About Us
Friesian Focus is a world class breeder and importer of show-quality Friesian horses for all levels of rider and driver. Friesian Focus strives to promote and support the Friesian breed through public awareness, shows, exhibitions, as well as a selective Friesian breeding program that focuses on genetic diversity while retaining the most desirable Friesian traits and characteristics.
Founder and owner Joan Fernandez brings a strong science background to Friesian Focus. Joan has a degree in Molecular Biology, has published research in Targeted Gene Therapy and helped her spouse co-found two companies - Invitrogen (now Life Technologies) and Active Motif, a leading epigenetics company.
Sandra Nefzger grew up with horses. Her mother, Theresia Williams was German born and an accomplished breeder of Dutch warmbloods. Sandra started training young warmblood crosses on the family farm for dressage, jumping and combined driving for sales and competition. She has been a successful competitor at the national level in dressage and at the International level in eventing. Her love of friesians began when she was a teenager. Her mother imported an approved KWPN stallion alongside 2 friesian driving mares. This was the introduction of combined driving for Sandra and she is thrilled to be part of the Friesian Focus Combined Driving Team.
Why Friesian Focus?
Most Friesian horse importers are consignment operations that simply import from suppliers without having any personal knowledge about the quality, disposition, experience, training, or medical history of the horses they represent. Some importers even sell horses online without ever seeing the horses. Other importers are virtual horse "warehouses" that provide little more than the basic needs.
At Friesian Focus, we proudly own all of our horses, from the ones we import to the ones we breed at home. Before importing, we travel to the breed's homeland in Friesland, Holland, where we hand select the best quality individuals. Ours is a thorough process that begins with careful consideration of the horse's background and experience, followed by critical observation of the candidates at liberty, then under saddle and finally behind a carriage. The most promising candidates are ridden by Friesian Focus' professional trainer, Lance Bennett, a holder of multiple National and World Titles. Our final selections are given a complete pre-purchase medical exam including x-rays, flexion tests, and bloodwork.
Friesian Focus personally accompanies the horses on the non-stop airline flight from Holland to Los Angeles. Once the new arrivals have settled in to their new home, they are schooled extensively by our professional trainer and begin their US show career. By the time we offer a horse for sale, we have intimate knowledge of the horse's background and ability, allowing us to accurately represent each horse to you. We pride ourselves in matching the right horse with the right owner. We do our homework so that when you buy from Friesian Focus you know exactly the kind of horse you are getting.