. He did numerous weddings since the sarcoid, in a pair with his half-sister Vela or together with his old stable-neighbour, Droomwals.

In the Winter of 2015, the sarcoids unfortunately grew back aggressively in his saddle area. He was treated for them in 2016. This area fully healed, but we took the decision to retire him. Hiddie Hopps now has the important jobs of babysitting any youngsters and keeping our herd of mares in check. He also still has the very significant job of taking part in our unique accommodation called `Stable Stays’ where he spends the night alongside guests. As a foundation horse, he is still a very important part of `The Friesian Experience’.

Follow Hidde's continuing journey on our YouTube channel or social media pages.