Now who on earth would have his horse portrayed? Sake Meintes Visser was so proud of his stallion named De Nette that he had it immortalized in this painting. With his horses he won no fewer than 14 gold and 30 silver whips and, to top it all, De Nette won him the first highly coveted Royal Gold Whip.
Sake Meintes Visser’s horse, 1825-1835
Frisian horses are renowned for their excellent running abilities . Already the Romans took them home to Italy and also the Frisian Nassau family liked to have them in their stables. The Friesian is the Netherlands’ oldest thoroughbred horse.
The farm in the background is Sake Meintes Visser’s – as the letters SMV in its roof already suggest; the tower on the right belongs to Akkrum’s village church.