Doktor – We purchased our first Friesian stallion, Doktor, who gave meaning to the phrase "You can't have just one." He later became one of the youngest stallions to be Approved for breeding through the FPZV Stallion Performance Test, and audiences loved his showy presence in demonstrations.

Dok epitomized the spirit and beauty of the great Friesian stallion.

Jorrit – When we acquired Jorrit, we understood that we would take on more than a horse. We would take on the responsibility of promoting the entire breed. His then-owner, Sabine Schut-Kery, wanted to send him to a place where he could “just be a horse” instead of enduring the rigors of traveling the European equine theatre circuit. Because of this expectation Jorrit was originally reserved only for exhibitions until the encouragement to see him in Open Competition was too much to resist. Sabine then agreed to test him in this way.

Many people questioned the authenticity of this 1997 photo,
saying that it was obviously a digital trick,due to Jorrit’s impossibly vertical position. The only digital trick was making the sky bright blue. Jorrit was quite the ham during the session, almost as if he knew he was being photographed, but his showmanship enabled us to capture forever his alpha stallion spirit and power.

Sabine Schut-Kery – We contracted with Sabine to move to America and become the head trainer for Proud Meadows. We realized that only she could show Jorrit at his best. Beyond that skill, her knowledge and commitment to the Friesian breed (and other Baroques), combined with her incredible talent, have been an invaluable catalyst for our success. Now she has her own business but Proud Meadows continues to enjoy her wise and forthright counsel.

Sabine Schut-Kery
Sabine has the wonderful quality of living up to high standards
while remaining modest and creatively thoughtful about her profession..

USDF Horse of the Year (HOY) – Tinus; trained and ridden by Sabine, won the HOY award from the United States Dressage Federation in open competition at 2nd Level Dressage. Since there is no National Championship decided by head-to-head competition, the HOY award is the equivalent of the National Championship. Tinus won this award while competing against over 1,600 other qualified horses.

Tinus

HOY – Jorrit – 1st Place at Prix St. Georges, 848 horses competing

HOY – Tinus – 1st place at 3rd Level, 1,077 horses competing

This national achievement marked the first widespread recognition
that Proud Meadows’ belief in the Forward-Moving Friesian was not misplaced.
(download pdf: 50KB)

Combined Driving – Ryan Weatherford, our ranch manager and driver, competed our Friesian stallion Drummond in Singles Combined Driving and was selected by the US Equestrian Team for the Singles Development Driver/Horse list. This achievement helped solidify our commitment to the sport of Combined Driving.

Ryan is a natural talent at driving and he worked conscientiously at the sport.
His patience and soft hands vindicated Proud Meadows’ principle
of bringing out the best in the horse without using harsh discipline.

HOY – Tinus – 1st place Prix St. Georges

HOY – Tinus – 1st place 4th Level

Tinus
Tinus’ rapid and successful rise through the Open Dressage
levels made us understand that the intelligence and willing
learning aptitude of the Friesian was perhaps its best quality.

(download pdf: 224KB)

Jorrit – Jorrit successfully competed at Grand Prix, where he earned 6th place nationally in HOY standings for Grand Prix Freestyle. He also was awarded First Place/Champion in the Freestyle competition of the Florida Dressage Classic at Wellington before top-level international judges. Jorrit was the first stallion ever in the history of the Friesian breed to compete this successfully at Grand Prix.

Jorrit was retired from competition in the summer of 2003, shortly before his 18th birthday, in a grand celebration at Proud Meadows. On that day he gave his last demonstration before a very emotional audience from the regional equestrian community. Now he stands at stud enjoying occasional workouts and his pasture time in his final home in Texas. He still rules the barn.

Jorrit
When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk; He trots the air;
The earth sings when he touches it; The basest horn of his hoof
is more musical than the pipe of Hermes; He is pure air and fire.
–William Shakespeare

New Facility – After six years of planning, we built and moved into our new facility in the farming area of Ellis County south of Dallas.

National Championship at Combined Driving. This sport demands that the horse compete well in three challenges: driven dressage, a cones obstacle course, and a cross-country marathon with many hazards. Early on we recognized that the purebred Friesian was not an ideal horse for combined driving due to their lack of stamina in the marathon. In 1996, we crossbred a Holsteiner mare with Doktor with the hope of developing a horse for Combined Driving. The result of that breeding was Beau. In this year, Ryan Weatherford, driving Beau, brought home the National Championship in Singles Driving from Parker, Colorado.

Beau and Ryan
Beau is a Warmblood in size, strength and stamina, but like a Friesian in temperament, willingness, and trainability.

Bogart von Jorrit PM began to compete in Open Dressage. Bogie is by Jorrit and out of Xanadu. Xanadu is a Model mare that has three excellent gaits – walk, trot, and canter – coupled with the conformation perfect for dressage. The judges recognized Bogie’s inherited ability at his first competition in Open Dressage where he scored in the 70's, won first place, and garnered the high point award. These early accomplishments, along with his conformation and work ethic are the inspiration for Proud Meadows and its new mission of the Performance Breeding Program.

Tinus – Tinus competed for the first time at Grand Prix with scores in the mid- to high-60's. We are encouraged from these early results at that level. As our second Friesian stallion to go Grand Prix he is readily accepted, and due to his relative youth, we believe his accomplishments will eclipse Jorrit’s.

Tinus
Tinus now excites audiences almost as much as Jorrit in his heyday. He is quite different from Jorrit, but this fact encourages us to recognize that many Friesians have the qualities necessary to promote the breed to serious dressage enthusiasts.

2004 concludes the first chapter in the history of Proud Meadows. As with any organization, changes can occur that have a direct impact on the mission of the organization. The following changes have played a definitive role in our continued growth and evolution.

Sabine Schut-Kery is now an independent trainer. We are very pleased that Sabine maintains her residence at Proud Meadows and will keep her close relationship with us always. Sabine is currently training and competing three of our stallions and promotes our stallions in exhibitions.
We envision that she will always be training and competing some of our horses. In addition, Sabine's client horses in training will be accommodated at Proud Meadows, receiving full use of our outstanding boarding facility and personalized care.

Sabine maintains her own website at sabineschut.com.

Doktor died suddenly after a collection, leaving emptiness in our hearts.

Jorrit retired from competition. He continues to proudly serve as our most sought-after breeding stallion.

We reduced our herd of mares but retained our Model mare, Xanadu, and Jorrit’s daughter, Bacall, who both play a starring role in our new Performance Breeding Program.

Illiad – We purchased Illiad PM, formerly Ids R, in 2003. The name change came out of respect for the Dutch registered breeding stallion of the same name.

Drummond was sold in 2004. Our shift in priorities, and belief that such a fine horse- half-brother of Tinus- deserved the opportunity to compete under a dedicated owner, combined to motivate us to reluctantly part ways.

In early 2005 Ryan Weatherford departed as ranch manager and lead driver of nine years. He chooses a new career outside the horse industry, but leaves us with a very capable assistant who is promoted to ranch manager.