Among its many wonderful qualities, the Friesian horse is characterized by friendliness, intelligence, adaptability and an enormous willingness to work. It is this character especially that has drawn people, throughout history, to the Friesian breed. The relationship between master and horse is another characteristic that sets this breed apart from many others, as a profound affection between master and horse is so common to the Friesian breed.

The Friesian is most often recognized by its black colour. While Friesian horses are always black, some have coats that look almost brown. Friesians also have a long, thick mane and tail, often wavy, and long flowing feathers. The official breed rarely has white markings of any kind, though most registries allow a small star on the forehead for purebred registration. Though extremely rare, and not accepted for registration in most cases, Friesians are occasionally chestnut or grey/white. The Friesian's average height is just over 15 hands, although it may vary from 14 to 17 hands.

The Friesian breed is known for its brisk, high-stepping trot. Friesians tend to have great presence, and to carry themselves with elegance. The breed has powerful overall conformation and good bone structure, with what is sometimes referred to as a "Baroque" body type. Friesians have long, arched necks and well-chiseled, short-eared, "Spanish" type heads. Their sloping shoulders are quite powerful. They have compact, muscular bodies with strong sloping hindquarters and a low-set tail. Their limbs are comparatively short and strong.

A great deal of attention has been devoted to the quality of the gaits in Friesian horse breeding. Its gaits are characterized by the elevated, reaching movement of the forelegs combined with a looseness in the shoulders and knee action, all of this made possible by sufficiently strong, sustaining hindquarters. The most important requirement for the trot is that it has to display sufficient reach. Due to a strict process of selection over the centuries, the movement characteristics of Friesians are deeply embedded in the genetics of the breed.

Today, there are two distinct conformation types. The baroque type has the more robust build of the classical Friesian. The modern, sport horse type is finer-boned. Conformation type is judged less important than correct movement, and both types are common.