http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/nyregion/frederik-the-great-horse-cashes-in-on-his-looks-central-park.html 2016-09-22 22:46:50 A Real-Life Black Beauty Is Cashing In on His Looks Frederik the Great, a horse with a flowing mane and a legion of fans, is making at a New York City horse show this weekend. === Fifteen hundred tons of synthetic dirt now sit in the middle of Wollman Rink in Central Park, hauled in a few days ago to transform the ice skating area into a parade ground for some of the world’s most prized horses. The One horse in attendance, however, will not so much as break a sweat. His job is just to be really, really, ridiculously good looking. His name is Frederik the Great. With 14 million views on YouTube and a New York City schedule that includes an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” as well as the cameos at the horse show this weekend, the stallion, who lives in Arkansas, is perhaps the Kardashian of horses: famous not necessarily for his skills, but for his looks. Coal black, with a curving neck from which at least four feet of mane cascades and little fluffs of fur at his ankles, Frederik the Great is a breed called a Friesian. “They are a war horse,” said his owner Stacy Nazario. “They are ‘look at me’ type horses.” On Wednesday, a day after his A former owner of a construction company, Ms. Nazario said managing Frederik the Great is her full-time job, with his earnings from appearances, photo shoots and social media averaging about $20,000 a month, enough to keep a staff of three gainfully employed. His retinue includes a social media manager and Jessica Ray, a veterinary technician who travels with him, as his handler. As Ms. Nazario spoke about her horse, Ms. Ray was giving Frederik a deep-tissue massage. Though he keeps a busy schedule, performing as a real-life Black Beauty at a children’s literacy event, for example, Frederik the Great has turned down two movie roles, Ms. Nazario said. She didn’t like the scripts. “I’m very selective,” she said. “It’s all about him.” Frederik will appear in Central Park on Friday and Saturday at the Rolex show, an event founded by Mark Bellissimo, the chief executive officer of the International Equestrian Group, which hosts equestrian competitions across the country. Mr. Bellissimo is something of an equestrian sport evangelist. “We are introducing the horse sport to new audiences — and going beyond the perception that it is just for the elite,” Mr. Bellissimo wrote in an email. “What we aim to do is to bring the power and magic of the equestrian sport to the people.” (General admission to the Central Park horse show starts at $50 per ticket.) Promoting equines is why Ms. Nazario first imported Frederik from the Netherlands about a decade ago. She wanted to bring a stud horse to the United States to help enhance the Friesian breed, which was relatively uncommon here. He has sired 15 offspring so far, and charges a $5,500 stud fee. There is a waiting list. Like many models, he is diversifying and expanding his range. A TV mini-series is in the works — “Frederik the Great: Behind the Beauty” — as well as a documentary that will perhaps add depth and breadth to his oeuvre, which right now consists primarily of YouTube videos of him running back and forth to spooky music (one has over 5,600,000 views and is still climbing). In the vein of supermodels before him, he is also launching a beauty product line. Ms. Nazario cuts about three feet of mane from him a year, and braids it every day to prevent him from stepping on the ends. Naturally, his next move is into hair care, and Ms. Nazario, who herself has an enviable and oddly similar mane of black waves, has worked with a lab to create a product for both humans and equines, which will be released soon. “My number-one question as far as his looks — aside from complimenting him — is, ‘What do you use on his hair?’” she said. Glistening in his stall as his owner and handler preened him, Frederik the Great seemed grounded despite his whirlwind week — he was still eating hay, after all, just like the common equine. Others weren’t so sure. “It’s hard to reach him directly,” Mr. Bellissimo wrote in an email. “He keeps referring me to his agent.”