Ineke fan de Groenbank has the privilege of being the first Friesian in the UK to be born by Embryo Transfer. She started life in her biological mother, KFPS Model mare Femma, and after eight days, was flushed out and popped inside her surrogate mother, Jubilee, a large, roomy, chestnut warmblood mare who we leased from Twemlows stud in Cheshire.

Born during the very cold January of 2010, Neeka looked very much like a big woolly bear for the first six months of her life. By the end of the summer, she was a tall, elegant lady who achieved a 2nd Premie at the FHAGBI inspections that September. One of the things that amazed us about Neeka was her very long legs and the speed at which she grew. She has undoubtedly grown into a tall beautiful mare, with an interesting, quirky personality.

Neeka’s mother, Femma, was quite a hot-headed mare, and her father, Tsjerk 328, can throw offspring that are quite sharp. We knew this breeding could potentially produce a quite sensitive temperament, but we knew it was a lineage proven to throw very good quality horses.

Neeka is extremely beautiful with a great 'racial type', making her extremely photogenic. Her weakness is in her movement which is not as fluent and supple as the KFPS inspectors would like to see. However, it was good enough for her to gain entry to the studbook with a 3rd Premie.

Neeka was backed in the Summer of 2014. As expected, her feisty character made it a bit of a challenge to get her under saddle. We had to take each step slowly and carefully due to her anxious nature and tendency to blind-panic when out of her comfort zone. We often say if Neeka were human and to be given a label, she may be considered to have some autistic characteristics which have been interesting and educational to work with over the years!

The journey has been challenging, but as Neeka has matured, she has become a truly wonderful riding mare who has even been jumping at Craven several times. She can be a little erratic in her paces, and due to her anxiety and tension, it can take her a while to relax in her walk, especially out hacking where there are often monsters lurking in hedges! Her happy place is out on the open sands of the beach, and she loves a good gallop.

In 2020, Neeka was found to have some inflammation in her stifle joints which resulted in discomfort for her whilst schooling. These have been medicated and are managed in conjunction with our vets to ensure she remains comfortable in her work. She is a lovely mare to school, albeit still a bit quirky at times.

2025 was the year of constant health issues for our beloved Neeka. She fought continual abcess in her hoof from white line disease, had two teeth removed as a last resort to help manage diastema (gaps) that were causing her gum discomfort, and by December, received the shocking diagnosis of Bilateral Corneal Stromal Loss (BCSL). As we were to learn, BCSL is yet another genetic issue common in Friesians, likely related to connective tissue weakness. It manifests as ulcers on the eye, and can cause pain and vision loss. In advanced cases, the eye may have to be removed. Fortunately, under the expert specialist care of Dr. Chis Dixon of Veterinary Vision, the diligent effots of our care team, and Neeka's amazing patience, her eyes are doing well and she's back to normal-for-Neeka life. Farrier Chris continues the slow process of restoring her hoof, and we keep he booted to help, though she frequently manages to lose it!

Neeka's journey, and more detail on her successful struggle with BCSL, can be followed on our YouTube channel and social media pages.