Stingels Retire Four Friesian Horses to Police Caisson Unit
‘The Boys’ Move On to Police Work; New Friesians on Island
By Karen Gould

North Carolina Trooper Ernest Ramsey, who spearheaded the creation of North Carolina’s caisson unit, made the trip to Mackinac with Janet and Jay Stingel’s new horses.

Islanders called them “The Boys” and for the last 10 years, the four Friesian horses owned by Janet and Jay Stingel have made Mackinac their summer home. This year, however, the 22-year-olds, Detlef, Fetse, Kenny, and Fonger, won’t be making the trip north from their winter home at Biltmore Stables in Asheville, North Carolina, because the Stingels have donated them to the newly formed North Carolina State Highway Patrol Caisson Unit.

Jay Stingel leads one of his new Friesian horses from its trailer on the Arnold Dock after a 16-hour drive, and then a boat ride, to Mackinac Island from North Carolina.

“We wanted to make sure they would have a good home,” said Janet Stingel. Keeping the team together was the couple’s biggest concern, agreed Mr. Stingel.

The Island trails and demanding hills were a little more than the aging horses could easily handle, he said, but as caisson horses, they will travel only about six blocks with each funeral hearse they pull.

Last year, the Stingels purchased four new Friesians and they arrived on the Island Tuesday, June 7. The North Carolina Patrol transported the four novices to Mackinac in gratitude to the Stingels.

Since March, the new horses have been under the care of Amy and Webe Dragstra, owners of Dragstra Stables in North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Dragstra accompanied the horses to Michigan and will work with them for a short time before heading home.

The new Island residents, Syb, Atse, Baucke, and Jari, were purchased in Friesland, Holland, last year. Ranging from five years to nine years old, the first stop on the busy horses’ itinerary was Florida in January. After training with them for three months at Continental Acres, Mr. Stingel and the horses left the 350-acre horse farm and moved to Dragstra Stables.

As they adjust to Island life, they will have a legacy to maintain, created by their predecessors. The Boys knew Mackinac so well, they could have walked home from anywhere on the Island, said Mr. Stingel, and many Islanders have been stopping by to see them while the Stingels have been busy opening their cottage “Brigadoon” for the season.

“I’ve had to tell so many people they are not coming back,” said Mr. Stingel. He is looking forward to old friends getting to know their new Friesians.

The Stingels were the first to introduce Islanders to the Friesian breed at a time when no more than 1,000 of them lived in the United States, Mr. Stingel said. Now a few more Island families have the breed.

The spark for their interest in owning the Dutch breed was just luck.

“We happened to see them and just fell in love with them,” said Mrs. Stingel.

“They are very majestic looking,” said Mr. Stingel, “even stately.”

Friesians are one of the only true breeds left, Mrs. Stingel said. Standing approximately 16 to 17 hands high, the always-black horses are versatile and can be used in all disciplines. The Stingels will put the new horses to work pulling one of several antique carriages they own. They will use them in varying numbers to pull the carriages, from one horse to four in hand, which is hitching all four horses with the driver holding all four reins in one hand.

The breed’s history is impressive and dates to 55 A.D. Their versatility, strength, and ability to carry a lot of weight made them ideal to serve as knights’ horses, transporting the fully suited warriors into battle. Yet, by the early 1930s, less than a handful of the horses existed in Friesland. Fuel shortages caused by World War II forced Dutch farmers to return to their roots and to rely on Friesians again to plow fields, and the breed was revived. Even now, London’s famous department store, Harrods, employs a team of Friesians for promotional purposes.

Back in North Carolina, the state officially has four new troopers. The Stingel’s retired horses have been assigned badge numbers and are considered North Carolina Troopers and protected under the law.

For this summer, on Mackinac, four new Islanders will be getting to know the roads and trails. Perhaps, someday, they also will be able to find their way back to the Brigadoon stables.