By Jennifer Rose
Lord Xalvador is one of a kind, not only in how he entered this world, but also his amazing temperament and color! He is the second Spotted LP (leopard pattern) Gypsian in the world!
It all started for me, quite by accident, with a little Haflinger mare named Rosie
It all began with my first Haflinger mare I got on trade back in 2004. I was excited to get a ‘free’ horse, but I didn’t know what to do with a 13 hand, 4 year old unbroke mare. So, I figured I’d sell her after training her so I could get a bigger horse. As it happened, this Haflinger inspired a breeding program and my next horse; a haflinger/gypsy cross I brought home in 2008. I always loved the Gypsy breed and their temperament seemed so similar to that of the Haflinger breed I had fallen for. The combination provided the athletic abilities of the Haflinger and the color options of the Gypsy, and enough feather to look neat but not overwhelming. The cross seemed perfect.
The Gypsy Stallion; Hermit’s Silver Shadow
In 2012 I got my first Gypsy stallion, Hermit’s Silver Shadow, on a breed lease to own. I brought Silver to the Equine Affair in Pomona that same year where I did a Gypsy Breed demo, when I met Diane Harris, owner and breeder of Happy Camp Cobs in southern California. Ms. Harris really liked Silver. She had a Friesian mare named Vangie she was interested in having me take for a breed lease to cross with Silver. I was honored and excited.
I brought Vangie home in April 2012 and bred her to Silver. Xalvador was born March 9, 2013. I call Xalvador my miracle child as the day he was ‘due’ Vangie colicked. She was treated locally with my vet for three days and wasn’t improving, so we opted for surgery to see what was going on. Vangie had a displaced colon. The uterus was removed to repair the displaced colon and then replaced, as foals typically do not do well via c-secion. The vet said, “Hopefully she won’t foal for a few weeks so she can heal”. Vangie foaled 3 days later!
Xalvador presented with slight dummy* foal syndrome, and spent three days in ICU. But he pulled out of it and has been strong and vibrant ever since. The stallion has grown to 15.1 hands as a coming 6 year old. His dam was only 15.2, small for a Frisian, and his sire only 13.2. This proved to me that Silver’s foals typically take after the size of their dams. My herd grew over the years as I selected horses I knew would do well for beach rides and my breeding program. Unique breeds like the Gypsies, Gypsians and Haflinger /Gypsy crosses make beach and mountain riding appealing and exciting to the horse person. I was drawn to these breeds for their great minds, beauty and ability to do whatever asked, from trails, driving to parades.
Xalvador is great with other horses, kids and even dogs. He has become my main riding horse as I guide beach rides for my business, “No Worries Beach Trail Rides”, in Templeton, California. He has two foals on the ground from 2018, a colt and a filly. Both are solid bays but utterly fantastic and very fancy. Xalvador’s sire, Silver, has since sired other spotted Gypsians which are quite popular.
The care for this breed is quite easy. Excellent, solid feet and easy keepers who do well on just our good California hay.
I am looking forward to 2019 as we will bring home a stunning, well-bred silver dapple tobiano Gypsian filly. Successful foals out of her by our stallion Xalvador may well be the first F2** foals in the USA.
The Gypsian
A Gypsian is a cross between a Gypsy and Frisian horse, registered through the Frisian Horse Heritage. The breed started in 2010. Horses who have a documented mixture of Frisian and Gypsy blood are eligible to be registered as Gypsian. The influence of any other breeds is not permitted.
The Gypsian is a great all around family horse with an amazing work ethic who loves to be around people. They are easy to train and a blast to ride! One really can’t go wrong with the Gypsy Horse or the Gypsian.
The little inspiring Haflinger mare Rosie, carried me bravely through Craig Cameron’s Extreme Cowboy races in 2009 and again in 2010 and later carried me in the Tournament of Roses parade. Now, she inspires me yet again, as my next big goal with Lord Xalvador is to get a group of Gypsian owners together to clop proudly together down the streets of the Tournament of Roses Parade to showcase this awesome breed!
Gypsian Registration:
Gypsians are the product of crossbreeding Frisians to Gypsies. Horses who have a documented mixture of Frisian and Gypsy blood are eligible to be registered as Gypsian. The influence of any other breeds is not permitted.
For offspring to be eligible for Gypsian registration, the sires and dams of Frisian, Gypsy and Gypsian breeding must be registered and DNA tested with a credible registry, as deemed by the GHH council.
So long as the above criteria is maintained, registered Gypsians may produce registered offspring by being bred to Gypsian, Friesian and Gypsy lines, providing those lines can be documented, DNA tested and are registered by an established registry that is recognized by the GHH council.
Horses who do not qualify for Gypsian registration may still qualify for Frisian Heritage Horse registration, if they have 25%, or more, documented Friesian blood.
All horses applying for registration must be DNA tested at the time application OR you may supply us with a copy of existing DNA markers from a previous test OR it is sometimes possible to obtain existing DNA markers from other registries. We can help you with this – please call or email.
In 2010 the Friesian Heritage Horse Registry came to an agreement with a group of dedicated horse breeders, who cross Frisians with Gypsy horses, to provide registration documentation for the Gypsian horse.
Since the HH was already established in the horse community as a credible and productive registry, and since part of the Gypsian horse is Friesian, it was felt that the horse community would be best served by keeping the records under one “umbrella”, rather than starting yet another registry.
More information can be found on the Gypsian registry page >>
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*The term “dummy” foal is one that is given to foals that act “dumb” at birth, or even hours thereafter. The syndrome falls under the broad category of neonatal maladjustment syndrome.
**F2: Gypsian to Gypsian foals
