End 2019 two sons were approved from the first collection by Jouwe 485 (Pier 448). A breed-typical, well-built and diligent stallion from the small mare line 161. A stallion who in terms of mentality and movement displays heaps of talent for all sport disciplines. Arent 515 stems from the relatively young and small pedigree 161. After Gerben 479 (Doaitsen 420) he is the second stud stallion from this pedigree, which begins with B-Book mare Maaike. We know little about her though. Her daughter Ietje (Jarich 226) was born in 1974. Out of this Studbook mare W. Jongsma from Ureterp bred the Star Preferent Sannie (Fokke 217). This 1.56m mare was registered in the Studbook in 1981. She is the dam of the also Star Preferent Ourenske (Oege 267), who was bought as a foal by the late Ane Fokkens from Siddeburen.
Champion sashes by the dozen
‘My father was a teacher who was keen to own a few horses’, son Frank Fokkens tells us. ‘In their search my parents came in touch with Schriemer who had two foals for sale. My mother reminded my father that they had come to buy just one foal, but when they left the field with the foals it materialised he had purchased both. One of these foals was Ourenske. In her young years with breeding chapter Groningen Drenthe Combination, she collected champion sashes by the dozen. She became for instance Youngster Champion and Breeding Day Champion as a 3-year-old.
All horses bred by Ane and his wife Irene received the suffix Van ’t Geerland. Frank: ‘My parents had a farm on the Geerlandweg in Siddeburen, which is what they used for their stable name.’ Ane Fokkens did not make little of choosing a stallion, his son says. ‘Sundays on end my father was puzzling over which stallion would be the best match for a mare. He made much use of the folders with Friesian studbook stallions for which supplements could be bought at each year’s Stallion Inspection.’ Four times Fokkens decided to use Tamme 276 (Jochem 259) for first-premium mare Ourenske, which resulted in three Star mares, and on two occasions he opted for Rypke 321 (Feitse 293). Both Rypkes became Star too. One of these is Wobcke van ’t Geerland Star Preferent Performance. She made furore in Anton Schut’s breeding who had bought her in 2000 as a yearling. Via her daughter Seya van de Olde Mette Moate Star Preferent (Sape 381), Wobcke is the granddam of Gerben 479 (Doaitsen 420).
Spacious movement
Ourenske was given a first premium as a 3-year-old. Back then the Jury described her as ‘a mare with fine breeding type, a generous and well-built neck and spacious movement.’ Frank Fokkens remembers her as a gorgeously beautiful animal with a very sweet personality. ‘We called her the ‘inspection horse’ because at inspections she was always totally different. She loved all the attention. In the early days my father and I presented the horses ourselves.’ One of Ourenske’s daughters by Tamme 276 is Elskje van ’t Geerland Star, who we also find in Arent 515’s dam line. This 1.56m mare is Ourenske’s first foal. She stayed her whole life with the Fokkens Family. ‘Elskje had an absolutely wonderful character’, Frank Fokkens says. ‘My father used her extensively for driving and also went to competitions with her, often winning them too. Elskje was a hard worker who has done a lot of driven work.’
Elskje van ’t Geerland brought ten foals at the Fokkens yard. Her fifth foal was Hermie van ’t Geerland Star (Sjaard 320), 3rd dam to Arent 515. She was sold at a young age.
‘After my father’s death fifteen years ago’, Frank tells us, ‘my mother sold the horses. Hermie, who was named after my mother’s sister, was sold too.’ Hermie van ’t Geerland went to Tinka van Leeuwen-Roks when she was still a foal. Tinka remembers buying foal Hermie van ’t Geerland in 2002. Three years later the mare became Star with a second premium. Tinka bred three offspring out of Hermie, using the stable name Van de Dompstede. The first is Wietske van de Dompstede Star (Doaitsen 420). ‘Because Hermie is not overly tall we decided to combine her with Doaitsen 420. Wietske was a good-looking, slightly baroque horse who, just like her dam, was a very good mover. Everything suggested she was worthy of a first premium but when I took her to the inspection as a 2-year-old she received a second premium. But I thought ‘this isn’t right’. As it turned out, that feeling was justified because she was promptly awarded a first premium as a 3-year-old.’ Straight after 3-year-old Wietske van de Dompstede had received a first premium in Kootwijk Tinka sold her. ‘I owned too many horses so some had to go.’ Dirk Andries Dijkstra from Berlikum never regretted that Wietske came up for sale. He bought her from Jan Folmer. The 66-year-old Dijkstra used to have an agricultural farm with his wife. When they sold part of the farm Dijkstra came to work at the WTC Expo in Leeuwarden. There he became familiar with the Stallion Inspection and was struck with the Friesian horse virus. ‘I started out with a few horses and before I knew it I had 28 of them. We had the space for it. First you think they are all champions, but obviously they aren’t’, Dijkstra recalls. ‘At some point we moved to Berlikum, to a house with a barn with stables inside and some fields. There was not enough room for all horses. So we then sold most of them and bought a few mares with better papers, including Wietske van de Dompstede.’
‘Wietske was a lot better than the mares we owned before her’, Dijkstra explains. ‘She had a first premium and had very good movement. She was a spirited lady and always the leader of the herd.’ So far Dijkstra has bred nine offspring from Wietske. He had a streak of bad luck with three of them: one died of colic and two had to be put to sleep prematurely. ‘Unfortunately, this is also part of breeding.’
But no such bad luck with Marije van Dijkstra State Star AA (Haitse 425), Arent 515’s dam.
‘On the basis of the information from the KFPS data base we decided to pair Haitse 425 to Wietske.’ That foal turned out to be Marije van Dijkstra State, who became Arent 515’s dam. ‘In 2015 she was in first place at the inspection in Garijp as a 3-year-old. We expected her to get a first premium but she got a second. Luckily she was Star. She has four sons with three of them already Star. Last year with Marijke Boelen in the saddle she completed an IBOP and became Star AA.’
Longer neck and more feathers
The first time Dijkstra paired Marije to Jouwe 485 (Pier 448). ‘Marije is not very tall
and I was looking for a slightly longer neck and more feathers. That led me to Jouwe 485 who did not yet have any offspring in that year (2015).’ The foal born from this combination is Bouwe van Dijkstra State who would later be renamed Arent 515. With his sire Jouwe 485 and Haitse 425 in the maternal line there is a strong presence of Jasper 366 (Olof 315) in Arent 515’s genes. Bouwe was awarded a first premium as a foal and later went to Jan Folmer’s foal-raising yard. ‘I had never before raised a stallion’, Dijkstra explains. ‘That was a new adventure. He went to the Stallion Inspection as a 2½-year-old. Every time he was through to the next round. We watched it all with a fairly down-to-earth attitude because we had no idea at all what the Jury would say.’ Dijkstra admits that the approval of Arent 515 brought some emotion to the surface but he instantly puts having bred an approved stallion into perspective. ‘You know, luck also plays a
role. Of course you can argue that you have taken this and that into consideration, but
you still have to wait and see if the Jury sees the potential.’ Which they did.
