History of Witteveen Friesians

Harry Witteveen was born in Friesland, a northern province of the Netherlands, in 1928. Both his parents, Sidonius and Jourika ran a small dairy farm near Harlingen, a town on the shores of the Waddenzee. Sidonius had begun farming with ten cows and a Friesian mare "Schoontje". Sidonius was given this mare as a gift from his mother, Trytje James Hettinga, to ensure a good start to his career in farming.

Horses were always a passion with Sidonius and he could occasionally be found competing at local shows with his Friesian. He showed Schoontje for many years, so it was quite natural that his love for the Friesian Horse would manifest itself amongst his children; one being Harry Witteveen. Harry worked the fields alongside his father with a "Boerwagon" which was attached to their horses.

In 1947, shortly after the World War II, Harry and his brother John sailed to Canada searching for new opportunities. Harry worked in farming for a couple of years, and shortly after he began to build thriving meat business of his own.

Harry spent many hard working days and years creating an excellent reputation for his business; albeit his love for those black high-stepping horses of his native land never faded. In 1986 when Harry semi-retired, he imported two Friesian geldings (Floris and Eelke), and one mare (Framkje) to Canada. Framkje's first four foals were all star mares and that was just the beginning. Today Harry has over sixty Friesian horses at his farm (thirty of which are sters) which is just an hour west from Buffalo in St.George, Ontario.

Harry and his wife Cecile, and daughter Carol enjoy sharing their admiration of the Friesian horse and the history they have endured.