THE HAFLINGER

The golden horse with the golden heart

The Haflinger is as golden as its coat color. They have a genuine fondness for people, a wonderfully willing attitude, a strong desire to please, are very forgiving and intelligent. All these wonderful traits in a beautiful package. With the golden coat and long white flowing mane and tail, it's like they came right out of a fairy tale.  These beautiful golden coats can run a full range of chestnut color from real light blonde to a real golden color to a dark chocolate. Their  long thick flowing manes and tails can range from white to flaxen.

The Haflinger is so much more then beautiful and friendly. They can be found excelling in almost every discipline in the horse world. These include draft work, pleasure driving, jumping, dressage, western pleasure and therapeutic riding programs just to name a few. Being a quite steady horse, Haflingers are often less fearful there for especially suited for first time horse owners as well as children's mounts. The Haflinger can hold its own in competition with other breeds showing surprising athleticism and strength for their size. They range from 50 to 59 inches tall (12.2 to 14.3 hands) and weigh between 900 and 1300 pounds. This makes them suitable for just about any member of the family to ride, drive or just cuddle with. Not only do they look huggable, they seem to actually love being hugged.

Haflingers are an older breed that can be traced back to Middle Ages. They originated in Austria's Tyrolean mountains and are named after the village of Haflin. In 1868 the half Arabian stallion "El Bedavi" was used to enrich the breed. In 1874 he sired "249 Folie"  who became the foundation sire of the Haflinger as we know it today. The Haflinger through the years has retained the strength and resilience of their hardy mountain ancestors but also possess the noble and elegant features of the Arab.

 Haflingers are named after their parents. Colts are named after the same beginning letter as their sire and fillies after the same beginning letter as their dam. There are seven stallion lines in the Haflinger breed, A, B, M, N, S, ST, W and several more mare lines. All haflingers trace their pedigree directly back to Folie through these lines.

Haflingers were first imported in to this country in 1958 by Temple Smith of Temple farms in Illinois. Since then the Haflinger is becoming one of the most sought after breeds in the country. The more people that meet Haflingers, the more friends they have. Today's Haflingers can be found in both the older draft type and the taller more refined modern type, with plenty some where in the middle. Whether your looking for the heavier draft type or the newer modern type, there is a Haflinger out there for you.

To sum it all up the Haflinger is a wonderful horse that  we can't say enough good about. They are easy keepers, are long lived and extremely hardy as well as loveable, intelligent, beautiful and just an all around wonderful animals. If you haven't had the wonderful opportunity to meet a Haflinger you should take the time to do so, they are so worth it. If your looking to buy a horse whether it is your first or 20th, you should consider one of these wonderful animals, it could be your next best friend. They are truly the ultimate family horse.

WARNING 

If you are thinking about buying a Haflinger, it is only fair to warn you. Haflingers are like potato chips you can't have just one!!!! They  are that wonderful!!!!