Sjoukje is the fourth daughter born to our foundation mare, Femma, and the second of her daughters from the stallion, Sake 449. (Ischka was the first and showed such promise as a youngster--hence, the reason for breeding Femma to Sake once again). Sjouke's birth was traumatic. During labor, Femma suffered a uterine prolapse, a rare and life-threatening problem Fortunately, with the amazing help and dedication of our vets, Femma pulled through and was able to be a great Mum to Sjou.

As a youngster, Sjoukje spent most of her growing days pastured with a handful of mares, including her sisters, Jolanda and Ineke. It soon became apparent that she was a cheeky filly not afraid of anything! She was always the first to come up to you in the field, attempting to chew your shoes or whatever else she could, which earned her the nickname, "Licky Horse." (To this day, when getting new specialized shoes on her front feet, she regularly soaks our poor farrier, Chris, with kisses!)

When Sjoukje turned two, we took her to the KFPS inspections where she was awarded 2nd Premie. However, when we sadly lost her sister, Ischka, that same year at age five to Aortopulmonary Fistulation, a hereditary condition affecting approximately 2% of the Friesian population, were were concerned. Might Sjoukje sufffer the same fate, given their shared lineage? Due to this concern, we chose not to start working Sjou till she turned five. She was backed as an early six year old and took to the training really well. She was showing great promise in her schooling work until she went lame in late 2019, having been found to have arthritic changes in her front right foot.

After medication and over six months of rest and restricted movement, there appeared little improvement. Further investigation in late 2020 found a fracture to the extensor process in this foot. She remained on rest until Spring pf 2021, but sadly this is a non-union fracture so will not repair. Sjoukje has found a way to move to accommodate fracture and is clearly not in pain.

Due to the issue with her foot, she will never gain entry to the main KFPS studbook. Nevertheless, Sjoukje is an extremely intelligent and curious mare, and loves to be kept busy. There are less traditional exercises we can do with her that take into account the fracture. Sjou has an unconditional love for people and thrives on attention, making her a wonderful horse for visitors to spend time with.

You can follow Sjoukje's journey on our YouTube channel and social media pages.